Saudi men are addicted to pornography on the Web; Saudi women, to chatting
SAUDI GAZETTE: Internet addiction has come to the Kingdom, affecting both Saudi men and women, specialists say. Saudi women are primarily addicted to chatting while Saudi men tend to be addicted to pornography sites.

The growing popularity of the internet among Saudis coupled with the decreasing price of Internet connections, more and more psychologists are seeing patients who complain of internet addictions.

"Internet addiction is becoming a big problem," said Ibtihal Abo Baker, a psychotherapist practicing in Riyadh. "People are escaping reality and running away from their pain to an online retreat. They are basically using the internet as a survival mechanism."

While men seem to be finding sexual revelations online, Saudi women are finding an unsheltered world platform where they can enter men's majleses, argue, discuss, vent their inner feeling and chat with anyone from any part of the world and of any sex. Many Saudis find Internet Overly Enticing (Read on) by Suzan Zawawi

Mark Alexander

Muslim radicals establishing Shari’ah law in UK

Photo courtesy of The Daily Express

DAILY EXPRESS: MUSLIM radicals have established their own draconian court systems in Britain.

Controversial Sharia courts have been set up in major towns and cities to impose Islamic law and enable Muslims to shun the legitimate British legal system.

Last night religious leaders and politicians expressed outrage that Sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in our society.

Critics insisted that the Govern­ment is allowing a two-tier legal system to flourish in the name of political correctness and that the authority of UK justice is being undermined. Now Muslims get their own laws in Britain (Read on) by Paul Jeeves

Mark Alexander

The Muslims’ fascination with rumours and conspiracy theories
GULF NEWS: The Muslim world seems to be in the grip of all kinds of rumours. The willingness of large numbers of Muslims to believe some outrageous assertions reflects pervasive insecurity coupled with widespread ignorance.

The contemporary Muslim fascination for conspiracy theories limits the capacity for rational discussion of international affairs. For example, a recent poll indicates that only 3 per cent of Pakistanis believe that Al Qaida was responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the US, notwithstanding Osama Bin Laden and his deputies have taken credit for the attacks on more than one occasion.

The acceptance of rumours and the readiness to embrace the notion of a conspiracy does not apply exclusively to the realm of politics. Villagers in rural Nigeria are refusing to administer the polio vaccine to their infant children out of fear that the vaccine will make their offspring sterile.

Some religious leaders in Pakistan's Pashtun tribal areas bordering Afghanis-tan have also voiced concerns about a "Western-Zionist conspiracy" to sterilise the next generation of Muslims as part of what they allege is an "ongoing war against Islam". Reasons for decline of the Muslim world (Read on)

Mark Alexander

A sad end to an illustrious career: Lord John Browne could face charges of perjury

Photo of Jeff Chevalier courtesy of The Sun

BBC: Former BP chief Lord John Browne may now face charges of perjury amid allegations that he lied to a court about a gay partner, reports say.

Lord Browne quit on Tuesday after the Mail on Sunday won a court battle to print details of his private life.

He also apologised that legal statements he made about a relationship with Jeff Chevalier were "untruthful".

The newspaper said it would be handing its "evidence" against him to the Attorney General for investigation.

The newspaper said it would be handing its "evidence" against him to the Attorney General for investigation.

However, the judge in the High Court case said that he would not be referring the matter as he believed that disclosure in the judgement of Lord Browne's behaviour was "probably sufficient punishment". ’Perjury’ threat for ex-BP boss (Read on)

WATCH BBC VIDEO: BP chief executive resigns

BUSINESS TELEGRAPH (Comment): How Browne's white lie overshadowed a golden career by Tom Stevenson

THE SUN: BP millionaire quits over fibs by Andrew Porter

BBC: Being gay in the world of big business

BBC: Does the UK have a ‘pink plateau’? by Anthony Reuben

Mark Alexander

The UK attracts the super rich
WATCH BBC VIDEO: Super rich drawn to Britain
Mark Alexander

Islamic finance has “bright future”
KUWAIT TIMES: LONDON: Islamic finance, so described because of its adherence to sharia law, has a bright future in a world awash with petrodollars and with growing interest from traditional banks, experts say. According to the American credit agency Standard and Poor's, assets in the sector have grown to $500 billion, driven by growth of more than 10 percent per year for a decade. It is also benefiting from gathering interest in the eyes of the public, as trade and investment between East and West improves.

"Mounting demand around the world for sharia-compliant financial products and services is fuelling the Islamic banking industry's buoyant expansion," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Anouar Hassoune in a report published this week. Sharia-compliant products appeared in their modern form in the mid-1970s with the foundation of the Dubai Islamic Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank, opposed to investments in certain industries and the paying of interest (riba in Arabic). 'Halal' finance attracts scores (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Press freedom on the wane throughout the world
KUWAIT TIMES: NEW YORK: Press freedom around the world deteriorated last year due to coups, attempts to stifle political opposition and regulate use of the Internet, a leading watchdog said in a report yesterday. US-based Freedom House outlined what it said were particularly troubling trends in Asia, the former Soviet Union and Latin America, in a report that warned that democracy as a whole would likely suffer. "Press freedom is like the canary in the coal mine," the group's executive director Jennifer Windsor said in a statement. Press freedom around the world in decline (Read on)

Mark Alexander

’Shot in the Arm’ for Religion on Campuses
NEW YORK TIMES: Peter J. Gomes has been at Harvard University for 37 years, and says he remembers when religious people on campus felt under siege. To be seen as religious often meant being dismissed as not very bright, he said.

No longer. At Harvard these days, said Professor Gomes, the university preacher, “There is probably more active religious life now than there has been in 100 years.”
Across the country, on secular campuses as varied as Colgate University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember. Matters of Faith Find a New Prominence on Campus (Read on)

Mark Alexander

The Outing of Lord Browne
Lord Browne, chief executive of petroleum giant BP, and one of Britain's most successful businessmen, has resigned after he was exposed as having lied about his private life.

He had been expected to stand down shortly, following shareholder dissatisfaction with his performance and a series of disasters - including an oil spill in Alaska and the tragic Texas refinery fire which resulted in 15 deaths - but what prompted Lord Browne's sudden resignation was the revelation that he lied in court about how he met his former male partner - a lie he has now acknowledged and for which he has apologised.

The way the two men met cannot be revealed, because of a ban imposed by the Court of Appeal in March. Suffice to say that they met in a perfectly legal manner, even though Lord Browne apparently found it embarrassing and did not want it to become public knowledge.

In marked contrast to the vicious homophobia directed against gay public figures in the 1980s, it was not Lord Browne's same-sex relationship that forced him to step down, nor BP's recent tarnished environmental and safety record. It was his dishonesty and his attempted cover-up that forced him out. Down and out in the City

Out in the macho world of oil

Mark Alexander

US Department of Justice might launch formal inquiry into allegations of bribery and corruption by BAE Systems
TIMESONLINE: The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is in talks to establish whether it can launch a formal inquiry into alleged bribery and corruption in BAE Systems, The Times has learnt.

Mike O’Brien, the Solicitor-General, acknowledged that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has met the DoJ to discuss allegations of corrupt practices by BAE.

The DoJ is understood to be looking into whether it has the jurisdiction to pursue BAE over payments allegedly made to win defence contracts from foreign governments. The British Government terminated a similar investigation by the SFO in December amid fears that it would cause a breakdown in relations with Saudi Arabia.

The SFO has six continuing investigations into BAE, involving contracts won from South Africa, Chile, Romania, Tanzania, Qatar and the Czech Republic. Last week it emerged that an official at the US Embassy in London had complained formally to the British Government over the decision to stop the SFO’s Saudi investigation. US seeks to pursue BAE over claims company paid bribes (Read on) by David Robertson

Mark Alexander

In Deutschland hoffen manche Politiker auf die Verwirklichung eines “deutschen Islams”. Die Deutschen selber dürfen lange Zeit nur hoffen darauf!

Photo courtesy of Google Images

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Erst ganz allmählich hat sich in der deutschen Politik die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass die meisten der sechs Millionen „Gastarbeiter“, die seit Mitte der fünfziger Jahren ins Land gekommen sind, hier bleiben werden. Die Rückkehr in die geliebte Heimat blieb für viele Einwanderer ein Traum, der zur Wirklichkeit immer weniger passte. Heute trifft man auf dem Kreuzberger Wochenmarkt türkische Mütterchen, die seit vierzig Jahren in Deutschland leben und noch nicht einmal das Wort „Tomate“ kennen. Viele ältere Männer sprechen Deutsch in gestotterten Substantiven. Für etwa 25.000 junge Türken werden in jedem Jahr angeblich unverdorbene Bräute aus dem Heimatland importiert.

Zwei Irrtümer prägten zwanzig Jahre lang die Debatte: Deutschland sei „kein Einwanderungsland“ lautete die konservative Überzeugung. Als Zeichen von Buntheit und Vielfalt (“Multikulti“) interpretierten Linke Integrationsversäumnisse und Wirklichkeitsverweigerung der Einwanderer. Beide Seiten fochten - letztlich ohne nennenswertes Ergebnis - ideologische Streitereien aus. Wirklichkeit überwindet Wunschdenken Von Peter Carstens

Mark Alexander

A Gay Story with No ‘Gay’ Ending

Photo courtesy of Times Online

YAHOO NEWS: BP chief executive Lord Browne has resigned following a court's decision to lift a legal injunction preventing the media reporting details of his relationship with a gay lover.

The firm, which said it accepted Lord Browne's resignation with the "deepest regret", said the chief executive would lose his entitlement to a leaving package worth £3.5m and a potential £12m in shares. BP Chief Resigns Over Gay Lover Story (Read on)

THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Browne resigns after revelations he lied in court about gay lover by Joshua Rozenberg

THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Browne of Madingley's resignation statement

Mark Alexander

The Annulment of Turkey’s Presidency Vote
BBC: The constitutional court in Turkey has annulled last Friday's parliamentary vote to elect a new president.

The only candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, failed to win the required majority after a boycott by secularist opposition parties.

The parties, which accuse Mr Gul of a hidden Islamist agenda, asked the court to rule that there was no quorum.
The government says despite the ruling it will try to achieve a quorum with a new vote on Wednesday. Turkey's presidency vote annulled (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Turkish Police Launch Dramatic Clampdown on Left-Wing Demonstrators
BBC: Nearly 600 people have been arrested in Istanbul as police launched a dramatic clampdown on left-wing demonstrators trying to hold a May Day rally.

Officers fired tear gas and used batons to stop the crowd marching to Taksim Square, where they were due to mark the 30th anniversary of "Bloody May Day". Hundreds detained in Turkey rally (Read on)

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Clashes at Turkey rally

TIMESONLINE: Appeal for calm as markets get jitters over Turkey crisis

Mark Alexander

Nichts Positives im Bericht über Olmerts Rolle im Libanon-Feldzug
NZZ: Ruf nach Rücktritt des Regierungschefs
Israels Regierungschef Olmert reagiert mit bemerkenswerter Sturheit auf den Bericht über seine Rolle im Libanon-Feldzug. Darin gebe es aber kein einziges positives Wort, das sein Verbleiben an der Macht rechtfertige, schreibt die Zeitung Haaretz. Die Rufe nach seinem Rücktritt kommen inzwischen nicht nur aus den Medien sondern auch aus seinem eigenen Kabinett. Olmert in Israel zunehmend auf verlorenem Posten (mehr)

LE FIGARO: Israël : Ehud Olmert poussé vers la sortie

Mark Alexander

”Ni Royal, ni Sarkozy”, dit Le Pen
LE FIGARO: Le leader du Front national a appelé ses électeurs à "s’abstenir massivement" pour le second tour de l'élection présidentielle.

Dans un discours fleuve au cours duquel il a longuement rendu hommage à Jeanne d’Arc, Jean-Marie Le Pen n’a pas donné de consigne de votes pour le second tour de la présidentielle. "J'invite les électeurs qui m'ont fait confiance à n'accorder leur suffrage ni à Mme Royal, ni à M. Sarkozy et à s'abstenir massivement", a-t-il déclaré, place de l’Opéra, à la fin du défilé du 1er mai. Le Pen : "ni Royal, ni Sarkozy" au second tour (encore)

LE MONDE: Jean-Marie Le Pen appelle ses électeurs à "s'abstenir massivement" le 6 mai

Mark Alexander

Saudi Arabia Beheads by the Sword Rapist from Mauritania
KUWAIT TIMES: RIYADH: A Mauritanian convicted of rape and a Saudi convicted of murder were beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia yesterday, the interior ministry said. Mohammed Al-Mami Baba Ould Baba, who was found guilty of breaking into three houses and raping an unspecified number of women, was executed in the Muslim holy city of Medina, said a ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. Saudi Arabia beheads rapist and murderer

Mark Alexander

Body Language in the Gulf
KUWAIT TIMES: Body language occupies a dramatic place in the Arab culture since misinterpreting or using a sign that elsewhere means one thing, or even nothing at all, could in Kuwait lead to a faux pas. Body language across the Middle East is distinctly different and diverse, thus it is strongly recommendable to be learnt for the sake of avoiding unintentional insults. Hand Talk: Communicating physically (Read on) by Velina Nacheva

Mark Alexander

Scandal at the Top in Washington
TIMESONLINE: An alleged madam accused of running a prostitution ring for the power elite of Washington vowed yesterday to reveal dozens of high-profile names in what is shaping up to be the biggest sex scandal in the US capital for more than a decade.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who handed the telephone numbers of up to 15,000 clients to a US television network last week, said that she would identify as many well-known figures as possible to subpoena them as defence witnesses.

Ms Palfrey’s list of telephone numbers, that weighs in at 46lb (21kg) and has landed like a bombshell in political Washington, has already cost one deputy to Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, his job and thrust another official — the Pentagon adviser who coined the term “shock and awe” — to the heart of the scandal. ’Madam’ threatens to name and shame (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Gun Laws Tightened in Virginia
BBC: Virginia governor Timothy M Kaine has tightened the state's gun laws in response to the killing of 32 people at Virginia Tech earlier this month.

Mr Kaine issued an executive order banning people found to be dangerous and ordered to have involuntary mental health treatment from purchasing guns. Virginia closes firearms loophole (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Whichever way you slice it, Mr Wolfowitz, you are not wanted at ‘The World Bank’

Photo of Mr Wolfowitz courtesy of Google Images

BBC: World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has said he would not resign in the face of "bogus" charges against him.

In a statement to a panel of World Bank directors, the embattled chief said he was the victim of a "smear campaign".
Mr Wolfowitz was defending himself against accusations that he pushed through a huge pay package for his girlfriend without the Bank's consent.

The committee is due to report to the Bank's board of 24 representatives, who will decide on the president's fate.
Mr Wolfowitz has apologised for his actions, vowing to stay on to complete what he called "important work".

Earlier, US President George W Bush said he believed Mr Wolfowitz "ought to stay" in his job. I will not resign, says Wolfowitz

Mark Alexander

Germany Warms to the US

Photo courtesy of SpiegelOnline International

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reoriented Germany away from Russia and toward the United States. Expanded economic ties are just one area of renewed cooperation. But could Germany get burned like the British did? Germany Rediscovers the US as a Partner (Read on)

Mark Alexander

New Light Shed on Hitler’s World War I Years
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Hitler's years in the German army during World War I have long been a mystery due to the lack of eyewitness accounts. Now a memoir written by a forgotten German author of fantastic literature has been rediscovered -- and sheds new light on the Führer. Eye-Witness Account of Hitler’s WWI Years Found (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Turkey’s Growing Political Crisis
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The threat of an army coup hangs over Turkey in a dispute about a presidential election that has once again exposed the country's deep divide between secularists and Islamists. Analysts hope the constitutional court will reduce tensions by annulling the vote and prompting fresh parliamentary elections. Alarm Grows over Political Crisis in Turkey (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Is a New Cold War Looming on the Horizon?
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Russian list of grievances with the West is growing: the planned US missile shield in Eastern Europe, plans for an independent Kosovo, NATO overtures to former Soviet Republics, and now Estonia moving a Soviet war memorial. As president of the EU, Germany is desperately trying to keep the peace between East and West. German Foreign Minister Warns against a New Cold War (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Vladimir Poutine réitéré son hostilité au déploiement d'éléments du bouclier antimissile américain en République tchèque et en Pologne
LE FIGARO: Le président russe a suspendu l'application d'un important traité de désarmement conventionnel en Europe.

VLADIMIR POUTINE l'a dit lui-même hier en prononçant son dernier discours à la nation avant l'élection présidentielle de mars 2008 : ceux qui attendaient un testament auront été déçus. Mais il a été clair : « Le prochain discours à la nation sera fait par un nouveau président. » Il a ainsi répété son intention de respecter la Constitution qui interdit un troisième mandat présidentiel consécutif. Et ce, malgré la multiplication récente d'appels de personnalités à une révision constitutionnelle qui permettrait à leur champion et protecteur de se représenter. Nouvelle charge de Poutine contre l'Occident (encore)

Mark Alexander

Life for Plotters
BBC: Five men have been jailed for life for a UK bomb plot linked to al-Qaeda that could have killed hundreds of people.

Jurors in the year-long Old Bailey trial heard of plans to target a shopping centre, nightclub and the gas network with a giant fertiliser bomb.

The judge, Sir Michael Astill, said the men, all British citizens, had "betrayed their country". Five get life over UK bomb plot (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Crise boursière en Turquie
LE FIGARO: La crise politique opposant laïcs et gouvernement en Turquie se mue ce matin en crise boursière. Le principal indice d'Istanbul perd près de 6%. La monnaie du pays, la Lire, est également en chute libre. La bourse d'Istanbul en chute libre sur fond de crise politique (encore)

Mark Alexander

Die Türkei befindet sich in “Ausnahmezustand”
NZZ: Das türkische Militär droht kaum verhüllt mit einem Putsch. Die Drohgebärde der Generäle und die Mobilisierung Hunderttausender, die auf den Straßen für eine säkulare Türkei demonstrieren, zeigen: Das Land befindet sich faktisch im Ausnahmezustand. Von Günther Nonnenmacher. Ausnahme Zustand in Ankara (mehr) Von Günther Nonnenmacher

Erdogan kündigt Rede an Nation an

Mark Alexander

Wolfowitz Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Photo of Wolfowitz courtesy of Google Images

TIMESONLINE: Paul Wolfowitz will plead to keep his job as President of the World Bank today before a special investigating committee, which is said to have concluded that he breached ethics by engineering a pay rise for his girlfriend.

The fate of Mr Wolfowitz, who in his former role at the Pentagon was one of the architects of the Iraq war, has opened up a new split between EU countries and the US. Wolfowitz is given time to go quietly (Read on) by Tom Baldwin in Washington

Mark Alexander

Turks Take to Streets to Demonstrate; Stock Market and Lira Hit

Photo courtesy of TIMESONLINE

TIMESONLINE: Hundreds of thousands of secularist Turks took to the streets for the second time in two weeks yesterday after a dramatic intervention by the military in an attempt to stop Abdullah Gul becoming the first Turkish President with an Islamist past.

Demonstrators in Istanbul carried blood-red national flags and posters of Kemal Atatürk, the founder of a secular Turkey. Banners read: “Sharia (Islamic law) shall not rise to the Presidential Palace.” Protesters and military see red as Islamist heads for presidency (Read on) by Suna Erdem in Istanbul

FINANCIAL TIMES: Turkish court to rule on presidential crisis

Mark Alexander

Clampdown: Iran Now Bans Western Hairstyles for Men
BBC: Iranian police have warned barbers not to give men western hair styles or use make up on them.

The move is part of an unusually fierce crackdown on what is known locally as bad hijab, or un-Islamic clothing, that this year is also targeting men.

Hair stylists have been warned that they could lose their licenses if they do not comply.

However, police have denied a report that they have ordered barbers not to serve customers wearing ties. Iran ban on 'Western' hairstyles (Read on)

BBC: Tehran dress code: Iranian views

Mark Alexander

In der Türkei spitzt sich der Konflikt zwischen der Regierung und der Armee zu
Konflikt zwischen Regierung und Militär um Präsidentschaftskandidatur Güls
NZZ: Inmitten neuer Massenproteste in der Türkei spitzt sich der Konflikt zwischen Regierung und Militär im Streit über die Präsidentenwahl zu. Justizminister Cemik Cicek wies eine Erklärung des Generalstabs als inakzeptabel zurück, in der dieser seine Sorge über die Wahl zum Ausdruck brachte und vor einer Abkehr von der säkularen Staatsordnung warnte. Die Lage in der Türkei spitzt sich zu (mehr)

BBC: Huge rally for Turkish secularism

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Thousands of Turks protest

Mark Alexander

Mind what you say when in Britain. Your class and standing in society are still reflected in your choice of vocabulary

Photo courtesy of Google Images

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Even in new, egalitarian Britain, everyone seems ready to believe in the return of the class war that had supposedly ended in a truce years ago.

Did a "toilet" come between them?

We will probably never know. But the reports last week that Prince William and his girlfriend, Kate Middleton, broke up in part because of her mother's so-called middle-class behavior, including using the word toilet for bathroom, are a vivid reminder that class issues still bubble vexingly beneath the surface of British life.

Mrs. Middleton's other missteps, apparently, included having once worked as a flight attendant, a fact that caused some of William's friends to cattily mutter "Doors to manual" whenever Kate came into the room.

But it doesn't really matter what she did or did not do. What is significant is that even in new, egalitarian Britain, everyone seemed so mesmerized by accounts of it, so ready to believe in the return of the class war that had supposedly ended in a truce years ago. Why Can't the English Just Give Up That Class Folderol? (Read on) by Sarah Lyall

Mark Alexander

The Bush Administration, Prince Bandar, King Abdullah, and Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

Image courtesy of Google Images
NEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON, April 28 — No foreign diplomat has been closer or had more access to President Bush, his family and his administration than the magnetic and fabulously wealthy Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia.

Prince Bandar has mentored Mr. Bush and his father through three wars and the broader campaign against terrorism, reliably delivering — sometimes in the Oval Office — his nation’s support for crucial Middle East initiatives dependent on the regional legitimacy the Saudis could bring, as well as timely warnings of Saudi regional priorities that might put it into apparent conflict with the United States. Even after his 22-year term as Saudi ambassador ended in 2005, he still seemed the insider’s insider. But now, current and former Bush administration officials are wondering if the longtime reliance on him has begun to outlive its usefulness.

Bush administration officials have been scratching their heads over steps taken by Prince Bandar’s uncle, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, that have surprised them by going against the American playbook, after receiving assurances to the contrary from Prince Bandar during secret trips he made to Washington. A Saudi Prince Tied to Bush Is Sounding Off-Key

Mark Alexander

French society seems to have "sacrificed the Jews", says Melanie Philips
MELANIE PHILIPS: A most powerful and disturbing piece by Professor Shmuel Trigano on the parlous state of French Jewry, subjected over the past few years to a shocking degree of physical and existential attack, poses an even bigger question mark over the fate of France itself. Here’s a sample of his argument:

The problem of French Jewry is related, of course, to the emergence on the political stage of a new population, including important sectors that carry a latent antisemitism which has been revived by militant fundamentalism. Because the new population is experiencing significant demographic growth, it is being courted by the political parties. French society seems then to have sacrificed the Jews in order not to alienate French Arabs and Muslims. A fatal choice has been made. French Jews at the crossroads (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Vatican to make every effort to eradicate anti-Semitism
YNET NEWS: Entire section of preparatory document released Friday devoted to Church's relationship with Jews, noting 'close associations of the two in faith,' calling for efforts 'to overcome every form of anti-Semitism'

The need to step up the fight against anti-Semitism will be a key issue for the world's Roman Catholic bishops at a meeting at the Vatican next year.

An entire section of a preparatory document released by the Vatican on Friday is devoted to the Church's relationship with Jews, noting the "close associations of the two in faith" and calling for efforts "to overcome every form of anti-Semitism." Vatican to fight anti-Semitism (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Die Islamisierung der Schweiz setzt sich fort
NZZ: Muslime planen einen 60 bis 80 Millionen Franken teuren Bau mit Moschee, Museum und Viersternhotel

Die Umma, der Dachverband der bernischen Muslimvereine, will in Bern ein islamisches Zentrum realisieren. Entwickelt wird das Konzept von Berner Architekten. Ernst & Young erstellt den Businessplan.

Das Gebäude wird «keine Karikatur und keine Kopie einer Moschee aus einem islamischen Land» sein, vielmehr sollen mit dem Bau «die schweizerische Kultur und die Kultur des Islams» architektonisch verbunden werden. Und zwar auf höchstem Niveau: Ein internationaler Architekturwettbewerb soll sicherstellen, dass im Berner Nordquartier ein Gebäude entsteht, das in Qualität und Ausstrahlung «dem Zentrum Paul Klee von Renzo Piano entspricht». Das sagt Farhad Afshar, islamischer Vertreter im Schweizerischen Rat der Religionen und Sprecher der Umma, des Dachverbands von elf bernischen Muslim-Vereinen. Die Umma ist die treibende Kraft hinter der Idee, in Bern ein grosses islamisches Zentrum zu realisieren. Islam-Zentrum in der Stadt Bern (mehr)

Entscheid über Berner Islam-Zentrum im Herbst: Gemeinderätin kritisiert Muslim-Verein

Mark Alexander

No Limbo, No More
THE TIMES: The Pope has reversed centuries of Roman Catholic teaching and abandoned the concept of limbo, held since mediaeval times to be the place to which the souls of babies who die without baptism are consigned.

The Vatican’s International Theological Commission said that limbo reflected an “unduly restrictive view of salvation”. Limbo is banished on orders of the Pope (Read on) by Richard Owen

Mark Alexander

Enigma: How do such people get so much money in such a short time - legally?
BBC: The fortunes of Britain's wealthiest 1,000 people grew 20% in a year, the Sunday Times Rich List has revealed.

The combined wealth of the top 1,000 now stands at £59bn and there are 68 billionaires in the country, it shows.

The £19bn fortune of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal ensured he kept his title as Britain's richest person.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was ranked second. The Duke of Westminster, ranked third, was the only one in list's top five born in the UK.

Mr Mittal's fortune grew more than £4bn from £14.8bn in 2006, while Mr Abramovich's wealth remained at a hefty £10.8bn, the list suggested.

The Sunday Times said Britain's richest had seen their fortunes grow faster than their equivalents in Europe and worldwide. Wealth of UK richest ‘climbs 20%’ (Read on)

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Super-rich treble wealth in last ten years

THE SUNDAY TIMES RICH LIST

Mark Alexander