Hague: "There Are Still Many Dangers" Facing Ukraine

BBC: The UK foreign secretary William Hague has told the Andrew Marr Show "there are still many dangers" facing Ukraine and the position of the opposition is "complex".

Speaking on the programme, Mr Hague said it was urgent that the Ukrainian government agree a constitution and improve their economic situation.

The foreign secretary said he was in constant discussion with Russia and warned Russia not to do "anything to undermine" the Ukrainian economic programme. » | Sunday, February 23, 2014

Pope Francis Urges New Cardinals to Avoid Vatican Intrigue and Gossip

Pope Francis holds the book of the gospels aloft.

THE GUARDIAN: Former archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols among 19 new cardinals told to embody holiness with zeal and ardour

Pope Francis has instructed his new "princes of the church" - among them Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster - to avoid "intrigue, gossip, cliques, favouritism and partiality" as they don the Roman Catholic church's prized red biretta.

Speaking in St Peter's basilica a day after he created 19 new cardinals, the Argentinean pontiff strictly exhorted the men to reject the habits of a royal court that have in recent years come to be associated with parts of the Roman curia, or Vatican bureaucracy.

Looking up from his notes to address the massed ranks of cardinals, he told them: "A cardinal – I say this especially to you – enters the church of Rome, my brothers, not a [royal] court. May all of us avoid, and help others to avoid, habits and ways of acting typical of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favouritism and partiality." » | Lizzy Davies in Rome | Sunday, February 23, 2014

Daily Mail Hateful Article Angers UK Muslims

ON ISLAM: CAIRO – Leading British Muslim and interfaith organizations have signed a letter of complaint to Daily Mail’s editor Paul Dacre, condemning an article that deployed hateful Muslim stereotypes and used slurs commonly found in racist and far-right websites.

“We write to express our condemnation of a recent article published by Richard Littlejohn in your newspaper. Entitled “Jolly Jihadi’s Outing to Legoland”, Mr Littlejohn deploys the most hateful stereotypes of Muslims to attack an individual,” the letter, signed by some 25 Islamic and interfaith organizations and published by Muslim Council of Britain website, reads.

“Our condemnation is not about the attacks on Mr Haitham al-Haddad: he is perfectly capable of responding to the accusations put to him if minded to do so.

“Many of us may well disagree with the views attributed to him. Rather, we are speaking out at the insidious and hateful tropes Mr Littlejohn uses for his argument,” it added.

Muslims’ anger followed the publication of an article by columnist Richard Littlejohn.

The column, headlined Jolly jihadi boys' outing to Legoland, "deployed hateful Muslim stereotypes" and "used slurs commonly found in racist and far-right websites."

Entitled “Jolly Jihadi’s Outing to Legoland”, the article satirizes a community event that is to be held at the theme park, organized through a private group booking. » | OnIslam Staff | Sunday, February 23, 2014

ON ISLAM: Far-Rightists Threaten UK Muslims Fun Day » | OnIslam & Newspapers | Sunday, February 16, 2014

Electric Chair Haunts US Former Executions Chief

Dr. Allen Ault tells HARDtalk why he is still haunted by the executions

BBC: Most guests come into the HARDtalk studio with their guard up, their defences prepared. Dr Allen Ault simply faced the cameras and bared his soul.

His account of supervising executions in the US state of Georgia was one of the most painful, searingly honest and courageous testimonies I have ever heard.

Dr Ault is a soft-spoken Midwesterner with steel-grey hair and a steady gaze.

As he spoke about his years as corrections commissioner for the US state of Georgia, he appeared to forget the artifice of the TV studio and relive his experiences in the execution chamber.

"I still have nightmares," he told me.

"It's the most premeditated form of murder you can possibly imagine and it stays in your psyche for ever." » | Stephen Sackur | HARDtalk | Sunday, February 23, 2014

Homophobie in Afrika

«Mama, ich bin homosexuell», verkündete einer der prominentesten Autoren Afrikas, der Kenyaner Binya-vanga Wai-naina in einer Kurzgeschichte im Internet. Das ist mutig. Sehr sogar. In Kenya stehen auf homosexuelle Akte bis zu zehn Jahre Gefängnis. Afrikakorrespondent Patrik Wülser hat mit ihm gesprochen.

Doctor Dilemma: Physicians Switching to Higher-paying Jobs

Changing health care market forcing doctors to give up private practices

Women of Iran Defy Mullahs by Embracing Western Fashions

Women who flaunt fashion run the risk of being publicly
reprimanded by the so-called "morality police."

FOX NEWS: The regime in Tehran is increasingly feeling the pressure, but not from sanctions or the threat of a military strike.

It’s a vibrant and growing fashion scene, one that enables Iranians to defy the strict religious leaders who have ruled the nation with an iron fist since the 1979 revolution.

Many young Iranians have become emboldened in how they walk the streets, showing an affinity for Western clothing, jewelry, makeup and hairstyles. But it is more than just a fashion statement, say Iranians. It's a political statement.

“Violating the dress code is another way young Iranians can express political dissent,” said journalist and political activist Mansoureh Nasserchian.

Since the 2009 uprisings, when Iranians flooded the streets of Iran protesting the corruption of their government in the aftermath of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s contested re-election, the world was introduced to a new brand of Iranians influenced by social media and Western styles and ideologies, according to Nasserchian, who fled the country for Canada shortly after the uprisings.

“When the young people filled the streets, not caring how they dressed or if they had hair covering, things really changed in Iran,” Nasserchian said. “Social media gave the courage to the new generation to break taboos and be open about political and social issues.” » | Lisa Daftari | Fox News contributor specializing in Middle Eastern affairs | Sunday, February 23, 2014

HSBC to Announce Bonuses Totalling £2.4 Billion

LONDON EVENING STANDARD: HSBC will announce staff bonuses totalling just under £2.4 billion globally for 2013 and is expected to report a significant rise in pretax profit, according to reports.

Europe's biggest bank is expected on Monday to announce the size of its bonus pool, a sensitive issue as many Britons still blame banks for the 2008 financial crisis after which the state was forced to bail out RBS and Lloyds.

Earlier this month Barclays prompted an angry reaction from politicians and labour unions after it increased its bonuses by 13 per cent to £2.4 billion even as it announced plans to axe 12,000 jobs. » | Agency | Saturday, February 22, 2014

Umfrage: Gehört der Islam zu Deutschland?

Eine Umfrage in München zum Thema: Gehört der Islam zu Deutschland?

Sensation! Pope Tawadros and Saudi Ambassador Agree to Open Saudi Arabia’s First Church

Pope Tawadros II

MIDEAST CHRISTIAN NEWS: A reliable source has told MCN that Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark's Episcopate, has reached an agreement with the Saudi ambassador in Cairo, Ahmed Kattan, to establish the first church ever built inside Saudi Arabia. » | Irin Moussa | MCN | Cairo | Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Saudis erlaubten Gottesdienst für Christen

DIE PRESSE: Riad ließ erstmals orthodoxe Christen feiern. Der koptisch-orthodoxe Papst-Patriach Tawadros II. bestätigte dem evangelischen Berliner Bischof Dröge, dass die christliche Feier auf saudischem Boden durchgeführt wurde.

Riad/Wien. Der Bau von Kirchen ist genauso verboten wie das Tragen von Kreuzen: In Saudiarabien kann jede öffentliche Glaubensbekundung von Nichtmuslimen bestraft werden. Es ist daher eine kleine Sensation, dass nun erstmals ein christlich-orthodoxer Gottesdienst in der ultrakonservativen Golfmonarchie stattfinden durfte. Der koptisch-orthodoxe Papst-Patriach Tawadros II. bestätigte dem evangelischen Berliner Bischof Markus Dröge während dessen Ägypten-Besuch, dass die christliche Feier auf saudischem Boden tatsächlich durchgeführt wurde. „Das ist ein erfreuliches Ereignis und ein erstes Zeichen wachsender religiöser Toleranz“, erklärte Dröge gegenüber der „Presse“. » | Doe Presse | Freitag, 21. Februar 2014

USA ändern Medienregeln für Jagd auf Whistleblower

DIE WELT: Bei der Jagd auf Whistleblower greifen Justizermittler heimlich auf Daten von Journalisten zu. Nach einem Aufschrei der Empörung verkündet ihr Chef Eric Holder nun neue Regeln im Umgang mit Medien.

Das US-Justizministerium will sich bei Ermittlungen gegen Whistleblower strengere Regeln im Umgang mit Medien auferlegen. In den meisten Fällen werde der Staat betroffene Presseunternehmen künftig vorab informieren, bevor Daten aus investigativen Recherchen angefordert würden, teilte die Behörde am Freitag mit. » | AP/cbo | Samstag, 22. Februar 2014

Focus on Religious Right Hides Dwindling Number of US Churchgoers

This image released by 20th Century Fox shows Diogo
Morgado in a scene from 'Son of God'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As research suggests just 25 per cent of Americans now attend church weekly, Republicans must cater for increasingly secular mainstream without alienating evangelical base

This week millions of the religious faithful in America are to be shepherded into the nation's cinemas in order to watch 'Son of God', a conventional Hollywood biopic of Jesus Christ that premieres on Thursday.

Coming after last year's HBO mini-series 'The Bible', which garnered 95 million viewers, it would seem a fair bet that this film is pretty much guaranteed to be another hit.

One Texas congregation alone has bought 9,000 tickets. But such displays of mega-church muscle only serve to conceal how far and how fast the ground has shifted under America's Religious Right over the last decade or so.

It's not that America has suddenly abandoned its faith, but more that a large chunk of previously nominal Christians - the Christmas and wedding-only types - have become much happier to declare themselves in the religious camp marked 'don't really care'. » | Peter Foster in Washington | Saturday, February 22, 2014

Related »

Auch ohne Volksabstimmung: Island will nicht mehr in die EU

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Die Regierung in Reykjavik will Islands Kandidatur wieder zurückziehen. Ein ursprünglich vorgesehenes Referendum dazu soll es nicht geben. Die EU-Ablehnung hängt nicht nur am Euro.

Islands Regierung will auf den ursprünglich geplanten EU-Beitritt des Inselstaats verzichten, ohne das Volk zuvor nach seiner Meinung zu fragen. Die regierende Fortschrittspartei und ihre ebenfalls euroskeptischen Koalitionspartner der Unabhängigkeitspartei einigten sich am Freitag auf ein Gesetzesvorhaben, mit dem die 2010 eingereichte Kandidatur auf einen Beitritt zur Europäischen Union wieder zurückgezogen werden soll. Außenminister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson erklärte im öffentlichen Rundfunk, er werde die Umsetzung des Kurswechsels persönlich vorantreiben. » | Quelle: AFP | Freitag, 21. Februar 2014

Ukraine : Ioulia Timochenko libérée

Ioulia Timochenko

LE POINT: L'ex-opposante a été libérée samedi après-midi. Elle est en route pour le centre de Kiev, où elle devrait arriver dans la soirée.

Le symbole est de taille. Ioulia Timochenko a été libérée samedi après-midi, quelques heures à peine après un vote du Parlement ukrainien. Ce vote intervient alors que plusieurs proches de l'opposante occupent désormais des postes-clés.

Ioulia Timochenko est en route vers le Maïdan, haut lieu de la contestation dans le centre de Kiev. Dans une voiture, Mme Timochenko, coiffée de sa tresse emblématique, a fait un signe de la main aux journalistes et à ses partisans qui l'attendaient devant l'hôpital carcéral où elle était soignée pour hernies discales à Kharkiv (est). Elle va prendre un avion et se rendre à Kiev sur le Maïdan, a indiqué son allié Arseni Iatseniouk. » | Source AFP | samedi 22 février 2014

Plan to Split California into Six States Gains Ground

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The proposal would create a state out of Silicon Valley, home to tech giants Google, Facebook and Apple

A plan to divide California into six separate US states is closer to making it on to a November ballot, with organisers gaining approval to collect signatures.

The seemingly far-fetched initiative, sponsored by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, claims "political representation of California's diverse population and economies has rendered the state nearly ungovernable."

And on Tuesday, the California Secretary of State's office gave the movement a boost, saying that proponents "may begin collecting petition signatures."

At least 807,615 voters will need to sign the petition by July 18 to make it onto the ballot. » | AFP | Friday, February 21, 2014

Mehdi Hasan – Non-Muslims Live Like Animals

"We know that keeping the moral high-ground is key. Once we lose the moral high-ground we are no different from the rest, of the non-Muslims; from the rest of those human beings who live their lives as animals, bending any rule to fulfil any desire."

"Ayatollah Khameinei has issued a fatwa saying the stockpiling, the production, the use of nuclear weapons us forbidden under Islam. Spot on. Islamic Republic of Iran. The fatwa of the Supreme Leader."


HT: Roger Murray Clark »

Head to Head: Do Arab Men Hate Women?

With one question, journalist Mona Eltahawy unleashed a harsh critique of women's rights in the Arab world.

Men Banned from Becoming Queen as 700 Years of Law Redrafted ahead of Gay Marriage

Men banned from becoming Queen as 700 years of law
redrafted ahead of gay marriage

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Words such as “widow” removed from statutes while medieval treason laws and even rules on royal titles amended ahead of gay marriage

Men are to be banned from becoming Queen or Princess of Wales as part of an unprecedented effort to rewrite more than 700 years of law to prevent unintended consequences of gay marriage.

Even a 14th Century act declaring it high treason to have an affair with the monarch’s husband or wife is included in the sweeping redrafting exercise.

Civil servants have drawn up a list of scores of statutes and regulations dating back as far 1285 to be amended or specifically excluded when the Government’s Same-Sex Marriage Act comes into force next month.

Under proposals to be debated by MPs and Peers as early as next week, terms such as “widow” will be deleted or reworded in legislation covering topics as diverse as seamen’s pensions and London cab licences to take account of the new definition of marriage.

References to mothers, fathers, husbands and wives are also to be amended to avoid future confusion. » | John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor | Friday, February 21, 2014

Familientreffen: Nordkoreaner wollten Süd-Verwandte indoktrinieren

Für viele der 82 südkoreanischen Teilnehmer ist das Treffen
in Nordkorea die wohl letzte Möglichkeit, ihre Verwandten zu sehen

DIE WELT: Erstmals seit drei Jahren durften sich Südkoreaner privat mit nordkoreanischen Verwandten treffen. Einige von diesen sollen aber versucht haben, ihre Familienmitglieder ideologisch zu beeinflussen.

Beim ersten Familientreffen zwischen Nord- und Südkoreanern nach mehr als drei Jahren haben sich die Teilnehmer am Freitag privat sehen können; am Tag zuvor hatte es bereits ein solches Treffen unter Anwesenheit von Fernsehteams gegeben. Nach den Privattreffen im nordkoreanischen Feriengebiet Kumgang beklagten sich allerdings mehrere Südkoreaner. Grund: Ihre nordkoreanischen Angehörigen hätten versucht, sie zu "indoktrinieren".

So erzählte der 81-jährige Kim Dong-bin aus Südkorea, seine beiden im Norden lebenden Schwestern hätten viel Zeit darauf verwendet, die andauernde Präsenz von US-Truppen im Süden zu verurteilen. Sie hätten ausgeführt, dass es eine Wiedervereinigung der beiden koreanischen Staaten nur bei einem Abzug der amerikanischen Soldaten geben könne. » | AFP/dpa/jw | Freitag, 21. Februar 2014