Pope to send a delegation to Damascus: Vatican
Story Summary Pope Benedict XVI will send a delegation to Damascus to express his solidarity with the Syrian people, the Vatican said on Tuesday, as violence escalated with deadly air […]
Turkish minister slams EU as world’s most hypocritical body
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s economy minister condemned the European Union on Tuesday as the most hypocritical organisation in the world, in vitriolic remarks which underlined the EU candidate country’s growing alienation from Brussels. Turkey’s bid to join the bloc has virtually ground to a halt in recent years due to opposition […]
The Balkanization of Europe?
Global Post: ANTWERP, Belgium — Europe’s rising tide of nationalism swept over Belgium on Sunday when separatists seeking independence for the country’s Dutch-speaking north surged in local elections to take […]
European car sales ‘fall for 12 months in row’
New car sales in the European Union have fallen for the 12th month in a row in September, according to the region’s biggest carmakers. Demand across the 27 European Union […]
UK: Gary McKinnon’s mother ‘overwhelmed’ as extradition blocked
The mother of British computer hacker Gary McKinnon has welcomed Home Secretary Theresa May’s decision to block his extradition to the US. Janis Sharp said she was “overwhelmed” after […]
Malala Yousafzai: Pakistan girl ‘strong’ – UK doctors
BBC: The medical director of the UK hospital where Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai is being treated has said doctors are “impressed with her strength and resilience”. Dr David Rosser said […]
German workers ‘most loyal in Europe’
Source: The Local: German employees are more likely than other Europeans to remain loyal to their companies and to stay longer on the job, a new study finds. More:
Thousands evacuated in chemical accident alert
Source: The Local Around 2,000 people were evacuated from their houses on Monday night after a chemical accident in a food factory in Lower Saxony sparked a catastrophe alarm. More:
Switzerland seeks to confirm top research spot
by Andreas Keiser, swissinfo.ch Switzerland tops all major research and innovation rankings worldwide, largely thanks to generous funding and a clear separation between public and private research, as well as […]
“Religion often seems a problematic issue”
Christoph Bochinger, a professor of religious studies, sees no countertrend to secularisation, with the result that the churches have lost their role as leaders on matters relating to values and conscience. Interview by Matthias Herren “Swiss review”: The Catholic and Reformed Protestant Churches have steadily been losing members for decades. […]
Switzerland: Moving away from the churches
The Swiss people’s relationship with religion is undergoing significant change. There are twenty times more Swiss with no religious affiliation today than forty years ago. Faith also plays a less […]
Russian school bans 5 Muslim girls from classes for wearing hijab
RIA Novosti / Said Tzarnaev A head teacher of a school in Russia’s North Caucasus region banned five Muslim girls from attending classes while wearing a hijab. Indignant parents filed […]
Malala Yousafzai, schoolgirl shot by Taliban, now in UK
BBC: Fourteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Swat, has arrived in the UK for medical treatment. A renowned campaigner for girls’ education, […]
UK: Pakistani Father fought hard to save his family
A man who lost his wife and four children in a suspected arson attack on their home “fought hard to save his family in appalling conditions”, police said today. Assistant […]
“A New Anti-Semitism” – Inside The Growing Radicalization Of France’s Muslim Youth
Source: Worldcrunch: PARIS – French police shot and killed a man, and arrested 12 others in countrywide anti-terrorist raids this past weekend. True, this is no terrorist network of the kind that fomented the September 11 attacks in 2001, or in London in 2004. But the small group […]
Shut up and play nice: How the Western world is limiting free speech
Washington Post: Free speech is dying in the Western world. While most people still enjoy considerable freedom of expression, this right, once a near-absolute, has become less defined and less dependable for those espousing controversial social, political or religious views. The decline of free speech has come not from any […]
Right Idea, Wrong Recipient – How the Nobel Peace Prize Missed Its Mark
Source: Spiegel International It is tough to find fault with handing the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union. But that is exactly the problem — it shows a lack […]
Japan’s Fumihiko Maki to design Aga Khan university in London
Pritzker Prize winner Fumihiko Maki of Japan has been chosen to design an Aga Khan university and cultural centre in King’s Cross, London Maki – who designed the Aga Khan Foundation’s Toronto cultural centre – is working up preliminary designs for the organisation’s new flagship base in Argent’s 27-hectare King’s […]
Switzerland: Rise in domestic violence deaths
Over the past year, 35 people have died in Switzerland as the result of domestic violence. The figure has risen steadily since 2009. Per head of population, the rate is higher than in France, where there were 160 fatalities in 2010. 4,471 cases of violence were investigated in Switzerland in […]