Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Brandeis Withdraws Honorary Degree for Islam Critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali
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| Ayaan Hirsi Ali |
A university has reversed a decision to grant an honorary degree to an advocate for Muslim women who has made comments critical of Islam.
Brandeis University said in a statement that Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali would no longer receive the honorary degree, which it had planned to award her at the May 18 commencement.
Ali, a member of the Dutch parliament from 2003 to 2006, has been quoted as making comments critical of Islam. That includes a 2007 interview with Reason Magazine [sic] in which she said of the religion: "Once it's defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It's very difficult to even talk about peace now. They're not interested in peace. I think that we are at war with Islam. And there's no middle ground in wars."
Brandeis, outside Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts, said it was not aware of Ali's statements earlier.
"She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women's rights, and we respect and appreciate her work to protect and defend the rights of women and girls throughout the world," said the university's statement. "That said, we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values." Read on and comment » | Associated Press | Wednesday, April 09, 2014
REASON.COM: Did Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Reason Interview Sink Her at Brandeis? » | Nick Gillespie | Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Sajid Javid: The Millionaire Bus Conductor's Son with a Portrait of Margaret Thatcher on His Wall
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| Sajid Javid: 'This is the root of my conservative beliefs. My mother and father had nothing and, like many people in their adopted country, worked their way up.' |
Sajid Javid, the millionaire son of a bus driver, has become the first Asian man to be given a full time job in the Cabinet.
The promotion to Culture Secretary crowns a remarkable ascent to the top of the Government by Mr Javid, who only entered Parliament in 2010.
Mr Javid sacrificed a huge amount to become an MP. He became an MP after running Deutsche Bank’s trading operations in Asia, where he is reported by Bloomberg to have earned around £3 million a year.
Mr Javid was picked out as a high flier from early on, almost immediately joining the work and pensions committee.
He was made economic secretary to the Treasury in 2012, rising up the departmental ranks the following year to the more senior role of financial secretary. » | Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent | Wednesday, April 09, 2014
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sajid Javid and Nicky Morgan join Cabinet after Maria Miller quits: Prime Minister makes ex-banker educated at state school new Culture Secretary after Maria Miller quits over expenses » | Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent | Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Inside Story: Is Russia Planning to Destabilise Ukraine?
Iraq Ready to Legalise Childhood Marriage
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| An Iraqi woman walks with her fully-veiled daughter in Baghdad |
Children in Iraq could be legally married before the age of nine under sweeping legislation tabled on Tuesday that introduces new religious restrictions on women's rights.
As almost its last act before elections at the end of the month, the Iraqi parliament looks likely to pass new marital rules for its majority Shia community with a draft law criticised by human rights activists as "legalised inquality"[.]
The legislation has been approved by the governing coalition in an effort to attract support from Shia Muslims in the April 30 vote.
Current Iraqi law sets the legal age for marriage at 18 without parental approval and states girls as young as 15 can be married only with a guardian's approval. It does not allow for special provisions according to sect.
But the legislation, known as the Jaafari law, introduces rules almost identical to those of neighbouring Iran, a Shia-dominated Islamic theocracy. » | Damien McElroy | Tuesday, April 08, 2014
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Iraq: Don’t Legalize Marriage for 9-Year-Olds: Draft Law Huge Step Back for Women, Girls » | Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Venezuela Protests Are Sign That US Wants Our Oil, Says Nicolás Maduro
Monday, April 07, 2014
Muslim Parents Object to Easter Egg Hunt
Ukraine Crisis: Donetsk Officials ‘Proclaim Independence from Kiev’ and Set Date for Referendum on Joining Russia
The eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk has reportedly declared itself independent from the central government in Kiev and set a date for a referendum on joining Russia, according to local media reports.
The local government building was taken over last night by pro-Russian activists, and today members of the regional legislature moved to declare the city and its surrounds the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Russian news agency Itar Tass reported.
The Ukrainian prime minister denounced the creation of a separatist state, describing it as part of a Russian plan to invade the east of the country. » | Adam Withnall | Monday, April 07, 2014
Trois femmes émiraties attaquées au marteau
A Londres, trois femmes émiraties ont été victimes d'une agression dans un hôtel de luxe. Un homme les a frappées à coups de marteau alors qu'elles dormaient.
Selon les enquêteurs, le suspect se serait introduit dans la chambre située au septième étage du Cumberland, un hôtel quatre étoiles situé près de Marble Arch, où les trois femmes, originaires des Emirats arabes unis, dormaient.
«L'homme aurait ensuite été dérangé par l'une des occupantes de la chambre. Il aurait alors frappé les femmes avec un marteau qui a été retrouvé sur les lieux», ont déclaré les enquêteurs. » | afp/Newsnet | lundi 07 avril 2014
The Stream: Marriage in Kenya: A Man's World?
'Extremist’ Working as Psychiatrist for NHS
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| Dr Imran Waheed |
A British doctor responsible for the care of some of the country’s most vulnerable people can today be exposed as a senior leader of a radical Islamist party banned in several countries.
Dr Imran Waheed is a consultant psychiatrist at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust, one of the largest of its kind in the country.
He specialises in the treatment of sexual dysfunction, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and obsessive compulsive disorders, and also provides advice to courts in criminal cases on potentially dangerous individuals.
But Dr Waheed is also the spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir, which campaigns for a caliphate ruled by Sharia.
Dr Waheed is the group’s chief media adviser and is listed by the organisation as one of its six leading members in Britain.
Under a caliphate, men and women would be segregated in public places and women and non-Muslims would be banned from holding positions of power. Alcohol would also be banned, along with same-sex relationships. Critics have said his professional role conflicts with his extreme views on women’s rights, alcohol, and same-sex relationships. » | Patrick Sawer and Ben Lazarus | Sunday, April 06, 2014
Sunday, April 06, 2014
How CIA Used Copies of Doctor Zhivago in Battle to Win Cold War
t had all the hallmarks of a classic Cold War spy caper, and it began in January 1958 when British intelligence’s Moscow station delivered two rolls of microfilm into the hands of the CIA’s Langley headquarters.
However the films showed not the blueprints for a new Soviet warplane or ballistic missile, but something potentially even more powerful in the ideological war between East and West: the complete Russian text of Boris Pasternak’s masterpiece, Doctor Zhivago.
In a nine-point memo, marked Secret but recently declassified, British intelligence said it was “in favour of exploiting the book”, warning that Soviet censors were already putting pressure on Pasternak to put out a “revised” version of the novel. » | Peter Foster, Washington | Sunday, April 06, 2014
Lara’s Theme »
Doctor Zhivago: Trailer (1965) »
Négociations: Israël menace les Palestiniens de représailles
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| Le premier ministre israélien, Benyamin Nétanyahou. |
«Nous répondrons (...) par des mesures unilatérales à toutes les mesures unilatérales qu'ils (les Palestiniens) prendront», a affirmé le premier ministre israélien, Benyamin Nétanyahou, lors du conseil des ministres.
Ces démarches palestiniennes, elles-mêmes lancées en réaction au refus d'Israël de libérer un dernier contingent de prisonniers comme prévu dans le cadre des pourparlers de paix, «ne feront qu'éloigner un accord de paix», a-t-il martelé.
«Les Palestiniens ont beaucoup à perdre d'une démarche unilatérale. Ils n'obtiendront un État que par des négociations directes (avec Israël) et pas par des déclarations vides, ni par des décisions unilatérales», a averti le premier ministre. «Nous sommes prêts à continuer les pourparlers, mais pas à n'importe quel prix». » | Daphne Rousseau | Agence France-Presse | Jerusalem | dimanche 06 avril 2014
Retired Art Teacher Committed Suicide because of Frustration with Modern Life
A retired art teacher committed suicide at the Dignitas clinic because she was frustrated at the lack of interaction in modern life, because of our reliance on computers and the Internet.
The 89-year-old, who asked only to be identified as Anne before her death, was frustrated with the trappings of modern life, including fast food, consumerism and the amount of time people spend watching television.
Anne, a former electrician with the Royal Navy, was not terminally ill or seriously handicapped and travelled to Dignitas in Switzerland last month.
Before her death she told the Sunday Times [£]: “People are becoming more and more remote … We are becoming robots. It is this lack of humanity.”
She described the modern age as “cutting corners” and said she could not adapt to it, as she felt all the traditional ways of doing things had disappeared. » | Claire Carter | Sunday, April 06, 2014
Why It Is More Important Than Ever to Invest in Defence of Democracy
Sixty-five years ago this month, Nato was born into a dangerous world. As the Soviet shadow deepened across Europe, 12 nations from both sides of the Atlantic committed to individual liberty, democracy, human rights and the rule of law determined to stand together to safeguard their security.
Those nations were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States. They took the most solemn pledge that any country can take: an attack on one would be viewed as an attack on all.
Today’s Nato brings together a unique combination of the world’s strongest democracies with an integrated military structure, a permanent political decision-making process and a network of more than 40 partners from around the world. It is where Europeans and North Americans consult, decide and act every day on security issues that concern us all. We have learned much from the last 20 years of challenging operations, from Afghanistan to Kosovo, from Libya to the Horn of Africa. We are now more efficient and effective than at any time in Nato’s history.
We still live in a dangerous world, and the threats are more complex and unpredictable than 65 years ago. Some are new: cyber and missile attacks. Others are age-old: attempts to redraw borders by force. What has not changed is Nato’s commitment to our fundamental values and purpose. Our motto remains: all for one, one for all. » | Anders Fogh Rasmussen | Sunday, April 06, 2014
Anders Fogh Rasmussen is the secretary general of Nato
La polémique sur les parallèles Poutine/Hitler s'enlise
Moscou entend mettre fin aux parallèles «Poutine/Hitler» qui se développent depuis l'annexion de la Crimée par la Russie. La Douma a examiné vendredi en première lecture un projet de loi visant à sanctionner «la négation de l'action des armées de la coalition anti-hitlérienne pour soutenir la paix mondiale et la sécurité ainsi que la diffusion d'informations mensongères relatives à la Seconde Guerre mondiale». La «réhabilitation du nazisme» sera punie, au maximum, d'une peine de prison de cinq ans. » | Par Pierre Avril, Nicolas Barotte | vendredi 04 avril 2014
Did Pot Legalization Do More Harm Than Good In Colorado?
Saudi-Arabien: Monarchie am Tropf
Beim Besuch von Barack Obama letzte Woche trug sein hochbetagter Gastgeber einen Sauerstoffschlauch in der Nase. Über 90 Jahre alt ist Saudi-Arabiens König Abdullah, rückenleidend, übergewichtig, schnell ermüdend und nur noch per Rollator beweglich. Der Monarch habe Krebs und nur noch wenige Monate zu leben, verbreiteten amerikanische Diplomaten, auch wenn er die zwei Stunden Diskussion mit dem eine Generation jüngeren US-Präsidenten offenbar mit Witz und Elan absolvierte.
Erst 24 Stunden zuvor hatte Abdullah wie aus heiterem Himmel seinen jüngsten Halbbruder, Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, zum zweiten Kronprinzen befördert. Weiter lesen und einen Beitrag hinzufügen » | Von Martin Gehlen | Sonntag, 06. April 2014
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