Saturday, June 29, 2013
BBC: A Pakistani Christian girl who was falsely accused of blasphemy has fled to Canada with her family, a Christian organisation says.
Rimsha Masih, aged 14, was detained in a maximum security prison for several weeks in August 2012, accused of burning pages from the Koran.
The case attracted widespread international concern.
Although charges against Rimsha were dropped, she and her family were forced into hiding after death threats.
Rimsha, who is believed to have learning difficulties, was arrested in a Christian area of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, after a furious crowd demanded she be punished.
A local Muslim cleric has since been accused of framing her. » | Saturday, June 29, 2013
BBC: The US vice-president has talked to Ecuador's leader by phone about fugitive ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden's bid for asylum.
Joe Biden held talks with President Rafael Correa on Friday, the two countries confirmed.
According to Mr Correa, Mr Biden asked him to reject the request but Washington gave no details.
In a new development, a German magazine says a document leaked by Mr Snowden shows the US bugged EU offices.
Spiegel magazine says a September 2010 "top secret" document of the US National Security Agency outlines how the agency bugged offices and spied on EU internal computer networks in Washington and at the UN. The document explicitly referred to the EU as a "target", the magazine reports.
Mr Snowden is believed to be staying at a Moscow airport, having arrived nearly a week ago from Hong Kong, where he had been staying since he revealed details of top secret US surveillance programmes.
The US has charged him with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.
Each charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence. » | Saturday, June 29, 2013
St. Petersburg - Bei Protesten gegen das international kritisierte Verbot von "Homosexuellen-Propaganda" in Russland hat die Polizei zahlreiche Demonstranten und auch Störer festgenommen. Etwa hundert Aktivisten, die für die Rechte von Schwulen und Lesben demonstrierten, wurden in St. Petersburg von etwa der gleichen Zahl von Gegnern angegriffen. Sie bewarfen die Demonstranten mit Steinen, Eiern und Rauchbomben. Als es zu Handgreiflichkeiten kam, trennte eine Sondereinheit der Polizei die Lager und eskortierte die Aktivisten zu einem Bus. » | cst/dpa/Reuters | Samstag, 29. Juni 2013
HAARETZ: Israel must join the wave of recognition in the Western world and enable civil marriage to all, including same-sex partners.
In the 90’s it was widely believed in this country that as far as gay rights were concerned, Israel was one of the most progressive states in the world.
This opinion was based on the High Court of Justice ruling of 1994, in the case of Jonathan Danilowitz against El Al, which ordered employers to grant equal benefits to partners of the same sex. Also contributing to this opinion was the IDF’s decision in 1993 to rescind the restrictions on gays and lesbians’ service in classified positions.
This opinion is no longer relevant. In the past 20 years the democratic world has undergone a change regarding this issue and Israel was left behind.
More and more states have recognized same-sex relationships − whether as a registered union with rights identical to those acquired by marriage, or by enabling gay spouses to marry.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on Wednesday, forcing the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages in states where it is legal, is a significant step in this development. The court also upheld a lower court ruling finding the ban on such marriages in California unconstitutional.
Thus the United States joined France, New Zealand, Uruguay, Brazil and soon Britain, which have made the change this year. The Western world has had its say − it accepts same-sex marriages and recognizes them. » | Haaretz Editorial | Friday, June 28, 2013
HAARETZ: American Jews went through a stunning change in attitudes to become the strongest supporters of same-sex marriage and legal equality for gays and lesbians of any U.S. religious or ethnic group - in just two decades.
In reading the statements issued this week by Jewish groups in response tothe Supreme Court’s decisions on gay marriage, we were reminded that Jews are more supportive of same-sex marriage and legal equality for gays and lesbians than any other... [$] » | Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie | Friday, June 28, 2013
On sait peu de chose de ce coronavirus du syndrome respiratoire du Moyen Orient, baptisé MERS par l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé, qui a fait l'objet cette semaine d'une réunion d'experts de haut niveau à Genève dans le cadre d'une Conférence sur la prévention et le contrôle des infections.
Il provoque des problèmes respiratoires, la pneumonie et une insuffisance rénale rapide. Il peut être transmis de l'homme à l'homme mais ne semble pas très contagieux, contrairement à son cousin le SRAS (syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère) qui avait fait plus de 800 morts il y a une dizaine d'années. » | AFP | samedi 29 juin 2013
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Proteste gegen US-Politik: Unruhen in Soweto vor Obama-Besuch: In Soweto ist es im Vorfeld eines Besuchs von US-Präsident Obama zu Ausschreitungen gekommen. Vor der Universität in dem Johannesburger Stadtteil stießen Demonstranten mit der Polizei zusammen. Mehrere hundert Menschen protestierten gegen die Politik Obamas. » | cst/AFP/Reuters | Samstag, 29. Juni 2013
Tommy Robinson shouted, "You are enforcing Sharia law", at officers who held him on suspicion of obstructing police as he tried to enter the London borough of Tower Hamlets.
The EDL had previously announced plans to walk through part of the capital before gathering outside Woolwich Barracks, near where Drummer Rigby was hacked to death in broad daylight.
But the Metropolitan Police put conditions on the march which demanded that it ended at Old Palace Yard, opposite the House of Lords.
As well as planning to lay flowers in memory of Drummer Rigby, Mr Robinson and EDL co-leader Kevin Carroll, who was also arrested, were walking to raise money for a young girl fighting cancer.
Sky Correspondent Tom Parmenter said: "They'd walked six miles when they were arrested outside Aldgate East underground station.
"Police had been tracking the walk across London and had regularly spoken to them about their route.
"The EDL leaders had been warned not to go past a large mosque in east London or enter the borough of Tower Hamlets.
"As they approached the boundary of the borough they were warned again by officers who told them they may be arrested."
Mr Robinson and Mr Carroll repeatedly asked if they would actually be arrested before another man approached the pair and assaulted Mr Carroll.
Parmenter said: "As police officers tried to deal with the situation the EDL leaders continued to walk forward and then a senior policewoman placed the pair under arrest." (+ video) » | SkyNews | Saturday, June 29, 2013
MELANIE PHILLIPS: By banning from the country as extremists the American anti-jihadis Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, the Home Secretary Teresa May has not only made herself look ridiculous but has sent the enemies of the United Kingdom the message that they have it on the run.
I do not support the approach taken by either Geller or Spencer to the problem of Islamic extremism. Both have endorsed groups such as the EDL and others which at best do not deal with the thuggish elements in their ranks and at worst are truly racist or xenophobic.
The result has been a serious blow to the credibility of these two writers, with particular damage being done to Spencer whose scholarship in itself is scrupulous. It has also split the defence against Islamic extremism, and handed a potent propaganda weapon to those who seek falsely to portray as bigoted extremists all who are engaged in the defence of the west against the Islamic jihad.
Nevertheless, the decision to ban this duo from Britain is unjustified, oppressive and comes perilously close to lining up the British government alongside those who wish to silence defenders of the west against the jihad, making a total mockery of Britain’s understanding of just who presents a danger to the state.
Neither Geller nor Spencer remotely presents such a danger. They intended to come to Britain to join an EDL rally in Woolwich, in the wake of the barbaric murder there of Drummer Lee Rigby by two Islamists last month. » | Melanie Phillips | Thursday, June 27, 2013
The plan to spirit the surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden to sanctuary in Latin America appeared to be unravelling on Friday, amid tension between Ecuador's government and Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.
President Rafael Correa halted an effort to help Snowden leave Russia amid concern Assange was usurping the role of the Ecuadoran government, according to leaked diplomatic correspondence published on Friday.
Amid signs Quito was cooling with Snowden and irritated with Assange, Correa declared invalid a temporary travel document which could have helped extract Snowden from his reported location in Moscow.
Correa declared that the safe conduct pass issued by Ecuador's London consul – in collaboration with Assange – was unauthorised, after other Ecuadorean diplomats privately said the WikiLeaks founder could be perceived as "running the show".
According to the correspondence, which was obtained by the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision and shared with the Wall Street Journal, divisions over Assange have roiled Ecuador's government. » | Rory Carroll in Quito and Amanda Holpuch in New York | Friday, June 28, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
LA PRESSE (CA): Un anticyclone puissant générera des conditions de canicule extrême dans l'ouest des États-Unis au cours des prochains jours.
Les météorologues préviennent que le mercure pourrait atteindre 54 degrés Celsius à Death Valley, dans le Nevada, soit quelques degrés de moins que le record de 57 Celsius atteint à ce même endroit il y a 100 ans.
Le National Weather Service prévoit 48 degrés à Phoenix et 47 à Las Vegas dimanche, un niveau atteint à seulement deux reprises dans le passé.
Le mercure devrait s'envoler aussi loin vers le nord qu'à Reno, au Nevada, à travers l'Utah et dans certaines régions du Wyoming et de l'Idaho, où le secteur de Boise doit s'attendre à des températures d'au moins 38 degrés pendant toute la fin de semaine. » | Associated Press | Pheonix | Arizona | vendredi 28 juin 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: American West bakes in 'brutal' heatwave as temperatures approach world record: America's Western states are suffering a blistering heatwave as thermometers creep towards the highest temperatures ever recorded on earth. » | Hannah Strange, agencies | Saturday, June 29, 2013
Tensions continue to simmer between Washington and Quito over the Edward Snowden affair. After the United States threatened to eliminate special trade benefits with Ecuador, the South American country unilaterally moved on Thursday to terminate a trade benefits deal with the country. A short time later, the US said it would also review trade advantages given to Ecuador.
For Washington, the latest developments are a further setback in the diplomatic nightmare surrounding whistleblower Snowden, who has been on the run since leaking documents about collossal American and British Internet spying programs to Britain'sGuardian newspaper. Washington's threatening gestures come at an opportune time for politicians in Quito.
In Ecuador, few believe that a trade deal in place with the US since 1991 will be extended. Numerous conflicts already existed between the two countries even before the Snowden affair. » | Johannes Schneider in Quito, Ecuador | Friday, June 28, 2013
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: "First there was no mention of a muezzin when the mosque was inaugurated; then on Fridays only; then three times a day, now five times a day." — Interview in Die Zeit
A Turkish mosque in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has begun sounding public calls to prayer from an outdoor loudspeaker system mounted on the roof of the edifice.
The mosque is one of a growing number of Islamic institutions in Germany (and other parts of Western Europe) publicly calling the Muslim faithful to prayer -- five times a day, seven days a week -- with cries of Allahu Akbar ("Allah is Greater").
Observers believe a precedent has now been established, and that many of the other 3,000 mosques in Germany will soon begin jumping on the muezzin loudspeaker bandwagon.
The sonorous prayer calls (known as adhan in Arabic) can be heard from great distances when amplified through electric loudspeakers; some German towns and cities are actually beginning to evoke the sounds and images of the Islamic Middle East. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, June 28, 2013
Listen to al adhan here
Front-page headlines in Senegal's Friday morning papers said it all.
One read, "Macky Resists Light Pressure from Obama and clashes with the USA," and another: "Obama Makes the Case For Gays, Macky Says No!"
In Dakar, many Senegalese said they agree with their president.
"Homosexuality is not part of our culture and we are not ready to accept it." Mareme Diop said. "Maybe the West accepts it, but we think it is wrong."
Many invoked religion. "As Muslims, we cannot accept homosexuality." Moussa Gueye said, "this is a secular country, but it is also 95 percent Muslim." » | Anne Look | Friday, June 28, 2013
REUTERS.COM: The father of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden said in an interview that while he has not had recent contact with him, he is reasonably confident his son would return to the United States if certain conditions were met.
Those conditions could include not detaining Snowden before trial, not subjecting him to a gag order and letting him choose the location of his trial, NBC News said on Friday.
The NBC report added that Lonnie Snowden plans to make those points in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to be sent through his lawyer later on Friday. Representatives for the Justice Department could not be reached immediately for comment on the letter.
Lonnie Snowden, in part of the NBC interview that aired on the "Today Show," also said he is concerned that his son, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, was being manipulated by others, including people from the anti-government secrecy group WikiLeaks. » | Susan Heavey | Washington | Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Vicki Allen | Friday, June 28, 2013
"We'll get Bush in the US" the world's top war crimes prosecutor tells The Truthseeker after Dubya's deputies warn him against travel, lawyers file for Obama's arrest tomorrow when he hits South Africa, huge secret wars in America's name being masked from the folks funding them.
Seek truth from facts with Yousha Tayob of the Muslim Lawyers Association, leading war crimes prosecutor Francis Boyle, Senior Staff Attorney Katherine Gallagher of New York's Center for Constitutional Rights which stopped Bush's first trip after his waterboarding admission, Marjorie Cohn, author of Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law, and former NSA intelligence officer Scott Rickard.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Egypt 'could slide into civil war': Egypt's leading religious authority has warned of "civil war" calling for calm after a member of the Muslim Brotherhood was killed ahead of mass rallies against the rule of President Mohamed Morsi. » | Reuters | Friday, June 28, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Civil servants have overruled the Oxford English Dictionary and hundreds years of common usage effectively abolishing the traditional meaning of the words for spouses.
The landmark change is contained in the fine print of new official legal guidance drawn up for MPs and peers as the Government’s same-sex marriage bill is debated.
It comes as part of a Government initiative to “clarify” what words will mean when gay marriage becomes law.
But critics described it as the vocabulary of “cloud cuckoo land”.
It follows claims by opponents of the redefinition of marriage that universally understood terms such as father and mother might be simply deleted by bureaucrats on official forms. » | John Bingham, Social Affair Editor | Thursday, June 27, 2013
BBC: US President Barack Obama has called on African governments to give gay people equal rights by decriminalising homosexual acts.
Mr Obama made the comments in Senegal after meeting President Macky Sall on the first leg of his African tour.
Mr Sall said Senegal was a "very tolerant" country but it was "not ready to decriminalise homosexuality".
Homosexual acts are still a crime in 38 African countries, where most people hold conservative religious views.
In 2011, the US and UK hinted that they could withdraw aid from countries which did not respect gay rights. (+ video) » | Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
LIBERTY GB: : Liberty GB supporter Walter Tyler has written to Home Secretary Theresa May condemning her decision to bar American counter-jihad activists Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller
Ref: Refusal to admit Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller
26th June 2013
CC Bill Cash
Dear Home Secretary,
I write in response to your refusal to admit Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller to the UK. I have noted with increasing despondency the way in which Muslims in this country allied with various nefarious leftist elements are able to subvert 'free speech' by protesting the action of law abiding citizens.
I am a former sociologist and have studied Islam in great detail. I would suggest that you delineate between what is religious within Islam and what is political. Clearly killing people in the name of Jihad is not religious and is entirely political. Therefore countering political Islam by protest is entirely legal and should be permitted in a free and democratic society.
Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, two people whose writing and interviews I am familiar with, have never to the best of my knowledge criticised the five pillars of Islam which are its spiritual tenets and its religious aspects. They have therefore not transgressed any law other than the self-appointed Islamic Sharia as applied in this country through you because you are scared of the threats of force made against the government by Islamic groups.
Slander and defamation in Islam is constituted by speaking the truth about someone/ something that the other person does not want uncovered or not advancing Islam. The social situation in this country is declining to such a state where there is an apartheid application of laws against the majority in favour of a politically supremacist minority. The propagation of Islam under British law is illegal since Islam calls for the annihilation of the Jews and the second class dhimmi status for other religious groups and the subsequent payment of protection money or 'jizya'.
Could you advise me what is being done to protect the majority in terms of the law from Islamic attacks including rape which is permitted in the Quran against non-believers? I understand that the law has never been applied against racist or religious attacks against white people or Christians in this country – please advise how the present laws protect both groups?
I also note that your Government is supporting Jihadi groups in Syria who are annihilating minority Shia and Alawite Muslims and Christians. Why are you supporting these groups when Assad is by far the lesser of the two evils?
I have come to the conclusion that Islam and Western Civilization are entirely incompatible. I remind you of the words of Sir Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain when he returned from Munich in 1938: "You had the choice between war and dishonour, you chose dishonour but you will get war".
Furthermore, you will be aware of Karl Popper's dictum that if you tolerate the intolerant then your tolerant society will be destroyed.
It appears that the government of this country cares more for the wellbeing of its enemies than it does for its own people. Such a civilization will not survive and indeed does not deserve to survive. The people will not forget and at some stage the belief in the social contract will falter if decisive action is not taken. The people will not have to follow any law of a morally corrupt government that protects a politically supremacist ideology over the interests over its own citizens.
Wat (Walter) Tyler | Leave a comment » | Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer co-founded anti-Muslim group Stop Islamization of America.
They were due to speak at an English Defence League march in Woolwich, where Drummer Lee Rigby was killed.
A government spokesman said individuals whose presence "is not conducive to the public good" could be excluded by the home secretary.
He added: "We condemn all those whose behaviours and views run counter to our shared values and will not stand for extremism in any form."
'Right decision'
Ms Geller, of the Atlas Shrugs blog, and Mr Spencer, of Jihad Watch, are also co-founders of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, best known for a pro-Israel "Defeat Jihad" poster campaign on the New York subway.
On both of their blogs the pair called their bans from entering the UK "a striking blow against freedom" and said the "the nation that gave the world the Magna Carta is dead".
They were due to attend a march planned by the far-right EDL to mark Armed Forces Day on 29 June, ending in Woolwich, south east London, where soldier Drummer Rigby was murdered last month.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, who had called for the bloggers to be banned from the UK, said: "I welcome the home secretary's ban on Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer from entering the country. This is the right decision. The UK should never become a stage for inflammatory speakers who promote hate."
EDL leader Tommy Robinson, meanwhile, criticised the decision and said Ms Geller and Mr Spencer were coming to the UK to lay flowers at the place where Drummer Rigby died.
"It's embarrassing for this so-called land of democracy and freedom of speech," he said.
"How many hate preachers are living in this country? It just shows what sort of a two-tier system we have here." » | Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Related »
Paul Weston, Chairman of new political party Liberty GB, speaks out about the Woolwich murder, Islam and the state of Britain today.
Liberty GB is here to protect the traditional British way of life, which has been ignored by the so-called 'Conservative' Party. We are a culturist, traditionalist and patriotic party that will talk truthfully about immigration and Islam. We are not career politicians, and we don't respond to whips - we'll always stand up for facts, and we'll always stand against hatred and intolerance.
HT: gerard »
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