Owen Jones: Gay People Have Come a Long Way – But Hatred Is Still Out There
THE INDEPENDENT: Outright bigotry is in retreat, but a substantial chunk of the population still has a problem

When it comes to homophobia, it's fair to say that ex-Everton football player Michael Ball doesn't mince his words. "That fucking queer," he tweeted about Coronation Street's Antony Cotton. "Get back to your sewing machine in Corrie, you moaning bastard." His aggressive antipathy towards gay people is shared by Jason Gibbs, a former Brighton teacher who called his students "poofs" and "batty boys", warning one class not to "go into the shower because this group will start bending you over and do you up the ass".

Both episodes are unpleasant reminders that anti-gay hatred hasn't gone away. But they also offer hope, too, about just how far we've come. Ball's bigoted tirade landed him with a £6,000 fine from the Football Association on Tuesday – the highest the body has ever imposed for homophobia; the same day, Gibbs was banned from teaching indefinitely.

There was more evidence of progress in how the media reported the 60th birthday of veteran gay rights activist Peter Tatchell on Wednesday. Throughout his tireless campaign for gay equality and dignity, he has been pilloried, demonised, and marginalised; but this week, journalists patronised him as a "national treasure". It's a fate which befalls radicals who are no longer regarded as a threat: iconic left-winger Tony Benn, who has been transformed from the "most dangerous man in Britain" to a kindly grandfather figure, is another classic example. But in Benn's case, it was because the left was beaten; Tatchell is no longer a threat because the gay rights movement has vanquished nearly all before it.

There has undoubtedly never been a better time to be a gay man in Britain, and that's down to the courageous sacrifices and struggles of activists like Tatchell. Anyone aged over 45 was born into a country where having sex with another man was sufficient grounds to have you locked up. » | Owen Jones | Friday, January 27, 2012

Online Reaction to Guilty Verdict Reached in Shafia Murder Trial




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Why Women Convert to Islam
SUN NEWS: A landmark project exploring why women convert to Islam wraps up at England's prestigious University of Cambridge this weekend.

Organizers say that one of the main reasons for hosting Narratives of Conversion to Islam in Britain is "a general sense of frustration" with the media's "one-dimensional portrayals of female conversion."

They say that these focus on women who marry into the faith, and suggest that they do so at the expense of their independence and liberty.

"Judging by what the media tends to write about Islam, you would expect liberal-minded, intellectually-engaged women from non-Muslim backgrounds to give it a wide berth," Prof. Yasir Suleiman, the project's leader, says on the university's site.

"It seems to be a religion that clashes with our ideas about modernity. Yet, the paradox is that there is a noticeable number of well-educated, intellectually-engaged women with high-flying careers who are choosing to become Muslims. So the question is, how do we explain this?" » | QMI Agency | Sunday, January 29, 2012

Family Convicted in Canada ‘Honor Murders’


Read the article here | Paula Newton, CNN | Sunday, January 29, 2012
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1941: Die Entscheidung für den Holocaust wird gefasst
Auf der Wannseekonferenz 1942, heißt es, wurde die systematische Judenvernichtung beschlossen. Doch die Entscheidung zur sogenannten "Endlösung der Judenfrage" war bereits früher gefallen. Bereits im Jahr 1941, parallel zum Ostfeldzug, kam er auf die Tagesordnung.
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Alltag einer alleinerziehenden Mutter: Ein Kind, kein Mann, drei Jobs
Frau Tiffert gehört zu der oft zitierten Gruppe Alleinerziehender, die in Deutschland finanziell besonders schlecht gestellt sind. Weil sie aber nicht allein auf die Unterstützung des Staates vertrauen will, arbeitet sie. Und zwar für drei. Alltag einer Multijobberin. (22.01.2012)
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Romney Surges in Run-up to Florida Primary
Competition between the Republican party's presidential hopefuls is intensifying ahead of next week's primary in Florida. The respective rivalries between their supporters are also heating up as evidenced by the election-season outbreak of "attack ads". Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Los Angeles.

Police Chief Angers NY Muslims
The appearance by the New York police department commissioner, Ray Kelly, in a film depicting an "Islamic flag" over the White House and Muslims shooting Christians has angered the city's Muslim population. The Muslim community sees the screening of the film to 1,500 trainees and Kelly's participation in it - which he at first denied but later admitted to after his appearance became public knowledge - as part of a pattern of discrimination against their community. Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler reports from New York

Interview with Anita McNaught on Syria
Al Jazeera's correspondent Anita McNaught talks from the Turkish border with Syria on the situation within Syria.

One of the World's Oldest Qur'ans Goes on Display at the British Museum in London

ISLAM TODAY: One of the oldest known manuscripts of the Qur'an in existence went on show at the British Museum Friday ahead of a new exhibition.

The Qur'an, lent by the British Library, will be part of the exhibition, "Hajj: Journey To The Heart Of Islam:, the first-ever major collection dedicated to the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in what is today Saudi Arabia.

The copy of the Qur'an is thought to date from the 8th century AD, according to the British Library.

Known as the Ma'il Qur'an, it was probably copied in Mecca or Madinah. The script is known as Ma’il, meaning sloping, on account of the pronounced slant to the right, and it is one of a number of scripts developed in the early Islamic period for the copying of the Qur'an. » | Islam Today/Agencies | Saturday, January 14, 2012

Actor’s Praise a Boost for Muslims

ADELAIDE NOW: ACTOR Liam Neeson's announcement that he may convert to Islam may help promote acceptance of the faith.

Neeson, 59, recently said he was inspired by the Islamic call to prayer while filming in Istanbul.

"There are 4000 mosques in the city (Istanbul) - some are just stunning, and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim," he said.

"The call to prayer happens five times a day, and for the first week, it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit, and it's the most beautiful thing." Neeson, a Roman Catholic, said he had always been religious and was always questioning the meaning of life.

Australian New Muslims Association president Said Kanawati said celebrity converts to Islam were welcome. He said having celebrities accept Islam would help challenge the way people saw the religion. » | Tom Bowden | The Advertiser | Monday, January 30, 2012

Related »

ISLAM TODAY: Adelaide Australia Opens its Mosques to All Australians for Family Day Events » | Oslam Today/Agencies | Friday, January 27, 2012

Hester's £35.5m Pay Deal Fuels Renewed Anger Over Excess

THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: PM and Chancellor pressed to make urgent Commons statement as fairness issue reignites

Disclosure of the staggering figure amounts to political dynamite as the Prime Minister fought off suggestions that he should veto the near-£1m bonus, announced last week, for the boss of the taxpayer-owned RBS.

The extra bonus of £3.3m, revealed yesterday, would be on top of the £35.54m total remuneration package Mr Hester has received since joining RBS in 2008.

As the political storm surrounding executive pay at RBS grew, Ed Miliband called on David Cameron to intervene and urged RBS shareholders to block the £963,000 bonus at its AGM in April.
The Labour leader will call for Mr Cameron or George Osborne, the Chancellor, to make an urgent statement to the Commons tomorrow on the affair at a time when the Government is capping benefits for the poorest in society. It will cast doubt on the vow by the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, to tackle executive pay.

In a further ratcheting-up of pressure on Mr Hester, it also emerged that the RBS chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, has decided to waive his £1.4m shares bonus.

But the Prime Minister, who earlier this year made great play of calling for Sir Fred Goodwin to be stripped of his knighthood for presiding over failure at RBS, yesterday refused to bow to political pressure.

Apparently uncomfortable at being asked by journalists about the bonus following talks with the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, at Chequers yesterday, Mr Cameron insisted that Mr Hester's bonus was "a matter for him" and that installing a new top team at the failed bank, which is 82 per cent owned by the taxpayer, would be even "more expensive" than it is now. » | Jane Merrick, Brian Brady, Mark Leftly, Emily Dugan | Sunday, January 29, 2012

Barack Obama Is Trying to Make the US a More Socialist State
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The ideas the President outlined in the State of the Union are based on the very model that is causing the EU to implode.

What was it everybody used to say about the United States? Look at what’s happening over there and you will see our future. Whatever Americans are doing now, we will be catching up with them in another 10 years or so. In popular culture or political rhetoric, America led the fashion and we tagged along behind.

Well, so much for that. Barack Obama is now putting the United States squarely a decade behind Britain. Listening to the President’s State of the Union message last week was like a surreal visit to our own recent past: there were, almost word for word, all those interminable Gordon Brown Budgets that preached “fairness” while listing endless new ways in which central government would intervene in every form of economic activity.

Later, in a television interview, Mr Obama described his programme of using higher taxes on the wealthy to bankroll new government spending as “a recipe for a fair, sound approach to deficit reduction and rebuilding this country”. To which we who come from the future can only shout, “No o-o, go back! Don’t come down this road!”

As we try desperately to extricate ourselves from the consequences of that philosophy, which sounds so eminently reasonable (“giving everybody a fair share”, the President called it), we could tell America a thing or two – if it would only listen. Human beings are so much more complicated than this childlike conception of fairness assumes. When government takes away an ever larger proportion of the wealth which entrepreneurial activity creates and attempts to distribute it “fairly” (that is to say, evenly) throughout society in the form of welfare programmes and public spending projects, the effects are much, much more complex and perverse than a simple financial equation would suggest.

It is probably obvious that the people from whom the wealth is taken will become less willing to incur the risks that entrepreneurial investment involves – and so will produce less wealth, and thus less tax revenue. But more surprising, perhaps, are the damaging changes that take place in the beneficiaries of this “fairness” and the permanent effect this has on the balance of power between government and the people. Read on and comment » | Janet Daley | Saturday, January 28, 2012

Nicolas Sarkozy Shows Off His Human Side as Prospect of Defeat Looms in French Presidential Election
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: French voters are seeing a side to Nicolas Sarkozy that they have never seen before, as he faces up to likely defeat in presidential elections.

They are not qualities normally associated with Nicolas Sarkozy: humility, self-awareness, contrition. Then again, the French leader is less than three months from a presidential election in which he is on track, according to all the opinion polls, to be beaten by his Socialist rival.

The unexpected mea culpa expressed by the normally hyper confident president, in which he admitted personal and political mistakes, and vowed to quit politics altogether if defeated, was as shocking as it appeared stage-managed.

The surprising 'je regrette beaucoup', which focused on the style rather than the substance of his five years in office, came during an official visit last week to the overseas territory of French Guyana to present the traditional new year greetings.

Mr Sarkozy then took the unprecedented step of inviting 20 journalists to an "off the record" briefing.

For the next three hours, during which he repeated several times that his remarks were not for public consumption, he made what may see as a last ditch attempt to transform his image: Super Sarko the Omnipresident had become Nicolas the Penitent. The message from the president of France, said Le Monde newspaper, was "I am not the man you think I am". » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Saturday, January 28, 2012

Lord Carey Backs Christian Psychotherapist in 'Gay Conversion' Row
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Leading church figures including the former Archbishop of Canterbury have sparked controversy by championing a psychotherapist who believes gay men can be 'cured' of their homosexuality.

Lesley Pilkington was effectively barred from her professional register after attempting to convert a homosexual man in a therapy session at her home.

Her patient turned out to be a gay rights journalist, who had secretly recorded the sessions and then reported her to her professional body. Mrs Pilkington, a committed Christian, was subsequently found guilty of professional misconduct.

The therapy practised by Mrs Pilkington had been described as "absurd" by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and roundly condemned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

But ahead of her appeal against the BACP ruling, Mrs Pilkington has received backing from the Rt Rev Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

In a letter to her professional body, Lord Carey – along with a number of senior figures – suggests Mrs Pilkington is herself a victim of entrapment whose therapy should be supported.

His comments – in a letter co-signed by, among others, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester and the Rt Rev Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes – will cause controversy in the gay community and beyond. » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, January 28, 2012

My comment:

Lord Carey and Michael Nazir-Ali are talking through their backsides. Clearly, they know nothing about sexuality, so they should shut up. That these people hold – or in the case of Michael Nazir-Ali has held – such elevated position(s) in the Church of England is astounding. Lord Carey should retire from public life forthwith. Michael Nazir-Ali should just plain shut-up and stick to what he knows best: theology. – © Mark

Newt Gingrich Gets Behind Israel, But Fails to Impress Florida's Jewish Voters
THE GUARDIAN: Republican hopeful's support for Middle Eastern state is an attempt to court the evangelical Christian audience

Newt Gingrich threw it all out there: the contentious claim that the Palestinians are a made-up people, Iran threatening a second Holocaust, Israel as a beacon.

The Republican Jewish audience lapped it up. But Gingrich, as grateful as he is for all the support he can get in Tuesday's primary election in Florida, was also courting a very different audience - one that is not Jewish and which worries many who are.

Florida has a relatively large Jewish population, accounting for more than 6% of the state's electorate given that nine out of ten are registered to vote. A few hundred turned out to see Gingrich address the Republican Jewish Coalition in Boca Raton on Friday afternoon.

Many were enthusiasts, including Rick Roth, a farmer.

"He actually has a well thought out policy on the economy. He's not talking in sound bites," he said. "I vote for who is the best candidate, not the one who can win. This electability issue is hogwash."

Roth also liked what he heard from Gingrich about Israel. The Republican candidate said the Palestinians are entitled to self-government - making no mention of a state or independence - only when they recognise Israel's right to exist, abandon a right of return to what is now Israel for Palestinian refugees and abandon hate speech against Jews.

Gingrich warned that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon it could lead to a second Holocaust, and he chided Obama for not confronting Tehran sufficiently strongly. He also said that the Arab spring is turning into an "Arab nightmare" which is only strengthening the threat from "radical Islam".

The Jewish voters in the room seemed happy enough to hear it but Roth said Gingrich's Israel policy made little difference to his decision to support him. Others agreed. They can hear much the same thing from any of the candidates with the exception of Ron Paul, who would cut off all foreign aid - including to the Jewish state. » | Chris McGreal in Boca Raton, Florida | Saturday, January 28, 2012

New Dark Age Alert! Boko Haram Vows to Fight until Nigeria Establishes Sharia Law
THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Spokesman for Islamist group says it will not stop deadly attacks until country is ruled according to dictates of Allah

The Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed almost 1,000 people in Nigeria, will continue its campaign of violence until the country is ruled by sharia law, a senior member has told the Guardian.

"We will consider negotiation only when we have brought the government to their knees," the spokesman, Abu Qaqa, said in the group's first major interview with a western newspaper. "Once we see that things are being done according to the dictates of Allah, and our members are released [from prison], we will only put aside our arms – but we will not lay them down. You don't put down your arms in Islam, you only put them aside."

Qaqa, whose name is a pseudonym, said the group's members were spiritual followers of al-Qaida, and claimed they had met senior figures in the network founded by Osama bin Laden during visits to Saudia Arabia.

The interview comes a week after Boko Haram claimed responsibility for Nigeria's single deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 186 people in the northern city of Kano.

In an audio message posted on YouTube on Friday, the group's current leader, Abubakar Shekau, threatened to bomb schools and kidnap family members of government officials.

"If [security forces] are going to places of worship and destroying them, like mosques and Quranic schools, you have primary schools as well, you have secondary schools and universities, and we will start bombing them." » | Monica Mark in Abuja | Friday, January 27, 2012

Pakistan Knew Where Bin Laden Was All Along »

Feminist Group Take Topless Protest to Davos
Ukrainian protest group Femen protest half-naked at Davos as they demand more female representatives at the World Economic Forum and on political bodies worldwide.

Read the short article here | Saturday, January 28, 2012

US Election 2012: Sheldon Adelson, the Man Keeping Newt Gingrich's Bid Afloat
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: If Newt Gingrich were to win the Republican nomination he would owe around ten million favours to Sheldon Adelson – one for each of the dollars the flamboyant billionaire has pumped into his presidential bid.

Mr Adelson, America's eighth-richest man, is responsible for almost single-handedly keeping the Gingrich campaign alive with what is thought to be the biggest donation in US political history.

The $10 million he has given so far to Winning Our Future – a pro-Gingrich Super-Pac – propelled the former Speaker to victory in South Carolina. » | Raf Sanchez, Washington | Friday, January 27, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Secrets of the billionaire bankrolling Gingrich's shot at the White House: Sheldon Adelson is not running for office – but his cash could swing Tuesday's Florida primary ¶ Abraham Foxman, the amiably chatty director of the Jewish civil rights group, the Anti-Defamation League, has a story to tell about his friend, the 78-year-old multi-billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. ¶ Adelson, who is America's eighth richest man and has given millions of dollars in support of Newt Gingrich's presidential bid, was having dinner with Foxman in Las Vegas several years ago. Foxman let slip that he was having to miss an invitation to the White House from the then president, George W. Bush. Foxman explained it was impossible to get a commercial flight. Adelson replied: "If the president of the United Statesasks you to go, you go." Then he gave Foxman the use of his private plane. ¶ Foxman asked Adelson if any condition was attached to the spontaneous act of generosity. "The condition is that you tell President Bush that is how you got there," said Adelson. Foxman made it in time to meet the president. ¶ It is a classic vignette to describe the power and style of Adelson, a man who has given scores of millions of dollars to Republican and Jewish causes over the years but who only now – by backing Gingrich – is becoming known to the wider public. It shows the reach of great wealth and how it mixes with the most powerful people on earth. It also shows Adelson's willingness to use that wealth for causes and people he believes in. » | Paul Harris | Saturday, January 28, 2012

Gingrich’s Backer under Federal Investigation »

US Election 2012: Newt Gingrich Launches Aggressive Advert Attacking Mitt Romney Ahead Of Florida Primary
Newt Gingrich’s campaign has released an aggressive web video accusing Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney of attempting to “mislead, distort and deceive” ahead of Florida’s presidential primary.

Read short article here | Jacqui Goddard, Miami | Saturday, January 28, 2012

Florida Primary: Mitt Romney Uses Spanish Speaking Son as Republicans Court Hispanic Vote
Mitt Romney hands over to his bilingual son at a rally in Florida as Republican candidates court the state's large Hispanic vote ahead of Tuesday's primary

Read short article here | Saturday, January 28, 2012
Goldilocks »

Nigerian Police Battle New Attacks

They Hate Poor People
THE WEEKLY STANDARD: The liberals’ dirty little secret.

On January 1, 2012, Maine became the first state to ban smoking in all low-income public housing. Twelve thousand poor people faced their New Year’s Day hangover without the solace of a Marlboro to accompany their aspirin and coffee.

This, of course, was good. Just ask the high-minded, right-thinking progressive elites who, it’s safe to say, run Maine’s public housing authority. Progressive elites like to run things. They’d run the government, the media, and the entire U.S. economy if they could. Failing that, public housing authorities will do. The Detroit, San Antonio, and Portland, Oregon, housing authorities already ban smoking. Boston’s housing authority will do so in September. Los Angeles is expected to follow. And it’s no mystery what that highest-minded, most right-thinking, way-progressive elitist Mayor Bloomberg has in mind for New Yorkers.

Smoking is wrong. Progressive elites may be confused about the existence of right and wrong when it comes to wars against genocidal fanatics, market freedom, and the death penalty for mass murderers. But not when it comes to smoking.

Smoking kills smokers, which is about what they deserve for engaging in such lowbrow, wrong-headed, retarded, vulgarian activity, except they get sick first and that drives up the cost of a single-payer national health care system, plus their second-hand smoke is worse yet because it is a, yuck, inhalation hand-me-down from uncouth people who probably haven’t flossed, and it kills progressive elites who don’t even know anyone who smokes while also releasing greenhouse gases and stinking up the cheery curtains that elites hang in public housing group activity areas to brighten the lives of the underprivileged who are confined to concrete tower blocks with six-by-eight-foot living rooms, seven-foot ceilings, plexiglass windows, and sheet-metal doors with a dozen locks on them. Smoking is wrong.

But poor people don’t have a lot of pleasures. Sure, they have more sex than progressive elites. But somehow, for poor people, the sex always ends up in illegitimate children or HIV or some bum of a boyfriend instead of leading to, as it does for elites, a Reichian release of primordial cosmic energy or the wonderful self-fulfillment and midlife reawakening of a new divorce. And, yes, the poor have drugs and alcohol, but these bring them nothing but grief. They’re not at all like the subtle and refined delights of a 300-bottle wine cellar or the therapeutic relief from Zoloft, Lexapro, Elavil, Ambien, Halcion, Xanax, beta blockers, Levitra, and Cialis. » | P. J. O’Rourke | Monday, January 30, 2012

Don't Legalise Gay Marriage, Archbishop of York Dr. John Sentamu Warns David Cameron
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marriage must remain a union between a man and a woman, says the Archbishop of York, and David Cameron will be acting like a “dictator” if he allows homosexual couples to wed.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Dr John Sentamu, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, tells ministers they should not overrule the Bible and tradition by allowing same-sex marriage.

The Government will open a consultation on the issue in March and the Prime Minister has indicated that he wants it to be a defining part of his premiership. But the Archbishop says it is not the role of the state to redefine marriage, threatening a new row between the Church and state just days after bishops in the House of Lords led a successful rebellion over plans to cap benefits.

“Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” says Dr Sentamu. “I don’t think it is the role of the state to define what marriage is. It is set in tradition and history and you can’t just [change it] overnight, no matter how powerful you are.

“We’ve seen dictators do it in different contexts and I don’t want to redefine very clear social structures that have been in existence for a long time and then overnight the state believes it could go in a particular way.

“It’s almost like somebody telling you that the Church, whose job is to worship God [will be] an arm of the Armed Forces. They must take arms and fight. You’re completely changing tradition.” » | Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Editor, in Kingston, Jamaica | Friday, January 27, 2012

Marriage Only Between a Man and a Woman Says Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York says that while civil partnerships are fine, marriage must only be between a man and a woman.

Read short article here | Friday, January 27, 2012

Holocaust Documentary
A short documentary about the Holocaust.

Republicans Take On Obama over Oil Pipeline
Republican politicians in the United States are fighting President Barack Obama's decision to reject a controversial pipeline project. They are trying to strip the president of his authority to decide the fate of the Keystone oil pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada through the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Republicans say Obama made the decision based on political considerations, and that the project would create thousands of jobs. Democrats, however, argue that a full environmental assessment must be carried out before the deal can be approved. Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett reports from Washington, DC, the US capital.

Omanis Stay Put Despite Flood Fears
The valleys of Oman have supplied water to generations of families to grow crops, keep livestock and run businesses. But now the government wants thousands of people from villages near the wadis (valleys) to leave their homes because of the threat of flooding. Andrew Hopkins reports from Hail Al Ghaf on how a significant number of residents are refusing to move despite the warning.

Dutch to Ban Muslim Face Veils Next Year
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Minority government set to prohibit niqabs and burqas and other forms of clothing that cover the face.

The Dutch minority government plans to ban Muslim face veils such as burqas and other forms of clothing that cover the face from next year.

The ban would make the Netherlands, where 1 million out of 17 million people are Muslim, the second EU country to ban the burqa after France, and would apply to face-covering veils if they were worn in public.

"People should be able to look at each other's faces and recognise each other when they meet," the interior affairs ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The ban will also apply to balaclavas and motorcycle helmets when worn in in[f]appropriate places, such as inside a store, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Verhagen told reporters, denying that this was a ban on religious clothing. » | Friday, January 27, 2012

Romney Puts Gingrich on Defensive in Florida Debate


REUTERS: (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney took the fight to chief rival Newt Gingrich on Thursday in his most aggressive debate performance yet, five days ahead of Florida's primary vote.

A neck-and-neck race for Florida and its importance for the Republican presidential nomination made for a combustible atmosphere at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville as the candidates sparred repeatedly.

Gingrich, who has displayed a mastery of debating skills during previous debates, was frequently caught flat-footed under attack from Romney who went after his chief rival in an attempt to put his campaign back on track after losing South Carolina last Saturday.

Gingrich and Romney are running close in polls before next Tuesday's primary vote in Florida, the biggest state so far in the early voting for the Republican nomination to face President Barack Obama in November. The most recent polls put Romney ahead.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, took umbrage at Gingrich's description of him as "anti-immigrant."

"That's inexcusable," Romney said, turning to his rival. "I'm not anti-immigrant. My father was born in Mexico. ... The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don't use a term like that." » | Steve Holland and Ros Krasny | JACKSONVILLE, Florida | Friday, January 27, 2012

BBC: Mitt Romney Pulls Away from Newt Gingrich in Florida » | Friday, January 27, 2012

2012 Holocaust Remembrance Day Message of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Children
United Nations, New York, January 2012 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dedicates his 27 January 2012 Holocaust Remembrance Day message to children. On this day, the world remembers the 1.5 million Jewish children, and tens of thousands of other children who were murdered by the Nazis and their supporters. The best tribute to the memory of these children is an ongoing effort to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust, so that no such horror is visited upon future generations. The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme is working towards this goal.

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme »

Holocaust Survivor Eva Brust Cooper Remembers Hiding after Her Family Received Protective Papers from Raoul Wallenberg

WIKI: Raoul Wallenberg »

'Holocaust Must Serve as Warning for All Time'
YNET NEWS: Speaking at European Parliament event for International Holocaust Remembrance Day EUP President says German people are responsible for 'keeping memory alive'

Iran and the current anti-Semitism in Europe were the main subjects at the official International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels which launched the remembrance day's commemoration events.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked on January 27, the day when 67 years ago, the Red army liberated the Auschwitz extermination camp.

Speaking at the event, EU Parliament President Martin Schulz said “The German people of today are not guilty (for the Holocaust), but responsible for keeping the memory alive.

"For me, this means that whoever is representing the German nation has one important duty: to take into account our responsibility for the Jews in the world...The Holocaust must always be fresh in our minds and souls, in the conscience of humanity, and should serve as an incontrovertible warning for all time." » | Aviel Magnezi | Friday, January 27, 2012

Speech of Mr. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament

Norway Offers Long-delayed Holocaust Apology
YNET NEWS: Time to acknowledge that Norwegians took part in deportation of Jews, PM says

Norway apologized for the first time on Friday for the country's complicity in the deportation and deaths of Jews during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

"Norwegians carried out the arrests; Norwegians drove the trucks and it happened in Norway," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said. "Today I feel it is fitting to express our deepest apologies that this could happen on Norwegian soil."

"It is time for us to acknowledge that Norwegian policemen, civil servants and other Norwegians took part in the arrest and deportation of Jews," he said in a speech marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Vidkun Quisling, the country's leader during the occupation whose name has become synonymous with traitor, ordered Norway's 2,100 Jews registered in 1942. More than a third were deported to death camps, while others fled to neighboring Sweden.

"I regret to say that the ideas that led to the Holocaust are still very much alive today, 70 years later," Stoltenberg said. "All over the world we see that individuals and groups are spreading intolerance and fear." » | Reuters | Friday, January 27, 2012

Obama Vows to Give Meaning to 'Never Again'
YNET NEWS: President pledges to ensure Shoah is never repeated; 'We dedicate ourselves to giving meaning to those powerful words: Never Forget. Never Again,' he says

WASHINGTON - Message to Iran? US President Barack Obama issued a statement on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day Friday, pledging to ensure that the Shoah is never forgotten or repeated.

"Together with the State of Israel, and all our friends around the world, we dedicate ourselves to giving meaning to those powerful words: 'Never Forget. Never Again,'" Obama said.

"Michelle and I join people in the United States, in Israel, and across the globe as we remember the six million Jews and millions of others who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis," the president said. "We commit ourselves to keeping their memories alive not only in our thoughts, but through our actions."

Obama pledged to fight Holocaust deniers, noting that "as we celebrate the strength and resilience of survivors, we pledge to stand strong against all those who would commit atrocities, against the resurgence of anti-Semitism, and against hatred in all its forms." » | Yitzhak Benhorin | Friday, January 27, 2012

Claude Lanzmann: Shoah (Trailer)

Turkey Showcases Film to Mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day
VOICE OF AMERICA: Turkey's observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day began with a broadcast of a French documentary on the Holocaust on state run television.

Filmmaker Claude Lanzmann's “Shoah” [WIKI] was shown late Thursday, on the eve of the observance.

Lanzmann says the broadcast marked the first time a predominantly Muslim country has shown his 1985 biographical film of the Holocaust era.

The nine-hour film was aired to help build understanding between Muslims and Jews, and to combat denials that the Holocaust occurred. » | Friday, January 27, 2012

Germany Marks Holocaust Memorial Day with an Appeal Not to Forget

DEUTSCHE WELLE: Germany marked Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday with a special session of parliament and a call for the nation's citizens never to forget the danger posed by right-wing extremism.

The president of the German parliament called on Germans to actively stand up to all forms of right-wing extremism, speaking on the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

"It is these people who set an example and demonstrate courage," Bundestag President Norbert Lammert said in remarks commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Memorial Day falls on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945.

His comments follow a move to set up a parliamentary inquiry into a series of murders of nine foreign immigrants and a policewoman by an underground neo-Nazi gang. This week, a survey conducted in Germany also found that 20 percent of Germans had latent anti-Semitic feelings. "That is 20 percent too many," said Lammert.

The ceremony was also attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulff.
Norway on Friday also offered for the first time a long-delayed apology for the country's complicity in the deportation and deaths of Jews during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

A survivor remembers

In a moving speech in the Bundestag, the prominent Polish-born German literary critic, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, reminded parliament of the systematic torture and organized mass murder of European Jews launched by Germany under Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

Reich-Ranicki, who is 91 and frail, grew up in a Jewish family and later survived the Nazi purge of the Warsaw ghetto.

"They had only one goal; they had only one purpose - death," he said referring to Nazi claims at the time that they were simply resettling Jews. » | Author: Gregg Benzow (dpa, AP, AFP) | Editor: Nancy Isenson | Friday, January 27, 2012

François Hollande Vows to Tax the Rich to Pay Off French Deficit
THE GUARDIAN: Leftwing frontrunner in presidential race launches manifesto on how Socialist party would deal with financial crisis


François Hollande, the leftwing frontrunner in the French presidential race, has vowed to make the rich pay the highest price to help drag France out of its economic crisis, while promising to pump more money into schools and state-assisted jobs.

The Socialist rural MP, who recently declared "my real adversary in this campaign is the world of finance", launched his manifesto on Thursday, a road map of how the left would deal with the financial crisis. Hollande said he would raise taxes for banks and big companies as well as France's richest people, and use the money to help wipe out the nation's crippling public deficit.

By scrapping some €29bn (£24bn) worth of tax breaks for wealthier people introduced under Nicolas Sarkozy, he said he could find €20bn to deal with the corrosion of French society: record unemployment, soaring youth jobless figures and an education system that has been shamed as one of the most unequal in Europe, where one in six children leave with no qualifications. » | Angelique Chrisafis | Thursday, January 26, 2012

Phoney War Over as It Gets Dirty in Florida
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: In the high-octane election-year atmosphere of US politics, and an acrid Republican Party nomination race, Tuesday's Florida primary is being hyped as make-or-break for the party's presidential aspirants.

The relative civility of campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire has long evaporated. And, while the heat rose in South Carolina, the intensity of an advertising war and rhetorical crossfire between the chief contenders, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, has become searing.

Getting a grip on such a big and diverse state is chief among the candidates' many challenges. Florida is not the Tea Party stronghold of South Carolina, and a standard joke is that the further south you travel the more north you get - a reference to number of sun-loving and wealthy retirees from north-eastern states who have moved there.

Still, some things reign universal in America right now - economic torpor, for one. Florida has been hit hard by the financial meltdown, the property crash in particular. Home foreclosure rates continue to exceed the national average, at 12 per cent of sales statewide versus 3.5 per cent. Of the 25 metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates, 17 are in Florida, headed by Miami. Unemployment, at 9.9 per cent, is above the national average.

Mostly, the caustic exchanges between Romney and Gingrich - as well as their TV ads - have centred not on their prescriptions for economic revival but on the men's claims to authenticity.

Romney is the richest man ever to seek the presidency. His business record and private tax affairs are under fierce scrutiny. Gingrich's controversial term as Speaker of the House of Representatives and subsequent years as a Washington consultant, during which he advised the failed government-owned mortgage provider Freddie Mac, has been targeted by opponents. » | Simon Mann | Saturday, January 28, 2012

Julia Gillard's Shoe Held to Ransom by Aborigine Protesters
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Aborigine protesters have brandished the shoe lost by Julia Gillard as she was rescued from a violent rally, claiming they want it to be the symbol of a move to "give us back our country".

The shoe - a dark blue, size 36 Midas pump - has been handed to an Aboriginal elder, Pat Eatock, who says Ms Gillard should collect it within a week or it will be sold on ebay.
A shoe purported to be Ms Gillard's fetched bids of £1400 today before it was removed from sale.

"I see it sitting like Cinderella's shoe in a glass case in a museum 10 years from now as this is part of the history of race relations in Australia," said Ms Eatock, 75, who was the first Aboriginal woman to seek election to Parliament.

The ugly scenes in Canberra yesterday have caused a furore in Australia, prompting widespread media coverage, inflaming racial tensions and leading to the sacking of one of the prime minister's aides.

Protesters calling for Aboriginal sovereignty today burnt an Australian flag outside Parliament House, as indigenous leaders called for calm and some dismissed the recent violence as a disgrace. » | Jonathan Pearlman, in Sydney | Friday, January 27, 2012

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: The spear of confrontation pays nation another visit: IN 1790, Bennelong, the Sydney-born Aboriginal friend to the colonisers, was present when Governor Arthur Phillip was speared at Manly Cove, demonstrating how much relations between the two peoples had soured. » | Debra Jopson | ANALYSIS | Saturday, January 28, 2012

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: PM accused of protest cover-up » | Dylan Welch | Saturday, January 28, 2012

US Election 2012: Mitt Romney Asserts His Authority Over Newt Gingrich in Jacksonville Debate
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mitt Romney asserted his authority over Newt Gingrich in a Republican presidential debate on Thursday night, aggressively turning the former House Speaker's own attacks against him in advance of the crucial primary election in Florida.

The former Massachusetts governor, who over the past 48 hours has pushed back a surge in support for Mr Gingrich across the state, slapped down his rival during bitter disputes over immigration policy, personal finances and the former Speaker's proposal to build a colony on the moon.

After losing the South Carolina primary last weekend, Mr Romney is seeking to stabilise his campaign to be the Republican candidate to face President Barack Obama in November. Florida is by far the biggest state to vote in the party contest so far and is expected to be crucial in the general election.

He hit out at Mr Gingrich in the debate's opening minutes for describing him “anti-immigrant”, calling the attack “simply inexcusable”. He pointed out that Marco Rubio, the popular Florida senator, had backed him and called the criticism “inexcusable and inflammatory”.

Mr Romney has proposed that America's 11 million illegal immigrants should “self-deport”. “Mr Speaker, I'm not anti-immigrant,” he said during the debate. “My father was born in Mexico, my wife's father was born in Wales. They came into this country. The idea that I’m anti-immigrant is repulsive.”

An animated Mr Romney drove the point home by saying that Mr Gingrich's remarks were “the kind of over-the-top rhetoric that has characterised American politics for too long”. » | Jon Swaine, and Peter Foster in Jacksonville | Friday, January 27, 2012

Obama Wades into Race, Saying GOP Candidates Are 'Wrong for America'
THE GUARDIAN: President says that whichever candidate the GOP chooses, they represent a 'fundamentally different vision of America'

Barack Obama, after months of sitting back to allow the Republicans to fight among themselves, waded into the nominating race by claiming that the entire GOP presidential field would be wrong for America.

Obama was speaking on the Univision Spanish-language television network, broadcast only hours before the Republican candidates were scheduled to meet in Jacksonville, Florida.

It is no coincidence that he chose to speak to Univision as the Latino vote in Florida is crucial not only to the outcome of next Tuesday's Republican primary but for Obama's re-election chances in November.

Obama, only two days after effectively launching his re-election campaign with a highly partisan state of the union address, was in Nevada and Colorado, following visits on Wednesday to three other swing states.

In Florida, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich battled it out over who should be the Republican challenger to Obama and the debate Thursday is one of the most important yet, with the two in a dead-heat in the polls. Rick Santorum, struggling to make an impact in Florida, may leave early to concentrate on other upcoming contests, as Ron Paul is doing.

Obama, asked whether Romney or Gingrich would be the tougher challenger, declined to answer directly. Instead, he said: "What I can say is this: that whoever their nominee is, they represent ideas that I think are wrong for America."

He added: "On a whole range of issues I think that whether it's Mr Romney or Mr Gingrich or Mr Santorum or whoever else they might decide to select, they represent a fundamentally different vision of America. And it's not the bold, generous, forward-looking, optimistic America that I think built this country." » | Ewen McAskill in Jacksonville, Florida | Thursday, January 26, 2012

Gingrich würde Soldaten nach Kuba schicken
TAGES ANZEIGER: Es hört sich an wie im Kalten Krieg: Der mögliche nächste US-Präsident Newt Gingrich schliesst einen Militäreinsatz in Kuba nicht aus. Er wirbt mit dieser Aussage um die Stimmen der Exilkubaner in Florida.

Der republikanische US-Präsidentschaftsbewerber Newt Gingrich hat für den Fall seiner Wahl eine harte Haltung gegenüber Kuba angekündigt. In einem Interview mit dem spanischsprachigen Sender Univision im US-Bundesstaat Florida schloss er einen Militäreinsatz gegen die kommunistische Regierung grundsätzlich nicht aus. «Wenn es einen echten legitimen Aufstand gebe, würden wir natürlich auf der Seite des Volkes stehen», sagte Gingrich auf die Frage, ob die USA nach Libyens Machthaber Muammar al-Ghadhafi auch Fidel und Raúl Castro angreifen sollten. » | bru/AFP | Donnerstag 26. Januar 2012

TAGES ANZEIGER: Gingrich verspricht dem Volk eine Mond-Kolonie – Der Republikaner packt die grossen Versprechen aus: Im Fall einer Wahl zum US-Präsidenten will Newt Gingrich bis 2020 eine dauerhafte Mondstation einrichten. » | kpn/dapd | Donnerstag 26. Januar 2012

Baltasar Garzon «ne sera plus jamais juge en Espagne»

LE FIGARO: Accusé de forfaiture pour avoir instruit les crimes du franquisme, le célèbre magistrat paraît «triste et accablé».

Pour ses défenseurs et pour lui-même, le mal est fait. L'issue des trois procès dans lesquels est accusé le célèbre juge espagnol Baltasar Garzon ne changera rien à sa décision. Dans un entretien au Figaro, son avocat l'assure: «Garzon ne sera jamais plus juge en Espagne.»

Gonzalo Martinez-Fresneda défend Garzon dans le procès le plus emblématique, celui sur l'instruction des crimes du franquisme, qui s'est ouvert le 24 janvier au Tribunal suprême. Le magistrat s'est illustré notamment pour avoir poursuivi Augusto Pinochet et les responsables de la junte argentine. Dans son propre pays, assis sur le banc des accusés, il doit justifier son intention d'instruire les crimes de la dictature franquiste. En ouvrant le dossier, dit l'accusation, Garzon a sciemment violé une loi d'amnistie votée en 1977, deux ans après la mort du général Franco. Il risque une peine d'inhabilité de 20 ans. » | Par Mathieu de Taillac | mercredi 25 janvier 2012

'Sacred Sex' Muslim Group Probed
NEWS 24: Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian authorities said on Thursday they were investigating whether a Muslim group violated religious laws with a morality campaign that describes the Prophet Muhammad as a role model for "sacred sex".

The group that calls itself the Obedient Wives Club is planning private talks for hundreds of its members in the campaign centred around the prophet, who is thought to have married about a dozen women in his lifetime, including widows in need of protection.

The campaign, which is scheduled to run for nearly two weeks, bears a title that calls the prophet a "role model for sacred sex" and urges members to follow his example and avoid sexual sins. » | AP | Thursday, January 26, 2012

Newt Gingrich Gets Mad

POLITICO: MOUNT DORA, Fla. — Newt Gingrich is hopping mad. And he’s not going to take it.

Under siege from Mitt Romney and conservative elites who seem to be conspiring against his candidacy, Gingrich abandoned his stump speech on Thursday in favor of an angry tirade against his most daunting Republican rival and the Washington establishment. He isn’t the candidate who vowed to stay positive in Iowa, or the nose-to-the-grindstone guy he was in South Carolina.

As he took the stage before a tea-party crowd here, Gingrich seethed at Romney for the avalanche of negative ads blanketing the Florida airwaves and bashed the Beltway denizens for coalescing to obstruct his rise.

“There’s the Washington establishment sitting around in a frenzy, having coffee, lunch and cocktail hour talking about, ‘How do we stop Gingrich?’ ” he said, referring to a spate of prominent Republicans who painted him Thursday in as a philandering egomaniac comparable to Bill Clinton and not as close to Ronald Reagan as he would like to think.

The former House speaker told the tea-party crowd that they shouldn’t be confused by the attacks coming from the right as it’s still part of the scared establishment.

“Remember the Republican establishment is just as much as an establishment as the Democratic establishment, and they are just as determined to stop us,” he said. » | Ginger Gibson | Thursday, January 26, 2012