20 Nov 09
Muslim countries seek blasphemy ban
Four years after cartoons of the prophet Muhammad set off violent protests across the Muslim world, Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery — essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision course with free speech laws in the West.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that Algeria and Pakistan have taken the lead in lobbying to eventually bring the proposal to a vote in the U.N. General Assembly.
State Department's religious freedom report shows global need for inter-faith tolerance
John Esposito [Professor, Georgetown University and Founding Director, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding]: "Despite our increasingly globalized world and the need to strengthen religious pluralism as well as to transform an outmoded notion of tolerance based simply on co-existence to one based on mutual understanding and respect and the equal rights of all citizens, many countries continue to fail the religious freedom litmus test. Religious discrimination, persecution, and violence continue to be issues in Muslim countries.
Oprah Winfrey to launch US cable television network
Miss Winfrey, 55, one of the most influential and highly paid women in America, will end her iconic chat show on Sep 9, 2011, after 25 seasons, and focus on "The Oprah Winfrey Network" (OWN).
The new cable channel will be based in Los Angeles and will reach 70 million homes in America. Miss Winfrey may host a new version of the talk show on her own channel.
'Fatah officials warn of third Palestinian intifada'
Fatah had made a strategic decision to declare a third intifada against Israel, movement officials told Nazereth-based newspaper Hadith Anas, citing the failed peace talks as the reason for their resolution.
The newspaper report quoted Fatah Central Committee members as saying that the movement wished to implement a decision made during its sixth convention, which assembled last August in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
One of the movement's top officials interviewed by Hadith Anas said the third intifada will have a widespread popular base, adding, however, that unlike the previous popular struggle against Israel, which was sparked in September 2000, the movement will not endorse an armed struggle or the use of firearms.
Italy's Foreign Minister says post-Lisbon EU needs a European Army
Italy is to push for the creation of a European Army after the "new Europe" takes shape at this week's crucial EU summit following the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty.
Jews raise millions to be ready for coming of the Messiah
''All that we know is that we are now living in the age of miracles and all of those miracles are predicted in the Book as happening on the eve of the end of days.
Americans expect Islamic terror strike within 6 months
Two-thirds of Americans expect an Islamic suicide bomb attack on American soil within six months, according to a new poll that also shows Republicans are significantly more concerned than Democrats.
Obama's China Diplomacy Opens a Dangerous Door
Consider this: On one hand, the Chinese hold massive U.S. debt. At the same time, they are almost surely responsible, either directly or in sympathy with other nations or groups who mean us harm, in spiking the Internet and our computer systems with viruses and spyware.
White House Tangles With Bishops On Abortion
The White House is on a collision course with Catholic bishops in an intractable dispute over abortion that could blow up the fragile political coalition behind President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
'Catastrophic' warnings amid Australian bushfires
Australian firefighters battled dozens of bush blazes on Friday as record-breaking hot weather sparked "catastrophic" warnings in two states, just months after the country's worst ever wildfire disaster. Some 25,000 lightning strikes set off about 100 blazes in South Australia state alone
Major world powers meet to discuss Iran nuclear snub
Major world powers met in Brussels Friday to discuss Iran's rejection of an international nuclear fuel deal, after US President Barack Obama warned Tehran must face the consequences.
Critics rap EU's unknown double act
Europe's new political double act are facing a baptism of fire over their credentials for two of the most important EU posts ever created.
Société Générale tells clients how to prepare for potential 'global collapse'
In a report entitled "Worst-case debt scenario", the bank's asset team said state rescue packages over the last year have merely transferred private liabilities onto sagging sovereign shoulders, creating a fresh set of problems.
Overall debt is still far too high in almost all rich economies as a share of GDP (350pc in the US), whether public or private. It must be reduced by the hard slog of "deleveraging", for years.
Syria suspected of concealing nuclear activity
The International Atomic Energy Agency and Syria are walking a tightrope and appear to be headed toward a collision over two nuclear sites where undeclared uranium was recently found.
The agency found traces of uranium at the Dair Alzour nuclear site that are not included in Syria's declared inventory, according to a just released report.
Wall Street tax must be international: Pelosi
Any tax imposed on financial transactions would have to take effect internationally to keep Wall Street jobs and related business from moving overseas, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.
"It would have to be an international rule, not just a U.S. rule," Pelosi said at a news conference. "We couldn't do it alone, we'd have to do it as an international initiative."
US Sen Reid Readies Health Bill For Saturday Vote
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D., Nev.) said Thursday that the Senate is poised to act on $848 billion health-care legislation, despite lingering uncertainty over whether he can secure enough support for the bill.
Reid, appearing with other Senate Democrats at a rally at the Capitol, said that the bill fulfills a goal sought for decades to extend insurance coverage to Americans lacking ...
UN watchdog presses Iran over nuclear deadlock
The head of the UN atomic watchdog has urged Iran to accept a deal over its nuclear programme by the end of the year, and "move beyond sanctions".
Mohammed ElBaradei said the ball was "very much in the Iranian court".
He was speaking as the six major powers negotiating with Tehran were holding talks in Brussels.
Russia agrees to ease Ukraine gas supply terms
Russia has agreed to ease the terms under which it supplies gas to Ukraine, in a deal which Moscow says should prevent disruption in coming months.
The deal was announced after talks between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko.
It means Ukraine will not be fined for using less gas than in its current contract, because of the downturn.
China 'steps up US cyber-spying'
Chinese spies are aggressively stealing secrets to build up China's military and economic power, a US advisory panel on US-China relations has warned.
Its members urged the US Congress to ensure the country was adequately protected against Chinese spying.
The report was published in the same week that US President Barack Obama made his first official visit to China.
Gates orders Army inquiry after Fort Hood killings
A review of US Army and Pentagon policies has been ordered by the defence secretary in the wake of a shooting at a military base.
The review will include Pentagon medical and personnel programmes, and US military base security.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates appointed a former Army secretary and an ex-Navy chief to report in 45 days.
US welcomes Europe's two new faces
US President Barack Obama has said the election of Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton to the helm of the EU would "strengthen" the bloc, but his words came as European media criticise their lack of weight on the international stage.
The two figureheads and the other changes coming into force with the Lisbon Treaty will "enable the EU to be an even stronger partner of the United States," Mr Obama said in a brief statement Thursday night.
'Netanyahu wants Syria talks without delay, preconditions'
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris last week that he wanted to launch talks with Damascus without preconditions, according to Syrian President Bashar Assad's top aide Bouthaina Shaaban.
...Assad had responded by saying that before talks could start, he wanted guarantees that Israel would return "Syria's land" and restore the country's "rights."
19 Nov 09
Belgian PM named as EU president
EU leaders have chosen the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy, to be the first permanent European Council President.
EU chooses unknowns for new top jobs
EU leaders have chosen Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy to be the first president of the European Council, while UK trade commissioner Catherine Ashton will become the bloc's foreign policy chief.
Mr Van-Rompuy, from the centre-right political family, is a trained economist and has been running Belgium for less than a year. He writes Haiku (Japanese verse) and is known for his low-key style, which includes a line in self-deprecatory humour and caravan holidays.
Horn of Africa food crisis: Perfect storm
The north eastern corner of Africa is again witnessing shocking scenes of deprivation. The Horn of Africa, from Sudan through Kenya and Ethiopia to Somalia regularly suffers from prolonged and devastating food shortages and this is one of the worst for many years. Preventing repeats of this suffering depends as much on the politics of the region as on aid and development.-
Asia's youngest dying in millions
Climate change, ongoing natural disasters, food price hikes, the economic meltdown, AIDS – all these things have rightly grabbed global attention but they have also distracted the world from the stark reality that every year nine million children die before reaching their fifth birthday – nearly four million of them in the Asia Pacific – from largely preventable causes.
Everyday, this silent emergency claims the lives of 24,000 under-fives – one every 3.5 seconds. The vast majority – some 40 percent die from complications and infections in the first 28 days of life, another 40 percent die from mass killers, pneumonia or diarrhea, while malaria steals the lives of almost one in 10.
More Americans Than Ever Experiencing Food Insecurity
With world leaders meeting in Rome to discuss ways to tackle global hunger, a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds more Americans than ever before are experiencing food insecurity.
The USDA report estimates that 49 million Americans had trouble getting enough to eat in 2008. That's the largest figure since the annual survey of food security began in 1995. It represents nearly one in seven U.S. households, and it's a sharp increase from 2007, before the global recession began, when about one in 10 households were food-insecure.
EU seeks to avoid vote on president as leaders prepare for summit
Sweden will seek a last-minute compromise among the European Union's 27 member states on Thursday to appoint a president and foreign affairs chief, after weeks of informal talks failed to produce any front runners.
IDF to join NATO Mediterranean force
The Navy will dispatch a missile ship in the coming months to participate in a NATO mission to patrol the Mediterranean Sea and prevent weapons smuggling, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and NATO Military Commander Admiral Giampaolo Di Paoloa decided Wednesday night.
EU Can't Pick Leader -- or Job Duties
European Union leaders scrambled without success Wednesday to decide who should become the bloc's first president -- but they don't even see eye-to-eye on what the eventual winner should do.
