Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Amr Moussa: Arab Spring Has Not Improved Economy or Brought Stability to Egypt
Denmark Bans Halal and Kosher Slaughter as Minister Says ‘Animal Rights Come Before Religion’
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| New law, denounced as 'anti-Semitism' by Jewish leaders, comes after country controversially slaughtered a giraffe in public and fed him to lions |
The change to the law, announced last week and effective as of yesterday, has been called “anti-Semitism” by Jewish leaders and “a clear interference in religious freedom” by the non-profit group Danish Halal.
European regulations require animals to be stunned before they are slaughtered, but grants exemptions on religious grounds. For meat to be considered kosher under Jewish law or halal under Islamic law, the animal must be conscious when killed.
Yet defending his government’s decision to remove this exemption, the minister for agriculture and food Dan Jørgensen told Denmark’s TV2 that “animal rights come before religion”. » | Adam Withnall | Tuesday, February 18, 2014
NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY: Denmark bans religious slaughter » | Friday, February 14, 2014
WORLD BULLETIN: Denmark to ban halal and kosher slaughter methods » | World Bulletin / News Desk | Friday, February 14, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Saudi Woman Named First Editor-in-Chief of Newspaper
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| Somayya Jabarti said she felt a great sense of responsibility |
The English-language Saudi Gazette announced on its website that Somayya Jabarti would succeed Khaled Almaeena.
In Sunday's edition of the paper, he wrote Ms Jabarti had won the opportunity on merit, describing her as a determined and dedicated journalist.
Ms Jabarti meanwhile said: "A crack has been made in the glass ceiling. And I'm hoping it will be made into a door."
In an interview with al-Arabiya News, she admitted she felt a great sense of responsibility.
"My actions will reflect upon my fellow Saudi women," she explained. » | Monday, February 17, 2014
Heavy Snow Revives US Interest in 86-year-old Sport
WIKI: Skijoring »
Eurozone Countries Should Form United States of Europe, Says EC Vice-President
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| Viviane Reding: 'Like Winston Churchill, I believe that the UK not be part of this, but it should remain a close ally with the federated eurozone.' |
A "United States of Europe" should be formed by the 18 eurozone countries to stabilise the European single currency, a vice-president of the European commission says in a speech on Monday evening.
Speaking at the Cambridge University faculty of law, Viviane Reding borrows Winston Churchill's historic 1946 phrase as she called for a full fiscal and political union on much of the continent.
Delivering the Mackenzie Stuart lecture, Reding says: "There is a strong case for a true fiscal and ultimately political union. In my personal view, the eurozone should become the United States of Europe."
However, Reding endorses Churchill's view, outlined in his Zurich speech in 1946, that Britain should remain apart from the United States of Europe. » | Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Monday, February 17, 2014
North Korea[n] Prisoner: 'I Had to Bury My Son'
Kim Young-soon told reporter Paul Adams that she was imprisoned in North Korea during the 1970s, in an ordeal that lasted nine years.
"My parents were starved to death in Yodok camp... I had to take their bodies on my back and bury them... and I also had my nine-year-old son drowned and I had to do the same for my boy as well," she remembered.
Charity Amnesty International, which monitors prison camps in North Korea using satellites, estimates that there are now 200,000 people in such camps in the country.
And the organisation says that number is growing. (+ BBC audio) » | Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Counting the Cost: The Price of Closed Borders
Kim Jong Un Warned He Could Face Prosecution for 'Crimes Against Humanity'
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has been warned that he could face prosecution for crimes against humanity after a United Nations inquiry accused him of some of the worst human rights abuses since World War II.
In some of the harshest criticism ever unleashed by the international community against the Pyongyang regime, a UN panel branded it "a shock to the conscience of humanity".
Michael Kirby, a retired Australian judge who has spent nearly a year taking testimony from victims of the regime, said its behaviour was akin to some of the atrocities carried by the Nazi regime and of Pol Pot's in Cambodia.
In a bid to put pressure on Kim Jong Un, he has now written to the North Korean leader to warn him that he could face prosecution for the activities of his henchmen, whom the inquiry accused of killing, imprisoning and torturing with impunity. » | Colin Freeman | Monday, February 17, 2014
Churches Block-book Cinemas for Son of God Opening
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| Diogo Morgado in the film poster for 'Son of God' |
American church groups are block-booking cinema multiplexes to fill seats with the faithful for opening night screenings next week of Son of God, the forthcoming film about the life of Jesus Christ.
They are buying up all the tickets and distributing them to churchgoers as part of a "theatre takeover" to promote the film which is based on the hit television miniseries The Bible.
Cinema chains said the pre-release buzz and demand for tickets was on a par with major blockbuster releases as pastors spread the word about the celluloid portrayal of the life of Christ from the pulpit.
Crossroads Church in Cincinnati has bought every seat in all 13 screens for a simultaneous showing of the film on February 27, according to The Hollywood Reporter. » | Phil Sherwell, New York | Monday, February 17, 2014
SUMMARY: This major motion picture event -- an experience created to be shared among families and communities across the U.S. -- brings the story of Jesus’ life to audiences through compelling cinematic storytelling that is both powerful and inspirational. Told with the scope and scale of an action epic, the film features powerful performances, exotic locales, dazzling visual effects and a rich orchestral score from Oscar®-winner Hans Zimmer. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado portrays the role of Jesus as the film spans from his humble birth through his teachings, crucifixion and ultimate resurrection. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
Streit um Freizügigkeit: EU setzt Verhandlungen mit der Schweiz aus
Bern - Der Volksentscheid zur Begrenzung der Zuwanderung in der Schweiz belastet das Verhältnis zur Europäischen Union (EU). Die Regierung in Bern hatte ein geplantes Abkommen zur Öffnung ihres Arbeitsmarkts für Kroaten gestoppt. Nun folgt die Reaktion aus Brüssel: Demnach sollen die Verhandlungen über eine Beteiligung der Schweiz an dem Studenten-Austauschprogramm Erasmus Plus und dem milliardenschweren Forschungsprogramm Horizont 2020 vorläufig ausgesetzt werden, sagte ein Kommissionssprecher. Damit könnten der Schweiz EU-Gelder für Forschung und Bildung entgehen. » | vks/dpa | Sonntag, 16. Februar 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Extreme Loneliness Worse for Health Than Obesity and Can Lead to an Early Grave, Scientists Say
Chronic loneliness has been shown to increase the chances of an early grave by 14 per cent, which is as bad as being overweight and almost as bad as poverty in undermining a person’s long-term wellbeing, a study has found.
As more people live longer, they are spending a bigger part of their lives feeling lonely. This is having a significant impact on their physical as well as mental health, the researchers found.
Loneliness is also becoming more common as people live alone or become isolated from relatives and friends, especially in retirement. Research has shown that at any given time between 20 and 40 per cent of older adults feel lonely. » | Steve Connor, Chicago | Sunday, February 16, 2014
Italian 'Mummy's Boys' Told by Church That 'Mamma' One of the Biggest Risks to Marriage
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| Italian men are traditionally very close to their mothers |
The Italian male deference to their mothers may be seen from afar as an endearing trait – as joyously traditional a part of their heritage as pizza, pasta and Prosecco.
But the Catholic Church has issued a grave warning that "mammismo" – the classic attachment between Italian men and their mothers – is one of the biggest risks to marriage in the country today.
"Marriage has to be an act of free will and awareness," said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa and president of the country's bishops conference.
"When you rely totally on your parents for every step, a spouse does not know what to do or not to do because he's constantly seeking the consensus of a third person." Read on and comment » | Josephine McKenna, Rome | Sunday, February 16, 2014
Royal Idiocy! Prince William Wants 'All Royal Ivory Destroyed'
The Duke of Cambridge wants to strip all the ivory from Buckingham Palace and destroy it, The Independent on Sunday can reveal, in a move conservationists hailed as "extremely significant" in the fight against elephant poaching.
Some 1,200 items containing ivory are listed in the royal collection, including a throne from India that incorporates elephant-ivory plaques. The move would seek to encourage other heads of states to give up their ivory stocks and collections.
The revelation comes days after the Duke attended the world's largest ever conference on the illegal wildlife trade, which called for an end to the £12bn trade in animals and their parts, including ivory. At least 45 tons of ivory were seized in 2013, believed to be the biggest annual haul in a quarter of a century. » | Sarah Morrison | Sunday, February 16, 2014
My comment:
What a ridiculous suggestion! What good will destroying all those wonderful objets d'art do? That would be wanton destruction, rather like Salafists wanting to destroy the Sphinx and the Pyramids. I feel sure that the Queen would not warm to this suggestion!
If Prince William really wants to do something positive for elephants, then he can determine not to accept such gifts in future, and not purchase anything made with ivory from now on.
This suggestion is redolent of those women who took their fur coats and burned them. It did not bring back the animals who had to suffer to make them, not did it help to keep anyone warm.
This suggestion is more than silly, it's ridiculous. –© Mark
This comment appears here too.
The Andrew Marr Show
Talk to Al Jazeera: Erdogan: Turkey's Rôle in the Middle East
Kerry Pays Tribute to Islam in Jakarta
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| John Kerry and Grand Imam Ali Mustafa Ya'qub at the grand domed prayer hall at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sunday |
JAKARTA — US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Southeast Asia’s largest mosque during his visit to Indonesia Sunday, paying tribute to Islam in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
After removing his shoes outside the Istiqlal mosque in the heart of Jakarta, Kerry walked through the vast building accompanied by grand imam Kyai al-Hajj Ali Mustafa Yaqub.
Calling it an “extraordinary place”, the top US diplomat told Indonesian reporters: “I am very privileged to be here and I am grateful to the grand imam for allowing me to come.” » | AFP | Sunday, February 16, 2014
Data Protection: Angela Merkel Proposes Europe Network
It would avoid emails and other data automatically passing through the United States.
In her weekly podcast, she said she would raise the issue on Wednesday with French President Francois Hollande.
Revelations of mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) have prompted huge concern in Europe.
Disclosures by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden suggested even the mobile phones of US allies, such as Mrs Merkel, had been monitored by American spies.
Classified NSA documents revealed that large amounts of personal data are collected from the internet by US and British surveillance. » | Saturday, February 15, 2014
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