Pakistani Couple Get Death Sentences for Blasphemy

BBC: A Pakistani Christian couple have been sentenced to death for blasphemy after allegedly sending a text message insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

The couple, named as Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar, were found guilty of sending the text message to the imam of their local mosque.

Allegations of blasphemy against Islam are taken very seriously in Pakistan.

Several recent cases have prompted international concern about the application of blasphemy laws.

The imam brought a complaint against the couple last July.

The couple's lawyer told the BBC he would appeal against the sentences and said the trial had not been conducted fairly.

Pakistan has a de facto moratorium on the death penalty so it is unlikely the couple will be executed.

They come from the town of Gojra in Punjab, previously the scene of communal violence. » | Saturday, April 05, 2014

Fracking On: Businesses & UK Government Dismiss Public Outcry

Protests are escalating against oil & gas companies' plans to expand fracking in UK. One drilling site (operated by Dart Energy) fears have been increased by the risk of un-exploded bombs underground. But as RT's Eunan O'Neill reports, for the politicians - business interests come first.

Der russische Vormarsch: Was tun? Deckmantel der Geschichte

ZEIT ONLINE: Wie Wladimir Putin die Vergangenheit missbraucht, um seine Politik der Gegenwart zu rechtfertigen

Am 18. März feierte Wladimir Putin einen persönlichen Sieg über die jüngere Geschichte seines Landes: Im prachtvollen Georgs-Saal des Kremls proklamierte er den Anschluss der Krim. Mit seiner Rede hat Russlands Präsident nicht nur seine Landsleute erreicht, sondern auch die Debatte in Deutschland über die Annexion der Krim – die erste Annexion in Europa seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg – verwirrt. Seither wird diskutiert, ob Putin mit seinen Ausführungen nicht doch recht habe und sein Vorgehen daher verständlich sei.

Um den Anschluss der Krim zu erklären, langte Russlands Präsident tief in die Vergangenheit und deutete die Geschichte für seine Zwecke. Diese Art von Geschichtspolitik ist so altbekannt wie simpel: Man verkürzt und verdreht die Vergangenheit so lange, bis der Gegner der Gegenwart diskreditiert ist. Putin hat eine Falle aufgestellt. Er tut so, als ginge es ihm ums Gestern, um historische Gefühle, um alte Ungerechtigkeiten. Russland und die Russen stellt er als Opfer des Westens, einer sich ausdehnenden Nato und finsterer Faschisten in Kiew dar. Russische Staatsjournalisten und Diplomaten wiederholen das wortgetreu. Man sollte ihnen genau zuhören, denn die russische Argumentation bedeutet in ihrem Kern nichts anderes als einen Angriff auf das friedliche Zusammenleben in Europa. Putin hat im Wesentlichen drei Thesen aufgestellt, die ungeheure Sprengkraft enthalten. Weiter lesen und einen Beitrag abgeben » | Von Michael Thumann | Freitag, 04. April 2014

Mormon Leader Reiterates Church's Opposition to Same-sex Marriage

THE GUARDIAN: Neil L Andersen said during the church's biannual conference that though others had redefined marriage, 'the Lord has not'

A Mormon leader on Saturday reiterated the church's opposition to gay marriage.

Neil L Andersen, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Quorum of the Twelve, said during the church's biannual general conference in Salt Lake City: "While many governments and well-meaning individuals have redefined marriage, the Lord has not.

"He designated the purpose of marriage to go far beyond the personal satisfaction and fulfilment of adults, to more importantly, advancing the ideal setting for children to be born, reared and nurtured."

After a June 2013 US supreme court ruling struck down parts of the federal Defence of Marriage Act, gay marriage has become legal in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Federal judges have also struck down bans in Michigan, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia, and ordered Kentucky and Tennessee to recognise out-of-state gay marriages, though stays have been issued pending appeals.

On Friday, a judge in Ohio said he would order the state to recognise same-sex marriages from other states.

The Mormon church's message on homosexuality has softened in recent years, but this marks the second consecutive conference in which leaders have talked about their opposition to gay marriage. In 2012, Dallin H Oaks of the Quorum said human laws cannot "make moral what God has declared immoral". Read on and comment » | Associated Press in Salt Lake City | Saturday, April 05, 2014

Tu felix Helvetia: 3300 Euro Mindestlohn für die Verkäuferin

DIE PRESSE: Die bevorstehende Volksabstimmung genügt schon, damit bereits jetzt Schweizer Unternehmen den Mindestlohn auf 4000 Franken erhöhen.

Beim Urlaub sind die Schweizer sparsam. Sechs Wochen? Nicht notwendig, befand das Volk im März 2012 und stimmte mit beachtlichen 67 Prozent gegen eine Initiative, die den Mindesturlaub um zwei Wochen ausweiten wollte.
Beim Geld aber kennen die Eidgenossen keine Grenze nach oben - oder besser: nur eine sehr, sehr hohe Grenze. Während die deutsche Bundesregierung am Mittwoch - nach überaus heftigem Tauziehen - einen Mindestlohn von 8,50 Euro brutto pro Stunde beschlossen hat, dringt man in der Schweiz in völlig andere Sphären vor: Lidl, Aldi (der Schweizer Hofer) und jetzt auch die Bekleidungskette H & M haben eben einen Mindestlohn von 17,98 Euro pro Stunde umgesetzt. Hochgerechnet auf den Monat sind das 3269 Euro brutto für eine ungelernte Arbeitskraft. Nur zum Vergleich: Das Durchschnittseinkommen in Österreich liegt bei 2163 Euro brutto. » | Von Norbert Rief | Die Presse | Samstag, 05. April 2014

Metamorphosis: A Hungarian Extremist Explores His Jewish Roots

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Csanád Szegedi was a prominent right-wing extremist in Hungary until he discovered his own Jewish roots in 2012. Since then, he has undergone a radical reinvention and is even learning Hebrew. His grandmother, though, continues to hide her Auschwitz tattoo.

Csanád Szegedi's second life began in the apartment of Rabbi Baruch Oberlander, located above the Synagogue in the Erzsébetváros quarter of Budapest. A mohel -- a circumcision specialist -- had arrived from Israel. And with a single cut, the anti-Semite Csanád was transformed into Dovid, a Jew.

Csanád Szegedi, 31, had been the deputy head of right-wing extremist party Jobbik, which he also represented in the European Parliament. He had made a career of claiming that the Jews sought to plunder Hungary and that they had entered into an alliance with the Roma to turn "pure" Hungarians into a minority in their own country. In public, he would often wear the black military pants and vest of the Hungarian Guard, the banned right-wing extremist group.

But then he learned that his family was Jewish, a revelation that turned his life on its head.

Now, he calls himself Dovid Szegedi, eats kosher, is learning Hebrew and goes to the Synagogue every Friday. "This is my true identity," says Szegedi, who is almost two meters (6" 6') tall. He wears an Italian designer suit, scruffy stubble and a black kippah.

The story of Csanád's transformation into Dovid is one of radical reinvention, and also one of a desperate search for a reliable identity, one which continues to elude Eastern Europe even 25 years after the end of communism. » | Jan Puhl | Thursday, April 03, 2014

Russian Ambassadors 'Joked about Annexing Scotland'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A leaked recording purporting to be of envoys joking about adding Scotland, Alaska and Venice to Russia's conquest of Crimea is the latest salvo in the war of dirty tricks over Ukraine

The war of dirty tricks over the Ukraine crisis escalated on Friday with the leak of a conversation purporting to be of two Russian ambassadors joking about adding Scotland, Alaska, and Venice to Russia’s conquest of Crimea.

The expletive ridden conversation posted on Youtube features two voices said to be Igor Chubarov, the ambassador to Eritrea, and Sergei Bakharev, the ambassador to Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The voice labelled as Mr Chubarov’s congratulates Mr Bakharev on persuading Zimbabwe to back Russia’s position on Crimea at the UN, and goes on to joke about telling a European diplomat about future conquests.

“We’ve got Crimea, but that’s not ----ing all, folks. In the future we’ll take you ----ing Catalonia, Venice, as well as Scotland and Alaska,” the voice says.

The pair go on to add Miami and London to their hit list, noting that "Miamiland' is ----ing 95 percent Russian citizens." » | Roland Oliphant, Moscow and Tony Paterson, Berlin | Friday, April 04, 2014

Russians Petition for Return of Alaska »

France's Le Pen: Ban Non-pork Meals in Schools

Marine Le Pen, leader of the Front National

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Leader of France's far-Right party says schools should not pander to Jewish and Muslim children by offering non-Pork alternatives for lunch

School canteens will no longer offer non-pork meal options in towns where France's anti-immigration far-right Front National (FN) party won local elections, its leader Marine Le Pen has said.

Mrs Le Pen reignited debate on a sensitive issue about the substitution meals targeting mainly Muslim and Jewish pupils for whom pork is taboo.

"We will accept no religious requirements in the school lunch menus," Mrs Le Pen told RTL radio. "There is no reason for religion to enter into the public sphere."

She defended the decision saying it was necessary to "save secularism". » | Saturday, April 05, 2014

THE INDEPENDENT: French National Front to stop Muslim and Jewish pupils having pork-free school dinners: 'We will not accept any religious demands in school menus,' the party's leader Marine Le Pen told a radio station » | Kashmira Gander | Saturday, April 05, 2014

LE POINT: Marine Le Pen veut imposer le porc dans les cantines : Marine Le Pen promet que ses nouveaux élus locaux "rétabliront les menus avec porc dans les cantines" s'il en a été supprimé. » | Source AFP | vendredi 04 avril 2014

Did Adolf Hitler Marry a Woman of Jewish Descent? DNA Tests ‘Show Eva Braun Associated with Ashkenazi Jews’

THE INDEPENDENT: The Dead Famous DNA film tested hair samples which are said to have come from a hairbrush used by Hitler's secret lover and discovered at his mountain retreat

Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler’s long-term lover who married the Nazi leader hours before their joint suicide in his Berlin bunker, may have had Jewish ancestry, ground-breaking DNA testing has found.

DNA analysis of hair samples from a hairbrush claimed to belong to Braun suggests that the fascist dictator responsible for the murder of millions of Jews may have unwittingly married a woman of semitic descent, in one of his final acts as the Third Reich crumbled.

The revelation appears in a Channel 4 documentary, Dead Famous DNA, broadcast next week, in which leading scientists attempt to extract DNA from relics and analyse their genome to solve mysteries associated with them. » | Adam Sherwin | Sayurday, April 05, 2014

Germany Preparing to Mobilise Once Mighty Luftwaffe in Response to Russia’s Crimea Crisis

DAILY EXPRESS: GERMANY is preparing to mobilise its once mighty Luftwaffe to patrol Europe's Russian border, it has been disclosed, as an international expert today warned placing Nato bases in former Soviet Union countries would further enrage Vladimir Putin.

German media reported at the weekend that Berlin's defence ministry was ready to make available up to six aircraft for a strengthened air patrolling mission in parts of eastern Europe, and the number of Nato aircraft would be at least doubled as a response to the crisis in Crimea.

Berlin has been reluctant to involve the German military in foreign conflicts, and after the Second World War West Germany's constitution went so far as to prohibit any military action, except in case of an external attack against Germany or its allies.

Earlier this month US President Barack Obama said Nato needed to boost its presence in those eastern European partner states that feel vulnerable to Russia.

But German magazine Der Spiegel quoted German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the weekend as saying it was important for Nato to keep a cool head and not get dragged into a military escalation.

"At the same time, our partners know that we stand for solidarity in the alliance with no ifs and buts and not just when the weather suits," Der Spiegel quoted. » | Owen Bennett | Political Reporter | Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Phone Nigel Farage Live: Put Your Questions to the UKIP Leader

Fresh from his debate with Nick Clegg, Ukip leader Nigel Farage is taking part in a live phone-in for Telegraph readers today. Watch the programme from 1pm (1300 BST)

Government to Move Ahead with Standardised Cigarette Packets

Read the BBC article here | Thursday, April 03, 2014

British Woman Jailed in Tehran for Insulting Islam and Iranian Government on Facebook Fears Execution

THE INDEPENDENT: Roya Saberi Negad Nobakht's husband said that she had only been charged after a confession was extracted from her 'under duress'

A British woman has been locked up in Iran for five months after posting derogatory comments about the country's government on Facebook and fears she will be executed, her husband has said.

Concerns are growing for the welfare of Roya Saberi Negad Nobakht, 47, from Stockport, who has been charged with "insulting Islamic sanctities", a crime which can be punishable by death. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said it was "urgently" looking into her case. However, Britain currently has no embassy in Iran, making any negotiations more difficult.

Mrs Nobakht was in Iran visiting family in October last year when she was arrested by police as she arrived by plane in the south western city of Shiraz, according to an account given by her husband, Daryoush Taghipoor, to a family friend in Britain.

She was then taken back to Tehran and charged with "gathering and participation with intent to commit crime against national security" and "insulting Islamic sanctities", according to a copy of her charge sheet seen by The Independent.

Mr Taghipoor, who is currently in Iran, claimed that his wife's arrest was over comments she had made on a Facebook group about the government being "too Islamic", and that she had only been charged after a confession was extracted from her "under duress". Facebook declined to comment. » | Chris Green | Senior Reporter | Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Saudiarabien: Abdullah bringt 69-jährigen „Jungspund“ in Stellung

König Abdullah

DIE PRESSE: Das wahabitische Wüstenkönigreich steht vor dem heikelsten Machtwechsel seines 80-jährigen Bestehens. Der 90-jährige kranke König Abdullah will bei der Thronfolge nichts dem Zufall überlassen.

Kairo/Riad. Beim Besuch von Barack Obama vergangene Woche trug sein hochbetagter Gastgeber einen Sauerstoffschlauch in der Nase. Über 90 Jahre ist Saudiarabiens König Abdullah alt, rückenleidend, übergewichtig, schnell ermüdend und nur noch per Rollator mobil. Der Monarch habe Krebs und nur noch wenige Monate zu leben, verbreiteten US-Diplomaten, auch wenn er die zwei Stunden Diskussion mit dem 52-jährigen US-Präsidenten offenbar mit Witz und Elan absolviert hat.

Nur 24 Stunden zuvor hat Abdullah wie aus heiterem Himmel seinen jüngsten Halbbruder, Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, zum zweiten Kronprinzen befördert. Die Entscheidung sei „unwiderruflich und kann von niemandem annulliert werden“, hieß es in dem Dekret. » | Von Martin Gehlen | Die Presse | Mittwoch, 02. April 2014

Russians Petition for Return of Alaska

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Not content with annexing Crimea, Russia appears to have its eyes on Alaska

More than 35,000 people have signed a petition on the White House website calling for Alaska to be returned to Russia after 117 years of American rule.

Written in stilted English, the petition says that “groups Siberian Russians” crossed the Bering Strait more than 10,000 years ago.

Alaska was Russian territory until 1867 when it was sold to the United States for $7.2 million (£4.3 million).

Reminders of its days as an outpost of the Tsarist empire persist in the form of the distinctive domed Russian Orthodox churches dotted around some of the [the] towns.

The western tip of Alaska at the end of the Seward Peninsula – named after William Seward, the US secretary of state who handled the negotiations – is only 51 miles from Russia. » | David Millward, US Correspondent | Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Live: Nick Clegg v Nigel Farage TV Debate on the UK and the EU

Inside Story: Turkey Elections: Test of Erdogan’s Rule?

Ruling AK Party sweeps to success in local elections seen as a barometer of public opinion.

Saudi Arabia Declares Atheists Terrorists under New Laws Targeting Citizens Who 'Call for Secular Thought in Any Form'

MAIL ONLINE: Saudi Arabia has officially identified atheists as terrorists in sweeping new laws that threaten up to 20 years in prison for almost any criticism of the government or Islam.

The regulations place secular citizens who commit thought crimes in the same category as violent terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch and Saudi Hezbollah.

Under the new decree by King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia will jail for up to 20 years anyone who fights in conflicts abroad - an apparent move to deter Saudis from joining rebels in Syria.

But the law also applies to any Saudi citizen or a foreigner residing in the kingdom that 'calls for atheist thought in any form or calls into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based.'

The laws have been denounced by human rights groups for making no distinction between religious expression and violent extremism.

'Saudi authorities have never tolerated criticism of their policies, but these recent laws and regulations turn almost any critical expression or independent association into crimes of terrorism,' said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. » | Simon Tomlinson | Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Ku Klux Klan on New Recruitment Drive with Leaflet Drop in Towns across America

The leaflets depict the outline of a hooded figure in white robes
with Klan insignia pointing at the reader in the style of traditional
military recruiting posters, complete with phone numbers and websites

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Residents wake up to find fliers declaring “The KKK wants you” as hatred of Obama and immigration fuels rise in white supremacy

The Ku Klux Klan is on a recruitment drive across America with a new leafleting campaign, as membership numbers grow due to opposition to Barack Obama and increased immigration.

Residents of towns in Texas, Louisiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania emerged from their houses over the weekend to find fliers attached to their doors, car windscreens or on the front lawn declaring “The KKK wants you.”

The leaflets depict the outline of a hooded figure in white robes with Klan insignia pointing at the reader in the style of traditional military recruiting posters, complete with phone numbers and websites.

The Klan and its latest campaign are legal under the US’s strong constitutional right to free speech. The white supremacy group, which aims to oust Mr Obama and stem immigration, is also against interracial marriage and homosexuality. In their contemporary guise, Klan leaders promote non-violent defence of whites “in the race war against us”, according to one website. » | Joanna Walters, New York | Monday, March 31, 2014

Right Triumph: Hollande's Socialist Party Suffers Drubbing at Local Vote in France

Francois Hollande is expected to launch a major cabinet reshuffle, as preliminary results show his Socialist party suffering a bitter defeat in local elections. The far right meanwhile has made a breakthrough, claiming its biggest victory in history