Sunday, February 16, 2014
Talk to Al Jazeera: Erdogan: Turkey's Rôle in the Middle East
Kerry Pays Tribute to Islam in Jakarta
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| John Kerry and Grand Imam Ali Mustafa Ya'qub at the grand domed prayer hall at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sunday |
JAKARTA — US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Southeast Asia’s largest mosque during his visit to Indonesia Sunday, paying tribute to Islam in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
After removing his shoes outside the Istiqlal mosque in the heart of Jakarta, Kerry walked through the vast building accompanied by grand imam Kyai al-Hajj Ali Mustafa Yaqub.
Calling it an “extraordinary place”, the top US diplomat told Indonesian reporters: “I am very privileged to be here and I am grateful to the grand imam for allowing me to come.” » | AFP | Sunday, February 16, 2014
Data Protection: Angela Merkel Proposes Europe Network
It would avoid emails and other data automatically passing through the United States.
In her weekly podcast, she said she would raise the issue on Wednesday with French President Francois Hollande.
Revelations of mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) have prompted huge concern in Europe.
Disclosures by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden suggested even the mobile phones of US allies, such as Mrs Merkel, had been monitored by American spies.
Classified NSA documents revealed that large amounts of personal data are collected from the internet by US and British surveillance. » | Saturday, February 15, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Rich Should Get More Votes, Says Billionaire Tom Perkins
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| Tom Perkins calls for the rich to be given more votes |
Tom Perkins, the Silicon Valley billionaire, has risked further controversy by saying the rich should be given more votes than the less well off.
An unrepentant Mr Perkins also said those who paid no taxes whatsoever should be disfranchised.
The venture capitalist, enlisted both Thomas Jefferson and Baroness Thatcher in his call for a radical change to the voting system.
Speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, he appeared to revel in the notoriety his previous remarks as he spoke to a sell-out audience.
“Thomas Jefferson, at the beginning of this country thought to vote you had to be a landowner,” he said. » | David Millward, US Correspondent | Saturday, February 15, 2014
Deutschland: Ungebremster Zulauf für Salafisten
Salafisten: Bedrohung für Deutschland? Ulrich Kraetzer zum Thema
Austrian Red Cross in Hot Water after ‘Rejecting’ Blood Donations from Muslims
Austria-based charity group for Austrian Muslims, the IRG foundation, which has been campaigning to donate blood, reported on its website a Red Cross doctor from Linz, Austria’s third-biggest city, refused over the phone to accept blood donations “from Muslim or Turkish donors” including those born in Austria. The Islamic Religious Community of Linz has been outraged by the decision, which sparked religious prejudice concerns. » | Friday, February 14, 2014
As Hate Crimes Rise, British Muslims Say They’re Becoming More Insular
The streets are lively but orderly, with shops that provide the largely South Asian population with most of its needs. The huge Pak Supermarket, with its 10-kilogram bags of spices and rices, is matched by the nearby Pak Pharmacy. Nearly every face is South Asian, and people wear a vibrant mixture of clothing, from Western styles to head scarves, knitted caps and full-face veils, or niqabs.
But the Muslims of Alum Rock, Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook, who make up most of the more than 21 percent of Birmingham’s population who declare Islam as their religion, are newly uneasy, they say. The backlash from the killing of a white soldier, Lee Rigby, in London in May by two fanatical young British Muslims, combined with anxieties about the flow of jihadis between Britain and Syria and the sometimes harshly anti-immigrant tone of leading British politicians have combined to create a new wariness among British Muslims.
“It is a less comfortable country than it used to be,” said Sadruddin Ali, 35, born and raised here.
Anti-Muslim hate crimes are up, the police and Muslim advocacy groups say. In response, many British Muslims say they are becoming more insular and more reluctant to leave their areas of Britain’s big cities, where they are among other Muslims and South Asians. » | Steven Erlanger | Thursday, February 13, 2014
Jamaicans Lead Caribbean Calls for Britain to Pay Slavery Reparations
History Channel Documentary: The French Revolution
Inside Story: Scotland: A Rocky Road to Independence
Friday, February 14, 2014
The New Jihadists Make Al-Qaeda Look Like Tired Old Has-beens
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| Al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri, above, is seen as the godfather of Islamist terrorism – but an increasingly isolated one |
There is something rather laughable about the fugitive leader of al-Qaeda railing – as he has been recently – against the violent tactics employed by a new generation of Islamist militants.
This, after all, is an organisation that is no stranger to committing wanton acts of unprovoked violence, such as last year’s assault on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall. Judging from reports this week, it may also have radicalised the first British man to carry out a suicide bombing in the Syrian civil war.
But what really seems to be bugging Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s ideological linchpin, is not so much the violent methods being employed by militants fighting in Syria and Iraq, but the fact that they are no longer prepared to take orders from him. He is the godfather of Islamist terrorism – but an increasingly isolated one.
This is certainly the view of American intelligence officials, who closely monitor every aspect of Islamist activity around the world.
“What we are looking at is the replacement of al-Qaeda by a new generation of Islamist militants who have a far more radical and focused agenda,” a senior US counter-terrorism official told me in an interview in Washington. “The new generation of these terrorists are far more ambitious. They are not just content with plotting terror attacks against the West: they are determined to create their own Islamist state.” » | Con Coughlin | Thursday, February 13, 2014
Iran: Geschlechtsumwandlung oder Strafe
Ohne islamisches Kopftuch dürfen sie nicht antreten, Männer als Zuschauer im Stadion sind verboten, trotzdem gewinnt der Frauenfußball im Iran immer mehr Fans. 50.000 Sportlerinnen kicken Woche für Woche in den verschiedenen Ligen, die jetzt für Schlagzeilen sorgen. Einige der besten Athletinnen, darunter vier aus der Nationalmannschaft und drei aus der Ersten Liga, sind nämlich Männer – Spieler, bei denen die chirurgische Geschlechtsumwandlung zur Frau noch nicht abgeschlossen ist. Alle sieben wurden vorläufig suspendiert. "Wenn die Operation erfolgreich und das Problem gelöst ist, können sie wieder ins Team zurückkehren", beschwichtigte der Chefmediziner des Iranischen Fußballverbandes, Ahmad Haschemian.
Geschlechtsumwandlungen lassen sich nur in mehreren Etappen durchführen, die in der Regel zwei Jahre dauern. Seit Irans Staatsgründer Ayatollah Ruhollah Chomeini vor drei Jahrzehnten in einer Fatwa den chirurgischen Eingriff für vereinbar mit dem Islam erklärte, verzeichnet die Islamische Republik nach Thailand weltweit die meisten Geschlechtsumwandlungen. Wer sich in einem falschen Körper gefangen fühle, dürfe den Körper verändern lassen, um sein Leiden zu lindern, urteilte Chomeini. Fortan galt Transsexualität in der schiitischen Morallehre als heilbare Krankheit, ganz im Gegensatz zur Homosexualität. Sie wird nach wie vor verurteilt als Verbrechen und Gotteslästerung, die mit Auspeitschung oder dem Tod bestraft werden kann. » | Von Martin Gehlen | Freitag, 14. Februar 2014
Pakistan : trois blessés dans une bagarre entre pro et anti-Saint-Valentin
Mais la fête de la romance a tourné court. Elle a été interrompue par le débarquement d'un groupe rival en colère, celui des étudiants de la Islami Jamiat Tulba (IJT), proche du parti islamiste Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) qui jugent la Saint-Valentin contraire aux valeurs de l'islam. L'IJT avait appelé ses membres à faire au contraire preuve de modération en célébrant un «Jour de la modestie». » | LeParisien.fr | vendredi 14 février 2014
Le tueur norvégien Breivik menace d'une grève de la faim pour une console
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| Le tuer norvégien d'extrême droite Anders Behring Breivik menace dans un courrier d'entamer une grève de la faim pour obtenir une amélioration de ses conditions de détention qu'il assimile à de la «torture» faute notamment d'obtenir la console de jeux voulue |
Dans un courrier envoyé aux autorités carcérales en novembre, le terroriste d'extrême-droite pose 12 exigences. Susceptibles selon lui de rendre son séjour en prison conforme avec la réglementation européenne, ces demandes portent sur des droits fondamentaux, comme la possibilité de promenade ou de communiquer, et des détails anecdotiques.
Il réclame notamment le remplacement de la Playstation 2 mise à sa disposition par une PS3 «avec accès à des jeux pour adulte que je peux moi-même choisir», et de sa chaise de bureau «douloureuse» par un sofa ou un fauteuil. «Les autres détenus ont accès à des jeux pour adulte alors que je n'ai le droit de jouer qu'à des jeux pour enfants d'un moindre intérêt. Un exemple est "Rayman Revolution", un jeu (d'aventure dont la suite s'appelle "La grande évasion", ndlr) conçu pour des enfants de trois ans», écrit le tueur âgé de 35 ans. » | LeParisien.fr | vendredi 14 février 2014
Judge Bans Muslim Patrol Vigilantes from Promoting Sharia Law in Britain
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| Banned: Jordan Horner, also known as Jalaal Uddin, seen here in Leyton, London, in 2007 |
Converts Jordan Horner, 20, Ricardo McFarlane, 26, and Royal Barnes, 23, have been handed Antisocial Behavioural Orders (Asbos) which forbid them from forcing their views on others.
They have also been forbidden from meeting hate cleric Anjem Choudary.
Judge Timothy Pontius admitted the order was “drastic” but at the Old Bailey added: “With the public interest in mind and the safety of individual members of the public in particular, it seems to me essential that these orders should be granted to run for that period of time.”
The gang had targeted young couples holding hands, people drinking alcohol and women who they deemed to dress “inappropriately” in a month of “religious vigilantism” between December 2012 and January 2013.
The Asbos issued today bar them from distributing material or accosting members of the public and causing them “harassment, alarm or distress”.
They were also forbidden from associating with each other and radical clerics Anjem Choudary and Dean Le Page, both leading members of banned group al-Muhajiroun, later known as Muslims Against Crusades, unless in peaceful worship in a mosque. » | Ted Jeory | Friday, February 14, 2014
Related »
Jordan Horner Given Asbo for 'Religious Extremism'
Jordan Horner, 20, of Walthamstow, has been linked to extreme religious groups and taken part in vigilante patrols and street protests promoting extreme versions of Islam, police said.
Restrictions were placed on him at the Old Bailey for five years.
Waltham Forest Police said it sent a "clear message" and officers added it was a "landmark case". [Source: BBC] | Friday, February 14, 2014
Terrorist Group Releases British 'Suicide Bomber' Martyrdom Video
Looking calm and relaxed, it is hard to believe these are the last moments of Abdul Waheed Majeed's life.
The jihadist, thought to be the first British citizen to carry out a suicide attack in Syria, poses for the camera with his hands nonchalantly in his pockets, dressed in a white Muslim robe and black scarf on his head bearing the insignia of an extremist Islamist group.
Minutes later he would drive a truck laden with explosives into the gates of a nearby prison, killing himself and scores others.
Today, Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda-aligned group to which he belonged, released a 46-minute "martyrdom" video showing the moments leading up to his death.
Standing next to the truck he would use in his mission, he is approached by the cameraman and asked in Arabic to say some final words. Majeed appears not to understand and a third voice interrupts to explain that he speaks English. (+ Telegraph video) » | Josie Ensor | Friday, February 14, 2014
New Cardinal Vincent Nichols: Welfare Cuts ‘Frankly a Disgrace’
Lebanese Get Naked in Support of Topless Skier
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| Lebanese professionals have rallied behind Jackie Chamoun |
Hundreds of Lebanese professionals are posting nude pictures of themselves online in solidarity with Jackie Chamoun, the 22-year-old Lebanese Olympic skier, who was this week publicly scorned by the country's politicians for participating in a risqué photo-shoot.
The "I Am Not Naked" campaign, in which people are invited to strip off their clothes and be photographed, covering their private areas with a round sign saying #StripForJackie, was started on the spur of the moment by friends of Ms Chamoun.
"It took us a few hours to launch the idea and the Facebook page on Tuesday," said Mohamad Abdouni, a co-organiser of the campaign and the editor for a Lebanese arts magazine. "I went to bed at 6am and when I woke up at 10am on the same day, I found 4,000 likes on the Facebook page!"
The campaign has since taken Lebanese media by storm, dominating chat shows, newspapers and social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook. And it has gone beyond Ms Chamoun's breasts, kickstarting the conversation about what kind of a society Lebanon wants to be. » | Ruth Sherlock, Beirut | Thursday, February 13, 2014
Related »
Extremist Greek Group Vows Attacks on German Firms, Blaming Berlin for Crisis
Endless Standoff? Bahrain Burns With Protests Three Years On
Islam v. West? : 'Major Civilizations on Collision Course'
Watch full version here
Valentine’s Day Is Banned by the Religious Police in Saudi Arabia
RED ROSES LURK hidden in flower shop back rooms and heart-shaped chocolates are sold under the counter, but Saudis still manage to buy Valentine’s gifts and defy the religious police.
Florist Hussein came up with a simple solution to a ban on red tokens of love: he filled his window with white roses, orange irises and violet hydrangeas.
“I’ve hidden everything red in the shop, so when a religious police patrol comes along, they find nothing to complain about,” he said.
Anti-Valentine’s Day patrols by the Muttawa religious police, formally known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, started on Wednesday.
They began entering premises stocking chocolates, flowers and souvenirs to warn proprietors against selling anything red or heart-shaped and linked to the annual “infidel celebration” of matters romantic. » | © AFP | Friday, February 14, 2014
Valentine's Day 'Leads to Fraud and Baby-dumping', Says Malaysia's Islamic Watchdog
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| A number of Acehnese Muslim senior high school students students hold a protest against Valentine's Dat celebrations in Banda Aceh, Indonesia |
Malaysian Islamic authorities took their annual swipe at Valentine's Day Friday, calling it a threat to Muslim values, but 138 couples took part in a mass wedding to mark the date.
In its official Friday sermon text distributed to mosques in the Muslim-majority country, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department blamed Valentine's Day for everything from alcoholism to abortion.
"Social ceremonies such as this are a stepping-stone towards greater social ills such as fraud, mental disorder caused by alcohol, abortion and baby-dumping, and other negative ills that can invite disaster and moral decay among youths," it said.
Known by its Malay-language acronym JAKIM, the department is an official watchdog of Muslim values. It regularly denounces Valentine's Day as encouraging vice and promiscuity. » | AFP | Friday, February 14, 2014 | Valentine’s Day
Thursday, February 13, 2014
La Belgique, premier pays à élargir l'euthanasie aux mineurs sans limite d'âge
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| Manifestation anti-euthanasie, dimanche à Bruxelles |
La Belgique est devenue jeudi soir le premier pays d'Europe à permettre aux enfants atteints de maladie incurable de choisir l'euthanasie sans âge minimum, afin d'abréger leur souffrance. Seuls les Pays-Bas disposent jusqu'ici d'une loi comparable, mais elle ne s'applique qu'aux mineurs de 12 ans et plus..
La question de la «capacité de discernement» d'un enfant confronté à la douleur et à une mort certaine a été l'un des rares sujets de controverse d'un débat très serein, tant pour la classe politique que dans la société civile. La réalité, exprimée par les praticiens, est que les pédiatres et les infirmiers répondaient déjà dans l'illégalité à la demande des enfants en fin de vie, souvent relayée par des parents eux-mêmes anéantis par un combat sans espoir.
Malgré l'opposition de l'Église catholique et des voix dissonantes dans le corps médical, 73 % des Belges sont favorables à la légalisation de l'euthanasie pour les mineurs. Le vote de la loi par la Chambre des représentants ne faisait plus guère de doute depuis quelques jours. Dans ce royaume de tradition catholique, seule une minorité de députés - chrétiens-démocrates, quelques libéraux et extrême droite flamande du Vlaams Belang - restaient résolus contre le texte. Le gouvernement a laissé la liberté de vote. » | Par Jean-Jacques Mevel | jeudi 13 février 2014
Boris Johnson Is One of Us, Claims Ancient Russian Ethnic Group from Sochi Region
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| Meet the ancestors: Circassians in Sochi sport traditional headwear – that bears a remarkable similarity to Boris Johnson's blond-mop hairstyle |
Elders of the Circassian community — famous for their blond hair, blue eyes and “warrior-like” demeanour — have invited the Mayor to visit them in Southern Russia.
They offered to help Mr Johnson, who has no plans to attend the Winter Games, track the roots of great-great-grandmother Hanifa Fered, who they say originates from the region.
His ancestor was one of 1.5 million Circassians — or Adygea — to flee the area now known as Sochi in the 19th century as Russia conquered it.
Hanifa crossed the Black Sea to the Ottoman Empire — present-day Turkey — but was sold as a slave on arrival, a fate that befell many Circassian women who were considered to be among the world’s most beautiful (Miss International Australia 2013, Felicia Djamirze, is Circassian).
The story has been passed down the Mayor’s family: Hanifa was bought as a concubine, and later married, Mr Johnson’s great-great-grandfather Ahmet Hamdi Kemal, a beeswax merchant from the village of Kalfat. Their son Ali Kemal, a journalist, poet and politician, married his Anglo-Swiss wife Winifred in London before returning to Turkey. He was murdered during the Turkish War of Independence. » | Will Stewart in Moscow and Pippa Crerar | Thursday, February 13, 2014
Britain Must Act over Uganda's Anti-gay Bill or Risk Watching an Exodus
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| Masked Kenyan supporters of the LGBT community stage a protest against Uganda's anti-gay bill in front of the Ugandan High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya |
Uganda is facing an exodus of its gay population if the country presses ahead with a controversial bill that allows life imprisonment for homosexuality.
Gay activists in the country believe that large numbers of Ugandan gays will flee if President Yoweri Museveni fails to veto the bill, which could otherwise become law by the end of next week.
The Ugandan leader has been urged by Britain and other Westerns nations to block the bill, but is under pressure from conservatives in his parliament, which voted by a majority in favour of it in December.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Frank Mugisha, a leading Ugandan gay activist, said that hostility to gays in Uganda had increased since the vote, and that many would leave the country altogether if Mr Museveni failed to exercise his veto. Britain, which ran Ghana as a protectorate until 1962, would be an obvious destination to seek asylum in, both because of its colonial links and its reputation as a liberal country for gays to live in. » | Colin Freeman | Thursday, February 13, 2014
George Osborne: Sharing the Pound with Scotland Is 'Not Going to Happen'
La Belgique autorise les mineurs à choisir l'euthanasie
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| Au parlement belge, les députés ont tranché en faveur de l'euthanasie pour les mineurs, sous strictes conditions |
Les députés ont adopté le texte jeudi matin 13 février malgré l'opposition de certains pédiatres et de la hiérarchie catholique.
La Belgique est le deuxième pays au monde, après les Pays-Bas, à autoriser sous de strictes conditions l'euthanasie pour les mineurs. Là où le législateur néerlandais à prévu un âge minimum de 12 ans, les élus belges ont opté pour la notion, plus flexible, de «capacité de discernement». » | ats,afp/Newsnet | jeudi 13 février 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Hollande-Obama, tandem transatlantique
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| Michelle Obama, François Hollande et Barack Obama, le 11 février, lors du dîner d'État organisé à la Maison Blanche en l'honneur du chef de l'État français |
Entre la chaleur de l'accueil, les fastes du dîner d'État et les éloges appuyés d'Obama à l'exemplarité du couple franco-américain en matière de coopération diplomatique et militaire, la visite de Washington aura été une bouffée d'oxygène pour François Hollande, loin des tracas de la politique française et de ses records d'impopularité. » | Par Laure Mandeville | mercredi 12 février 2014
LE FIGARO: Magie, amitié, caviar et bœuf aux échalotes, au menu du dîner d'État : François Hollande a été accueilli en grande pompe par le couple Obama, lors d'une réception à la Maison-Blanche mardi soir. » | Correspondante à Washington | Par Laure Mandeville, Rosa Chevassu | mercredi 12 février 2014
The Queen and I – Interview with Farah Pahlavi
Retourkutsche: EU will Zuzug von Schweizern bremsen
Von wegen "nicht gleich losschlagen", wie es EU-Parlamentspräsident Martin Schulz gefordert hatte: Die EU denkt bereits fieberhaft über Retourkutschen nach, nachdem die Schweizer sich am Sonntag in einem Referendum knapp mit 50,3 Prozent für eine Einschränkung der Personenfreizügigkeit ausgesprochen hatten. 20.000 Stimmen hatten den Ausschlag gegeben.
EU-Kommissionspräsident José Manuel Barroso hat nun unverhohlen gedroht, dass Schweizer künftig ebenfalls nicht mehr ohne weiteres in EU-Ländern wohnen und arbeiten könnten: „Im Sinne der Gegenseitigkeit ist es nicht richtig, dass Schweizer Bürger die unbeschränkte Personenfreizügigkeit in der Europäischen Union haben“, sagte Barroso in einem Interview mit der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters. Konkrete Strafmaßnahmen nannte er aber nicht. „Es ist unfair, dass ein Land alle Vorteile hat und seinen Partnern nicht dieselben Vorteile gewähren will“, betonte der Politiker. » | APA/Reuters/SDA/red. | Mittwoch, 12. Februar 2014
Türkei: Zwei Jahre Haft für "Beleidigung" Erdogans
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| Erdogan |
Wegen "Beleidigung des Ministerpräsidenten und fehlender Reue": Medienberichten zufolge hat die türkische Justiz am Mittwoch zweijährige Haftstrafen gegen 17 Regierungsgegner verhängt. Die Demonstranten hätten im Jahr 2012 bei einer kleinen Protestaktion in der Stadt Eskisehir den islamisch-konservativen Regierungschef Recep Tayyip Erdogan kritisiert. Eine Berufung ist laut "Hürriyet" unzulässig.
Der Zeitung zufolge hätten die Regierungsgegner bei der Protestaktion Erdogan als "Diener des Internationalen Währungsfonds" und "Diener der Bosse" kritisiert. Der lautstarke Protest gegen die Gesundheitspolitik der AKP-Regierung sei vom Gericht in Eskisehir als "Beamtenbeleidigung" ausgelegt worden. » | APA/AFP | Mittwoch, 12. Februar 2014
British People Too 'Uninformed' to Vote in EU Referendum, Top Eurocrat Claims
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| Viviane Reding claimed that Britons were not well-informed enough |
European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding also questioned the ability of Britons to vote in EU elections, as she claimed 70 per cent of UK laws are made by the European parliament.
Mrs Reding said the truth about what happens in Europe is often "completely distorted", which meant voters did not have the facts they needed at the ballot box.
She also insisted the European parliament was the "most powerful" within the union because it made or was jointly responsible for most new laws.
During a question and answer session in London, Mrs Reding urged Britain to spend more time debating EU membership before the possible future in/out referendum.
"Do the people who are asked to vote know what they are going to vote about?" she said.
"I don't care what kind of personal decision you take, the only thing I care for is that you take an informed decision, whatever your decision be."
She said Britain was not using its "tradition of debate" over Europe, adding: "I really wonder why. Because you are on the verge of having maybe a national decision, to take very important decisions." » | Alison Little and Jane Mathews | Tuesday, February 11, 2014
105mph Wind Recorded as Gales Batter Britain
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| A man walks through the sandstorm at the Swansea seafront in south Wales on 12 February 2014 |
Strong winds continued to batter the UK on Wednesday, causing disruption to road and rail networks and leaving 21,000 people without power.
A top wind speed of 105mph was recorded in Aberdaron in north-west Wales, and Western Power Distribution said electricity supplies had been hit in south Wales, the south-west and the west Midlands. Gusts of 92mph have already been recorded in the Mumbles on the Gower Peninsula, south-west Wales, the weather forecaster Meteogroup said.
Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol was briefly closed for the first time in its history, and the storms have also brought a number of trees down. Coastal areas could also be battered by large waves, the Met Office said.
The Environment Agency warned that the Thames was set to rise in places to its highest levels in more than 60 years, causing severe disruption to communities in Windsor, Maidenhead and Surrey. » | Haroon Siddique, Matthew Weaver and agencies | Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Inside Story: Squeezing Out Switzerland's Immigrants
Inside Story: The Islamic Revolution Turns 35
Al Jazeera World: Escape in Istanbul
'Fantastic Day for Democracy!' Switzerland Narrowly Votes to Curb EU Immigration
Syrian Spillover: Deadly Violence in Lebanon as 'Al-Qaeda Ideology Spreads'
Sochi 2014: Lebanese Skier Causes Controversy Over Topless Photos
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lebanese skier taking part in Sochi has apologised for racy photos after country's sports minister called for an inquiry
A Lebanese skier competing in the Sochi Winter Olympics has sparked controversy back home after posing topless for a calendar.
The photos, which show Jackie Chamoun, 22, standing in snow holding strategically placed ski equipment to protect her modesty, were out-takes from an official photoshoot for the Austrian sports calendar.
Chamoun insisted that the risque pictures were not meant to go public, but local media were quick to accuse the alpine skier of "shaming" her country.
Lebanon is considered one of the most liberal countries in the Arab World, where women are free to wear skimpy clothes and where alcohol is widely available.
However, sections of society remain conservative by Western standards, and some took objection.
Faisal Karami, youth and sports minister, said he was asking Lebanon’s Olympic committee to look into the photos to ensure “the protection of Lebanon’s reputation.’’ » | Josie Ensor | Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Welby Tells Church to Accept Gay 'Marriage' or Be Seen as 'Akin to Racists'
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| The Most Rev. Justin Welby |
The Archbishop of Canterbury has told the Church of England it may have to accept changes many members do not like for the sake of unity – as it prepares for a battle over wedding-like blessing services for gay couples.
The Most Rev Justin Welby acknowledged that many Anglicans would view the idea of special services honouring same-sex relationships as a “betrayal” of its traditions and even “apostacy” [sic] .
But he warned that others would see the Church as increasingly “irrelevant” and promoting attitudes “akin to racism” if it does not introduce them.
In a personal address to the Church’s decision-making General Synod, which is meeting in London, he urged members not to be afraid of “incoherence and inconsistency” in some cases and “untidy” arrangements to avoid splits.
He insisted that it was not “wishy-washy” to attempt to accommodate people with opposing views and said it was time for a massive “cultural change” in how it approaches disagreement. » | John Bingham | Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Jose Manuel Barroso: Switzerland Has Most to Lose from EU Immigration Curb
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| People in Zurich walk past an electoral poster for the "Stop Mass Immigration" referendum by the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party |
Switzerland stands to lose more than the EU from a vote to restrict immigration because it cannot enjoy all the benefits of the world's biggest market without reciprocal access, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
In an interview for a Reuters Euro Zone Summit, Mr Barroso said the narrow Swiss referendum vote to restore quotas for migrants in breach of an agreement with the EU, would have "serious consequences" for relations between the wealthy Alpine nation and the 28-member union that surrounds it.
While he did not spell out any specific sanctions, Mr Barroso implied that Swiss people could lose the right to live and work in the EU, including neighbouring Germany, France and Italy, and Swiss companies might also face obstacles.
"In terms of reciprocity, it's not appropriate that Swiss citizens have unrestricted freedom of movement in the European Union - I think there are 430,000 here, which in relative terms is more than the 1 million European citizens that are in Switzerland," he said. Switzerland has a population of 8 million, one quarter foreigners, while the EU has 500 million. » | Reuters | Wednesday, February 12, 2014
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