Saudi Arabia to End Flogging as a Form of Punishment

THE GUARDIAN: Form of corporal punishment will be replaced by jail terms, fines or a mixture of both

Saudi Arabia is ending flogging as a form of punishment, according to a document from the kingdom’s top court.

The decision by the general commission for the supreme court, taken sometime this month, will mean the punishment will be replaced by prison sentences, fines or a mixture of both.

“The decision is an extension of the human rights reforms introduced under the direction of King Salman and the direct supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman,” the document said.

Flogging has been applied to punish a variety of crimes in Saudi Arabia. Without a codified system of law to go with the texts making up sharia, or Islamic law, individual judges have the latitude to interpret religious texts and come up with their own sentences. » | Agencies | Saturday, April 25, 2020

Kim Jong-un's Health Has Always Been an Issue

The Washington Post's Anna Fifield says that since Kim Jong Un came to power his health has always been an issue, in particular the risk of cardiac problems.

North Korea's Kim Jong-un Reportedly Near Death

The leader of the world's most secretive country is apparently close to death. The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has reportedly suffered complications after surgery. Speculation on his health started when he missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday six days ago. CNN's Paula Hancock joins us from Seoul.

Reich at Home: Alarming Lockdown Protests, Unemployment Benefits in Limbo, Mixed Families Ignored

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich is discussing the latest coronavirus developments, including how most of the promised $600 weekly extra unemployment benefits remain stuck in state offices overwhelmed with claims, what it will actually take for the economy to “reopen,” how American citizens in mixed status families are not receiving the economic stimulus, and the dangerous, right-wing protests against stay-at-home orders popping up across the country.

’Keep Your Voice Down’: Trump Berates Female Reporter When Questioned over Covid-19 Response

US president Donald Trump told a female reporter to keep her voice down and to ‘relax’ when she asked about what his administration had done to prepare for the coronavirus in February. CBS reporter Weijia Jiang asked Trump why he waited so long ‘to warn people the virus was spreading like wildfire’ in February ‘instead of holding rallies with thousands of people’? An irritated Trump touted his China travel ban as proof he acted fast. Jiang persisted with her point and said: ‘When you issued the ban, the virus was already here,’ to which Trump said: ‘Do your research.’

Trump must be the most objectionable president ever! – Mark

Nova Scotia Shooting Death Toll Rises as Trudeau Calls on Canadians to Stand United

THE GUARDIAN: Death toll from country’s deadliest mass shooting rose to 18, including the gunman

Justin Trudeau has called on Canadians to stand unified in the face “senseless violence” as the death toll from the country’s deadliest mass shooting rose to 18 people, including the gunman.

“No one man’s action can build a wall between us and a better day, no matter how evil, how thoughtless or how destructive,” the prime minister said on Monday morning. “As families grieve the loss of a loved one, all Canadians are standing with them.” » | Leyland Cecco in Toronto | Monday, April 20, 2020

Piers Morgan's Stunning Advice for His Friend Donald Trump

Former CNN host Piers Morgan tells CNN's Brian Stelter what advice he has for his friend Donald Trump regarding handling the coronavirus pandemic.

Expert on Dictators: President Donald Trump on a Path of Despotism | The Last Word | MSNBC (2017)

Degrading the rule of law? Appointing cronies, generals and his family? Brian Klaas’s new book "The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy" says Trump's actions are the same as other despots around the world. Klaas joins Ari Melber.

“Baghdad Don”: Trump Blasted for Most Inept Response to “Any Crisis in History” | MSNBC

Veteran strategist and former Republican Steve Schmidt argues President Trump has exhibited the most inept response of any president to any crisis in history. Schmidt tells MSNBC’s Ari Melber that many avoidable problems in the US response to the coronavirus pandemic revealed Trump’s failures as a president, and historians will look back on this as a time when a reality show star “New York con man” narrowly ended up as President and was simply not prepared. Aired on 4/16/2020.

Emmanuel Macron : Adresse aux Français

Chacun d’entre vous – que vous soyez soignant, travailleur mobilisé ou confiné – a permis à ce que l’épidémie commence à marquer le pas. L'espoir renaît. Mais rien n'est acquis. Le confinement doit continuer jusqu'au lundi 11 mai.

France to remain in strict lockdown for another month »

US's Global Reputation Hits Rock-bottom over Trump's Coronavirus Response

THE GUARDIAN: International relations expert warns policy failure could do lasting damage as president insults allies and undermines alliances

Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, which he once dismissed as a hoax, has been fiercely criticised at home as woefully inadequate to the point of irresponsibility.

Yet also thanks largely to Trump, a parallel disaster is unfolding across the world: the ruination of America’s reputation as a safe, trustworthy, competent international leader and partner.

Call it the Trump double-whammy. Diplomatically speaking, the US is on life support.

“The Trump administration’s self-centred, haphazard, and tone-deaf response [to Covid-19] will end up costing Americans trillions of dollars and thousands of otherwise preventable deaths,” wrote Stephen Walt, professor of international relations at Harvard.

“But that’s not the only damage the United States will suffer. Far from ‘making America great again’, this epic policy failure will further tarnish [its] reputation as a country that knows how to do things effectively.”

This adverse shift could be permanent, Walt warned. Since taking office in 2017, Trump has insulted America’s friends, undermined multilateral alliances and chosen confrontation over cooperation. Sanctions, embargoes and boycotts aimed at China, Iran and Europe have been globally divisive. » | Simon Tisdall | Sunday, April 12, 2020

Alert! This clown has to go! – Mark

Segen „Urbi et Orbi“ : Papst ruft zu Schuldenerlass auf

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Reichere Staaten müssten in der Corona-Krise Solidarität beweisen, fordert der Papst. Auch Sanktionen sollten gelockert werden. Die aktuelle Zeit erlaube keinen Egoismus.

Papst Franziskus hat in seiner Osterbotschaft zu einem Schuldenerlass für arme Staaten wegen der Corona-Krise aufgerufen. In seiner erstmals im Internet übertragenen Ostermesse bekräftigte der Papst zudem seine Forderung nach einem sofortigen weltweiten Waffenstillstand. Von den Europäern forderte er „Solidarität“ in der Krise und das Einschlagen „neuer Wege“

Arme Länder seien kaum gerüstet, um sich gegen die Coronavirus-Pandemie zu stemmen, sagte der Papst. „Alle Länder sollten in die Lage versetzt werden, die notwendigsten Maßnahmen zu treffen, indem die Schulden, welche die Bilanzen der ärmsten Länder belasten, teilweise oder sogar ganz erlassen werden“, forderte er. Auch internationale Sanktionen müssten jetzt gelockert werden. Die aktuellen Zeiten erlaubten „keinen Egoismus“, betonte Franziskus weiter. » | Quelle: AFP | Sonntag, 12. April 2020

French Police Turn Back Private Jet of Holidaymakers from UK

THE GUARDIAN: Party of 10 flew into Marseille-Provence airport to be taken by helicopter to luxury Cannes villa

A group of would-be holidaymakers who flew in a private jet from London to the Côte d’Azur in France has been turned back by police.

Seven men and three women arrived on the chartered aircraft to Marseille-Provence airport, where helicopters were waiting to fly them on to Cannes, where they had rented a luxury villa.

The men, aged 40-50, and women, aged 23-25, were refused permission to enter France and ordered by police to fly back to the UK.

“They were coming for a holiday in Cannes and three helicopters were waiting on the tarmac,” a border police spokesperson told Agence France-Presse. “We notified them they were not allowed to enter the national territory and they left four hours later.” » | Kim Willsher in Charny-Orée-de-Puisaye | Friday, April 10, 2020

Noam Chomsky on Trump’s Disastrous Coronavirus Response, Bernie Sanders & What Gives Him Hope

How did the United States — the richest country in the world — become the worldwide epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, with one person dying of COVID-19 every 47 seconds? We spend the hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, discussing this unprecedented moment in history, and its political implications, as Senator Bernie Sanders announces he is suspending his campaign for the presidency. Chomsky also describes how frontline medical workers and progressive organizing are giving him hope.

Capitalism Hits Home: COVID-19: A Psychological, Political and Economic Plague

Coronavirus: What This Crisis Reveals about US - and Its President

BBC: There are no fresh flowers at the 9/11 Memorial any more. An American altar usually decorated with roses, carnations and postcard-sized Stars and Stripes is sequestered behind a makeshift plastic railing. Broadway, the "Great White Way", is dark. The subway system is a ghost train. Staten Island ferries keep cutting through the choppy waters of New York harbour, passing Lady Liberty on the way in and out of Lower Manhattan, but hardly any passengers are on board. Times Square, normally such a roiling mass, is almost devoid of people.

In the midst of this planetary pandemic, nobody wants to meet any more at the "Crossroads of the World". A city known for its infectious energy, a city that likes to boast it never even has to sleep, has been forced into hibernation. With more cases than any other American conurbation, this city is once again Ground Zero, a term no New Yorker ever wanted applied here again. With manic suddenness, our world has been turned upside down, just as it was on September 11th.

Nations, like individuals, reveal themselves at times of crisis. In emergencies of this immense magnitude, it soon becomes evident whether a sitting president is equal to the moment. So what have we learnt about the United States as it confronts this national and global catastrophe? Will lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who have been in a form of legislative lockdown for years now, a paralysis borne of partisanship, rise to the challenge? And what of the man who now sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, who has cloaked himself in the mantle of "wartime president"?

Of the three questions, the last one is the least interesting, largely because Donald Trump's response has been so predictable. He has not changed. He has not grown. He has not admitted errors. He has shown little humility. » | Nick Bryant, New York correspondent | Friday, March 24, 2020

Coronavirus: New York Ramps Up Mass Burials amid Outbreak

One virus, two Americas »

Einsamkeit und Trost in Zeiten von Corona | Sternstunde Religion | SRF Kultur

Am Sterbebett eines Corona-Kranken stand Niklaus Peter, reformierter Pfarrer vom Fraumünster Zürich, noch nicht. Aber die Gläubigen suchen per Telefon oder über die Sozialen Medien Trost und Unterstützung von ihm.

Peter ist überzeugt, dass die Krise die Menschen verändert und eine Rückbesinnung auf das wirklich Wichtige im Leben geschieht.

Welche Rolle spielt die Religion dabei? Und bewirkt physische Distanz vielleicht sogar solidarische Nähe?

Sternstunde Religion vom 5.4.2020

Queen Elizabeth Addresses Coronavirus Pandemic

Queen Elizabeth II rallied Britons in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected at least 40,000 in the country. Her remarks were pre-recorded from Windsor Castle, where she is sequestering herself.

Boris Johnson Admitted to Hospital as Queen Elizabeth Urges Resolve in Face of Epidemic »

«Die Mehrheit der Priester im Vatikan ist schwul» | Sternstunde Religion | SRF Kultur

Mit seiner These, wonach die Mehrheit der Prälaten, Bischöfe und Kardinäle des Vatikans schwul seien, generierte der französische Soziologe und Journalist Frédéric Martel im Frühling 2019 viel Aufmerksamkeit, aber auch Unverständnis.

Sein Buch «Sodom» erschien zeitgleich in acht Sprachen und Martel wurde in unzählige Talkshows eingeladen, doch der Vatikan hüllte sich in Schweigen. Wer sich in den 30er-, 40er- und 50er-Jahren des letzten Jahrhunderts als junger Mann irgendwie anders – eben homosexuell – fühlte, fand in der römisch-katholischen Kirche eine Oase, so Martel in seinem Buch «Sodom»: Männer, die unter Männern leben, andere Kleidung tragen und singen, das wäre für viele die Rettung gewesen, die zudem noch von der Gesellschaft akzeptiert war.

Gegen aussen seien diese in der Regel sehr alten Männer nun homophob, gegen innen aber homophil. Dies führe zu einer gefährlichen Doppelmoral, einer Kultur des Schweigens, die die Skandale rund um die katholische Kirche sehr unglücklich begünstigt hätten.


English version »