Sunday, November 24, 2013
Bias Bash – Oprah's Idea on How to End Racism
Bias Bash: Palin Hits Back at MSBC Anchor Over Comments
Israel: FM Slams Deal with Iran: 'We're Entering New Era'
After weeks of an intensive campaign to dissuade Western powers from striking a deal with Iran failed to yield a result as world powers reached an agreement Sunday, Israel remains on the offensive.
Sunday morning, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said "there is no achievement in the is agreement. This is the biggest diplomatic victory Iran has known in recent years – since the Khameini regime (came to power)." When asked if the deal contains any positive aspect, Lieberman replied "no, there is no such thing."
The tone was echoed by a government spokesperson who said "This is a bad deal. It gives Iran exactly what it wanted – a significant reduction of sanctions while preserving the most significant part of its nuclear program," a official from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
"Israel does not see itself as bound by this bad, this very bad agreement that has been signed," Economy Minister Naftali Bennett added. » | Attila Somfalvi | Sunday, November 24, 2013
Accord Reached With Iran to Halt Nuclear Program
It was the first time in nearly a decade, American officials said, that an international agreement had been reached to halt much of Iran’s nuclear program and roll some elements of it back.
The aim of the accord, which is to last six months, is to give international negotiators time to pursue a more comprehensive pact that would ratchet back much of Iran’s nuclear program and ensure that it could be used only for peaceful purposes.
Shortly after the agreement was signed at 3 a.m. in the Palace of Nations in Geneva, President Obama, speaking from the State Dining Room in the White House, hailed it as the most “significant and tangible” progress of a diplomatic campaign that began when he took office.
“Today, that diplomacy opened up a new path toward a world that is more secure,” he said, “a future in which we can verify that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and that it cannot build a nuclear weapon.” » | Michael R. Gordon | Saturday, November 23, 2013
Bad Omen? Thanksgiving Turkeys Pardoned by Obama 'Have All Died'
Each Thanksgiving at the White House the US president publicly pardons two turkeys that were destined for dinner tables and sends them into a luxurious retirement.
But it has emerged that all eight of the birds so far pardoned by President Barack Obama have already died, and only one of them lived to see a second Thanksgiving.
The first two birds spared by Mr Obama in 2009 were sent to live at Disneyland and the following six, including last year's pair named Cobbler and Gobbler, went to the former home of George Washington at Mount Vernon.
But because the birds, some of them weighting up to 45 pounds, had been bred large for eating they endured health problems and did not last long despite their five star surroundings.
Mr Obama is set to pardon two more Thanksgiving turkeys this week. At the pardoning of Cobbler and Gobbler last year, attended by his daughters Sasha and Malia in the White House Rose Garden, he said: “From here these two lucky birds will be swept up in a whirlwind of fame and fortune that will ultimately lead them to Mount Vernon, where they will spend their twilight years in the storied home of George Washington.” » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Saturday, November 23, 2013
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Iran Deputy FM: Israel Too Weak to Cause Real Harm to Iran
Nazis Nixed: German Anti-fascists to Remember Fallen Colleague
Obama : «Michelle et moi sommes impatients d'accueillir le président Hollande»
«Michelle et moi sommes impatients d'accueillir le président Hollande et Valérie Trierweiler pour une visite d'Etat avec un dîner d'Etat à la Maison blanche le 11 février», annonce le président américain dans son communiqué.
«Durant cette visite, nous discuterons des possibilités de renforcer davantage la coopération franco-américaine en matière d'économie et de sécurité», précise-t-il. » | LeParisien.fr | vendredi 22 novembre 2013
Putin will Villa in Weggis kaufen
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| Die Villa Sénar am Vierwaldstättersee |
Bevor er US-Bürger wurde, lebte der Komponist Sergei Rachmaninoff zehn Jahre lang in der Villa Sénar am Vierwaldstättersee. Russland will das Haus nun zu einer Gedenkstätte für den Komponisten machen.
Bei einem viertägigen Besuch in Moskau ist der Luzerner Regierungspräsident Guido Graf über die Pläne Russlands für einen Kauf der Rachmaninoff-Villa in Weggis LU informiert worden. Russland will bis am 20. Dezember 2013 den Kauf der Immobilie prüfen. Der Schweizer Botschafter in Moskau habe die Luzerner Delegation über die entsprechenden Pläne Russlands informiert, sagte der Luzerner Regierungspräsident Guido Graf auf Anfrage vor seiner Rückreise in die Schweiz.
Der russische Präsident Wladimir Putin hatte das Kulturministerium am 2. Oktober 2013 angewiesen, den Kauf der Villa in der Schweiz und des Nachlasses des Komponisten Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) zu prüfen, wie der Kreml bekannt gab. » | kpn/sda | Freitag, 22. November 2013
Persona non grata
The United States' status in the Middle East hasn't reached such a low in many years, so low that Secretary of State John Kerry has actually become a persona non grata in most of the region's countries. It's not just President Barack Obama's failed policy, which has turned the friends of the US into its enemies or made them fear it; it's also Kerry's personality.
He wouldn't dare travel to North African countries, for clear fear for his life. Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf see him as a concrete threat on the survival of the regimes and as the person who sold them to Iran. He made a five-minute stop in Egypt and escaped as fast as he could. The Turks are reluctant to talk to him after, as they believe, he sold them to Assad, whose own survival he himself agreed to just several days after defining him as "the new Hitler."
Kerry is a persona non grata among the Palestinians as well. Perhaps Kerry should go to the Gaza Strip, which he cares so much about? Or perhaps to Lebanon, or to Iraq? He spares his own life, but has no problem putting in danger the lives of Israelis, who according to his perception will be forced to spend their entire lives under the threat of Arab terror.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – the three Muslim countries which were the iron axis of the American policy in the Middle East for decades – are furious with this man, who they see as unrealistic, delusional. Kerry promises that the Muslim countries will recognize Israel after a "peace agreement." Well, they are not [sic] longer willing to recognize him. » | Guy Bechor | Friday, November 22, 2013
Migrant Abuse: MEPs Plan Qatar Trip after Damning Resolution
The European Parliament is expected to send a delegation to Qatar next spring after passing an emergency resolution condemning the treatment of migrant workers in the Gulf state. The issue has come to a head as major construction work gathers pace ahead of the soccer World Cup in 2022, which the country will host.
In addition to the Qatari government, which has dismissed the resolution as "premature," MEPs are also looking to the world and European governing soccer bodies, FIFA and UEFA, for answers. » | dsk -- with wires | Friday, November 22, 2013
London 'Slavery' Case the Tip of an Iceberg, Warns MP Frank Field
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| Labour MP Frank Field |
The case of three women allegedly held as slaves for 30 years in south London is the "tip of a rather large iceberg", an MP in charge of reviewing evidence of slavery in Britain has warned.
Frank Field, chairman of the evidence review for the modern slavery bill, said criminal gangs were making "huge sums of money" from people being imported into the UK to work "almost for nothing".
Field said many victims who escape have no way of communicating because they speak little or no English and often come from countries where they are "deeply suspicious" of the police.
"We've had this example of domestic slavery but people are being imported to work, almost for nothing, in industry," he told BBC Breakfast.
"We've got begging gangs being developed, with people being imported. And of course we've got the whole question of how children are being imported to work. It's a whole range of issues we've got to wake up to." » | Staff and agencies | Saturday, November 23, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Women held as 'slaves' had been part of a 'collective', police reveal: Scotland Yard says two victims originally met alleged captors through a "shared political ideology" and youngest captive held only a birth certificate, and no other papers » | David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, November 23, 2013
David Cameron’s Potty Mouth Revealed to the Nation
In public his language is crafted, his words carefully chosen and his statements checked for inadvertent offence. In private, though, David Cameron is said not to be averse to the odd bit of “Anglo-Saxon vernacular”. Or, to put it another way, he can swear like a trooper.
Yesterday it emerged that on top of allegedly referring to the Government’s environmental commitments as “green crap”, he has also taken a colourful swipe at his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg.
Mr Cameron is said to have jokingly referred to Mr Clegg as an “idle f***er” – teasing him for enjoying a meal with his wife while he was drumming up trade on a trip to India and the Middle East. » | Whitehall Editor | Friday, November 22, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Australia's Governor-General Suggests Nation Should Become a Republic
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| Governor-General Quentin Bryce, Australia |
The Queen's representative in Australia, Governor-General Quentin Bryce, has declared support for Australia becoming a republic in an extraordinary speech which is set to reignite debate about the nation's ties to Britain.
Ms Bryce became the first Governor-General to back an Australian republic – a position which puts her at odds with prime minister, Tony Abbott, who is a staunch monarchist.
In an unusual foray into two contentious political debates, Ms Bryce, the first female Governor-General, backed an Australian head of state and voiced support for same-sex marriage – a position that Mr Abbott, a devout Catholic, also opposes.
Ms Bryce used just a few brief words during a speech in Sydney on Friday to lend a remarkable throw of support for a constitutional change that would annul her position. Significantly, she made her comments at the very end of a four-part lecture series. Immediately, the national media seized on the utterance as an historic declaration.
After expressing her hope that Australia would become a nation where "people are free to love and marry whom they choose", she added: "And where perhaps, my friends, one day one young girl or boy may even grow up to be our nation's first head of state." » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Friday, November 22, 2013
'Fat Cat' Backlash: Swiss Executive Pay Debate Gets Ugly
In Switzerland's current, polarized debate about executive salaries, Bern businesswoman Pia Tschannen could be considered a defector -- a woman in cahoots with the Young Socialists, the Social Democrats and the trade unions -- because she is campaigning for the 1:12 initiative, which is being put to referendum on Sunday.
The initiative's aim is to ensure managers cannot earn more in a month than a normal employee earns in a year. It would mean that nobody would be able to earn much more than 500,000 Swiss francs (€400,000) annually. "Ever higher salaries for managers imply that a company's success depends solely on one person. I don't believe that," says Tschannen.
In comparison, board members at Commerzbank, Germany's second biggest bank, were outraged at the government's insistence their pay be limited to €500,000 when the bank was bailed out with government money. Given Switzerland's historical association with Calvinism -- which is supportive of economic success -- the campaign has gathered surprisingly widespread support beyond the traditional left-wing. For a while, polls suggested advocates of the initiative were in a dead heat with their rivals, though support has now dropped. War on the 'Fat Cats' » | Christian Teevs | Friday, November 22, 2013
UK Must Do More to Explain Stance on Saudi Arabia, Say MPs
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| David Cameroon with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia last year |
Britain is suffering from a "credibility problem" in claiming to be backing reform in Saudi Arabia, which is described by MPs as "one of the least democratic states in the world with a notoriously poor human rights record" in a report published on Friday.
MPs on the foreign affairs committee are also asking the government to "assess" the supply of weapons by Saudi Arabia to Syrian rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. But they said there would be no advantage in stopping lucrative UK arms sales to the conservative kingdom – triggering immediate condemnation of a "whitewash" by campaigners.
After a year-long investigation into Britain's relations with Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Bahrain, the all-party body says it is concerned about "limited but worrying evidence of a poor public perception of the UK in Saudi Arabia."
The report will be closely scrutinized in both Gulf countries, but especially in oil-rich Saudi Arabia, whose ambassador to the UK warned of negative consequences for bilateral relations when the parliamentary enquiry was announced last year.
The inquiry was launched against the background of the Arab Spring uprisings, the rise of Islamist forces and nervousness in the Gulf monarchies that the unrest would affect them. It took evidence from academics, businessmen, diplomats and defence sales officials. Read on and comment » | Ian Black, Middle East editor | Friday, November 22, 2013
My comment:
Human rights are always going to take a back seat for the UK government, whatever the hue, as long as such big contracts for arms sales are on offer. It is simply pie-in-the-sky to think otherwise. Hypocrisy rules the day. – © Mark
This comment appears here too.
Tim Berners-Lee: UK and US Must Do More to Protect Internet Users' Privacy
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| Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web |
The UK and US must do more to protect internet users' privacy, the inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has warned as a survey of online freedoms is released.
Berners-Lee warned that "a growing tide of surveillance and censorship" posed a threat to the future of democracy, even as more and more people were using the internet to expose wrongdoing.
His remarks came before the second annual release of a global league table that classifies countries according to a set of freedoms. Since last year, the US has dropped from second place to fourth, while the UK has remained in third place. Sweden still tops the list, with Norway in second place. All of the Scandinavian countries – Sweden, Denmark and Norway – feature in the top 10.
The UK was poorly placed on privacy rights but was lifted by its high scores for availability of relevant content and the internet's political impact. Read on and comment » | Charles Arthur and agencies | Friday, November 22, 2013
NSA-Affäre: Merkel und Gauck lassen US-Delegation abblitzen
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| Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel und Bundespräsident Gauck |
Berlin/Washington/Brüssel - Wenn US-Senatoren auf Reisen gehen, sehen sie sich als Repräsentanten des berühmtesten und exklusivsten "Clubs" der Welt: des nur 100 Mitglieder starken US-Senats - und damit auf Augenhöhe mit den Staatschefs im Rest der Welt. So ist zu erklären, warum Chris Murphy, Vorsitzender des Unterausschusses für Europa im Senat, sich bei seinem Berlin-Besuch am Montag mit Kanzlerin Angela Merkel und Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck treffen wollte.
Aber weder Merkel noch Gauck stehen zur Verfügung: Nach Informationen von SPIEGEL ONLINE soll es im Kanzleramt lediglich zu einem Gespräch des Abteilungsleiter für Außenpolitik, Christoph Heusgen, mit dem Demokraten Murphy und einem Parlamentarier aus dem US-Abgeordnetenhaus kommen. Im Bundespräsidialamt soll gar kein Treffen zustande kommen.
So ambitioniert die Gesprächswünsche von Murphy und seinem ebenfalls demokratischen Begleiter Gregory Meeks klingen mögen - zu einem anderen Zeitpunkt wären die Treffen vielleicht sogar zustande gekommen. Aber in den vergangenen Monaten ist im Zuge der NSA-Affäre einiges kaputt gegangen zwischen Berlin und Washington - spätestens seitdem bekannt wurde, dass der amerikanische Auslandsnachrichtendienst offenbar sogar das Handy der Bundeskanzlerin abgehört hat. » | Von Florian Gathmann, Philipp Wittrock und Gregor Peter Schmitz | Donnerstag, 21. November 2013
Saudi Men Arrested for Offering Free Hugs in Riyadh
The Saudi religious police detained the two young men for indulging in exotic practices and offending public order.
The free hugs movement aims to "brighten up" people's lives by offering strangers hugs.
A young Saudi man, Bandr al-Swed, posted a video of himself offering hugs to male strangers on YouTube, where it has received nearly 1.5m views.
"After seeing the Free Hugs Campaign in many different countries, I decided to do it in my own country," Mr Swed told al-Arabiya news [sic].
"I liked the idea and thought it could bring happiness to Saudi Arabia."
Britain's Independent newspaper reports that his video inspired two more young Saudis, Abdulrahman al-Khayyal and a friend.
They offered hugs, advertised on a placard, in one of Riyadh's main shopping streets. » | Thursday, November 21, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Three Women Rescued after 'Decades of Slavery' in South London Home
Related »
Pope Bemoans Plight of Mid-East Christians
He has been meeting Middle Eastern patriarchs in Rome, to discuss the dangers faced by the dwindling Christian communities in the region.
In recent years millions of Christians have been displaced in the region.
They have fled attacks by Islamist extremists and growing tensions since the Arab spring.
Francis said he had spoken to the patriarchs about "those who live in the Middle East, often in small flocks, in environments marked by hostility and conflicts" and "the size of the diaspora, which is notably growing".
He said he was concerned by "the situation of Christians, who suffer in a particularly severe way the consequences of tensions and conflicts in many parts of the Middle East", amid a belief that some Christians are scapegoated for the actions of Western powers in the region.
"Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other areas of the Holy Land sometimes overflow with tears," he said. » | Thursday, November 21, 2013
Putin Wages War on Tobacco and Alcohol
Inside Story: Has Syria's War Spilled Over into Lebanon?
Saudi Arabia Urges Citizens to Leave Lebanon
Saudi Arabia has asked its citizens to leave Lebanon due to the risk of political violence in the country, where twin suicide bombings near Iran's embassy in Beirut killed 25 people this week.
Riyadh has issued several similar calls in the past two years as the civil war in Syria has inflamed political and sectarian tension in neighbouring Lebanon.
"Saudi ambassador Ali Awadh al-Asseiri said on Thursday...that the embassy urged Saudi nationals to leave Lebanon, considering the alarming security situation," the Lebanese National News Agency reported, citing a phone call with Asseiri.
A Lebanon-based Sunni armed group close to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility. » | Source: Agencies | Thursday, November 21, 2013
Christians Face Extinction Threat in Mideast - UK Minister of Faith
Three Women 'Held as Slaves' in South London
Related »
Three Women Rescued after 'Decades of Slavery' in South London Home
Three "highly traumatised" women have been rescued from a house in south London where they appear to have been held captive for three decades, Scotland Yard has said.
A 69-year-old Malaysian woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old British woman were all rescued from the residential address on Thursday morning by detectives from the Metropolitan police Human Trafficking Unit.
Two suspects – a 67-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman – were arrested at the address under the investigation into slavery and domestic servitude, the force said in a statement. » | Josh Halliday | Thursday, November 21, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Venezuela's Congress Grants Nicolás Maduro Power to Rule by Decree
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| Nicolás Maduro, President of Venezuela |
Venezuelan MPs have granted President Nicolas Maduro year[-]long decree powers that he says are essential to regulate the economy and stamp out corruption but adversaries view as a thinly veiled power grab.
Hundreds of supporters of the ruling Socialist Party cheered outside the National Assembly as the so-called Enabling Law was passed, while a recording of Mr Maduro's late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, singing Venezuela's anthem rang out inside the hall.
Though winning the decree powers hands Mr Maduro a political victory in the runup to Dec. 8 municipal elections, he still faces a severely distorted economy with embarrassing product shortages and inflation surging to nearly 55 percent.
"With this Enabling Law we are following an order by President Chavez," said Diosdado Cabello, president of the National Assembly and a staunch supporter of Mr Maduro.
"He told us to pass all the laws necessary to wring the necks of the speculators and the money launderers." » | Reuters | Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Church of England Votes Overwhelmingly for Women Bishops
The Church of England’s General Synod has voted overwhelmingly in favour of women bishops exactly a year after previous legislation was brought down by traditionalists.
Members of all three strands of the Synod – bishops, clergy and laity – gave strong support to a new measure in its first formal consideration by the Church’s governing body.
In an initial test of opinion, only eight members voted against with 378 in favour and 25 abstentions. A further, more formal vote, was due to take place later.
It marks a dramatic turnaround in just a year described by one bishop as “nothing short of miraculous”.
During the debate at Church House in London one leading women cleric warned that the failure to agree the issue in the past made them simply look “weird”. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Martin Bashir Full Apology For Sarah Palin "Shit in Mouth" Comments - MSNBC - November 18, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Martin Bashir says sorry for 'unacceptable' Sarah Palin remarks » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Related »
'Tories Must Shout About Gay Marriage To Win Next Election'
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| Nick Boles |
The Conservative Party cannot win a majority unless it wins around young people by “shouting from the rooftops” about liberal policies like gay marriage, a Tory minister has said.
Nick Boles, an ally of David Cameron, said that the Conservatives will struggle to win a Commons majority because “a significant number of people will not even contemplate voting Conservative”.
Because the Conservative Party image still repels many voters, the party should consider running candidates under a new National Liberal banner, Mr Boles said.
The minister was a strong supporter of Mr Cameron’s attempts to modernise the image of the Conservative Party and reach out to new voters. His comments reflect concern among senior Tories that the modernisation project has stalled in recent years.
Speaking to the Bright Blue Tory think tank, Mr Boles said that young voters will only back the Conservatives if they highlight their socially liberal policies including allowing gay marriage. » | James Kirkup | Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Qatari Royal 'Identified' as Buyer of $142 Million Francis Bacon Painting
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| Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani |
She is renowned as the biggest spender and most powerful player in the art world, lavishing her family's fortune at international sales to turn Qatar into a global cultural power.
And Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad al-Thani, the sister of Qatar's emir, is now reported to be the secret buyer who last week paid $142.4 million (£89 million) for a Francis Bacon triptych -- a world record at auction.
There has been intense speculation about the identity of the new owner of Three Studies of Lucian Freud, Bacon's 1969 study of his friend and fellow British artist.
In a sale that smashed records and amazed art watchers, the work was bought at Christie's in New York by the prestigious Acquavella Gallery on behalf of an unnamed client.
The sheikh, who heads the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) and has a reputation for paying large sums at auctions to guarantee the winning bid, was named yesterday as the buyer by The New York Post, citing "numerous sources". » | Philip Sherwell, New York | Tuesday, November 19, 2013
MSNBC Host Apologizes to Palin for 'Unacceptable' Remarks
Related »
Barack Obama plus impopulaire que jamais
Seuls 42% des Américains interrogés approuvent encore la politique de leur président, soit une baisse de six points en un mois et son niveau le plus faible, relève le sondage réalisé pour le Washington Post-ABC News. » | Agence France-Presse | Washington DC | mardi 19 novembre 2013
New York Bans Tobacco Sales to Under-21s
Tobacco sales will be banned to under-21s in New York in a new health drive by mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The law will make it the first large US city or state to prohibit sales to young adults.
City health officials hope that raising the legal purchase age from 18 to 21 will lead to a big decline in smoking rates in a critical age group. Most smokers get addicted to cigarettes before 21, and then have trouble quitting.
The ban has limitations, in terms of its ability to stop young people from picking up the deadly habit. Teenagers can still possess tobacco legally. Children will still be able to steal cigarettes from their parents, take them from friends or buy them from the black-market dealers who are common in many neighbourhoods.
But City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the idea was to make it more inconvenient for young people to get started, especially teenagers who had previously had easy access to cigarettes through slightly older peers. » | AP | Tuesday, November 19, 2013
My comment:
Michael Bloomberg is really quite unrelenting in his assault on smokers, isn't he? He was once a chain-smoker, but search engines have been purged of the fact, I notice.
As is typical of reformed smokers, when they give up, they want the whole world to give up with them. Bloomberg is no exception to this rule.
So now, a New Yorker can die for his country before the age of 21, but he will not be able to buy a pack of cigarettes. I don't know whether other people would agree with me on this, but that seems to me to be ridiculous. If a young man is old enough to die for his country, he is old enough to have a drag.
Michael Bloomberg appears to have a tyrannical side to his nature. He will have his way. It's his way or the highway! It amazes me that the once freedom lovers of America put up with Bloomberg's meddlesome ways. – © Mark
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Gets His Own TV Show
US Methodist Church Convicts Minister for Officiating at Son's Gay Wedding
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| Frank Schaefer |
A Pennsylvania minister convicted under United Methodist church law of performing his son's same-sex wedding ceremony could learn on Tuesday if he will be defrocked.
A jury of his pastoral peers convicted the Rev Frank Schaefer on Monday of breaking his vows by officiating at the 2007 ceremony in Massachusetts after a trial that has rekindled debate over the denomination's policies on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
The jury reconvenes on Tuesday morning for the penalty phase, at which both sides will present witnesses. Schaefer could face punishment ranging from a reprimand to a suspension to losing his minister's credentials.
Schaefer testified at his trial that he tried to follow God's command to minister to all, even if he disobeyed the Methodist Book of Discipline.
Schaefer said he could have avoided the trial by agreeing to avoid any more same-sex ceremonies. But he declined, noting that three of his four children are gay. » | Associated Press in Pennsylvania | Tuesday, November 19, 2013
David Cameron's Posh Boy Image 'Undermining Fight against Scottish Independence'
David Cameron is doing irreconcilable damage to the campaign to defeat Scottish independence and must step back before it its too late, the former First Minister has said.
The Prime Minister's "rich posh image" and "damaging" policies epitomise everything that Scots hate about the Conservatives, warned Henry McLeish, who led the country a decade ago.
He said Mr Cameron is a "much scarier figure than Margaret Thatcher ever was" to Scots and could increase support for independence by as much as five percentage points is [sic] [if] he fails to take a back seat in the coming year.
The warning marks one of Mr McLeish's boldest public interventions in the referendum debate and reflects concerns among unionists that a resurgent Tory Party could drive Scots to support separation from the UK come September 2014. » | Ben Riley-Smith | Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
Church of England 'Will Be Extinct in One Generation', Warns Ex-Archbishop
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| Lord Carey, the one-time Archbishop of Canterbury |
The Church of England is "one generation away from extinction", the former Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.
Lord Carey, 78, said churchgoers should be "ashamed" of themselves for failing to invest more in young people and called for urgent action beforen [sic] its too late.
The outspoken Lord said that unless more was done to attract new worshipers [sic] then every one of the 43 CofE dioceses across the world could be wiped out within 25 years.
He also expressed fears that the modern church [sic] was too old[-] fashioned and "not the most exciting place to meet new people".
The retired Anglican bishop was making a keynote speech at Holy Trinity Church in Shrewsbury, as part of the Shropshire Churches Conference 2013. » | Ben Riley-Smith, and agencies | Monday, November 18, 2013
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