Huckabee visits Ocean State as he keeps longshot candidacy alive
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2008/02/25/huckabee_visits_ocean_state_as_he_keeps_longshot_candidacy_alive
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Republican Mike Huckabee brings his presidential campaign to Rhode Island, one of the states holding primaries on March 4.
more stories like thisThe former Arkansas governor is scheduled to visit the Community Preparatory School in Providence Monday afternoon before holding an evening rally in Warwick.
Huckabee continues to wage his campaign despite long odds of overcoming GOP front-runner John McCain.
During a tongue-in-cheek appearance on Saturday Night Live, Huckabee was asked whether it's even mathematically possible for him to beat McCain. He said he's not a "math guy" but "more of a miracle guy."
But he also added that he would not "overstay his welcome."
O Che can you see?
http://PatriotPost.US
Fox News cameras recently captured a disturbing image in a Barack Obama campaign office in Houston: that of a Cuban flag with Communist mass murderer Che Guevara's face printed on it. Naturally, Obama's "explanation" was that the volunteer office is independently run, so he has no control over what goes on there.
And that's supposed to make voters want him elected president?
Che Guevara may be fashionable among the nation's leftist college students, but it was Guevara who was "supreme prosecutor" during the show trials after Fidel Castro seized power, overseeing the execution of countless people. Cuba is also still under a U.S. embargo and, last time we checked, is still a Communist dictatorship, despite the fact that Fidel Castro just resigned and may be an ideal pick for the better half of Obama's ticket. Seems the Obama campaign is trying to communicate an idea, even if the candidate himself appears bereft of them.
A Spry Farrakhan Sings Obama's Praises
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/farrakhan_saviours_day/2008/02/24/75173.html
In his first major public address since a cancer crisis, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Sunday that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the "hope of the entire world" that the U.S. will change for the better.
The 74-year-old Farrakhan, addressing an estimated crowd of 20,000 people at the annual Saviours' Day celebration, never outrightly endorsed Obama but spent most of the nearly two-hour speech praising the Illinois senator.
"This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better," he said. "This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama's audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed."
Farrakhan compared Obama to the religion's founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father.
"A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," he told the crowd of mostly followers. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."
Farrakhan also leveled small jabs at Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, suggesting that she represents the politics of the past and has been engaging in dirty politics.
Farrakhan's keynote address at McCormick Place, the city's convention center, wrapped up three days of events geared at unifying followers and targeting youth.
It had a different tone from a year ago, when Farrakhan made what was called his final public address at a Saviours' Day event in Detroit. The 74-year-old was recovering from complications from prostate cancer and months earlier had temporarily passed on leadership duties of the organization's day-to-day activities to an executive board.
Miliband should raise religious freedom in China visit
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/miliband.should.raise.religious.freedom.in.china.visit.csw/17045.htm
Foreign Secretary David Miliband must not “squander” the opportunity to raise concerns over religious freedom and human rights abuses during his current visit to China, says Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
The Christian persecution watchdog said it was “gravely concerned” by “serious” reports that have emerged in the run up to the Olympic Games detailing breaches of religious freedom against believers in China.
According to the most recent report to emerge, the President of the Inner Mongolia Branch of the Chinese House Church Alliance, Wang Dawei, and 40 co-workers were detained last Wednesday after 100 police officers from the State Security Bureau raided a Bible study, according to the monitoring agency China Aid Association (CAA).
Items confiscated by the police included money from the offertory and 30 boxes of Christian literature. The whereabouts of a South Korean minister who was detained during the raid remain unknown.
Last week, CAA reported what it believes is the largest mass sentencing of Christians in 25 years, after 21 house church leaders were sentenced to one year and three months in labour camp for ‘re-education’.
CAA believes that the Chinese Government is attempting to break apart the house church movement in the approach to the Beijing Olympics.
CSW’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said Miliband had a “prime opportunity” to raise concerns over human rights abuses and religious freedom violations taking place in China.
“At the end of last year President Hu Jintao stated that China has a policy of religious freedom, yet the reality for many believers on the ground remains in stark contrast to such claims,” he said.
“While oppressed Christians are unable to represent themselves directly, the United Kingdom should demonstrate its commitment to human rights by raising these concerns and seeking concrete assurances about how China’s practice will be brought into line with its rhetoric.
“While China is playing such a prominent role in international affairs it is right for the authorities to be urged to adhere to international rules and standards.”
He appealed to Mr Miliband “not to squander this opportunity to raise freedom of religion” and “to work to improve the lives of the many Christians harassed or imprisoned as a result of their faith”.
Mr Miliband will remain in China until 29 February, visiting a number of cities including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing.
Charles Barkley Must Apologize For 'Fake Christians' Remark or Face Suspension, Says Rev. Peterson
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06905.shtml
LOS ANGELES -- Former NBA star and TNT basketball analyst Charles Barkley attacked Christian conservatives Friday on CNN's The Situation Room news show, referring to them as "fake Christians" and "hypocritical" people.
Barkley has endorsed Barack Obama and has a problem with conservative Republican stances against abortion and homosexual marriage. He repeatedly told CNN anchorman Wolf Blitzer "I'm pro-choice" and "I'm for gay marriage." Conservative radio talk show host Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson is calling on Barkley to apologize for his bigoted remarks or face pressure for TNT to suspend him.
"If a white conservative Republican commentator called liberal Christians who support Obama and Hillary 'fake Christians' he would be publicly repudiated by the liberal press," said Rev. Peterson. "Barkley is getting a pass because he's a black liberal Democrat attacking Christian conservatives. The man is a bigot and has no moral character. He should apologize for his remarks."
Since the early 90's Barkley has had a checkered record. In two separate incidents he was reportedly arrested and charged with assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly throwing one man through a plate-glass window and breaking another man's nose. In 1991 he allegedly spat on a young girl in New Jersey while trying to go after a heckler. He's also been caught on tape saying, "I hate white people."
"I can think of at least four white public figures that have been fired or suspended for comments deemed offensive to blacks including: Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.); shock jock Don Imus; Dune "DOG" Chapman; and The Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman. Despite making public apologies, all these people were mercilessly hounded and excoriated by the liberal press. So, where's the demand for an apology and suspension of Barkley for his offensive comments about Christian conservatives?" asked Rev. Peterson.
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson is the founder and president of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny. He's also the host of "The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show." For more information, visit www.bondinfo.org
Israel to trust in princes
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2349
For its survival Israel turns, not to God, but to Europe.
This was the thrust of the top story in The Jerusalem Post Sunday: that Israel’s Foreign Ministry has taken a strategic decision to establish strong relations with the European Union and thereby develop a “third pillar” to help ensure the survival of the Jewish state.
Where secular Israelis have traditionally seen their country’s security supported by the twin pillars of a strong IDF and an unbreakable diplomatic relationship with the United States, the thinking is now that, with the fast-growing EU intent on contending with America for the position of superpower #1, it is important to plug Israel into the Continent too.
In exchange, Israel is allowing Europe to play a greater role in Israeli diplomatic and economic processes.
Historically, and to the present day, European countries have been almost exclusively pro-Arab and anti-Israel. After centuries of saturating antisemitism the soil of Europe is still permeated with prejudice - undiluted by either the pre-Holocaust Enlightenment or the post-Holocaust and post-communist transition to a more modern, politically-”corrected” society.
Still, secular-humanist politicians in Israel have grasped at the straws offered by “friendly” heads of European states like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Israel threatens deadly force to stop protesters
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/israel.threatens.deadly.force.to.stop.protesters/17033.htm
Israel is prepared to use deadly force to stop Palestinian protesters from forcing their way into Israel during a planned rally along the Gaza Strip's frontier on Monday, a senior Israeli defence official said.
Organisers linked to Gaza's Islamist Hamas administration said they would hold a peaceful rally in which they estimated 40,000 to 50,000 women and children would form a "human chain" along the border and call for an end to an Israeli-led blockade.
Hamas blew open Gaza's southern border wall with Egypt last month, allowing thousands of needy Palestinians to surge across.
"I hope that, ultimately, they (Hamas) understand that we are deployed and ready, that this will not be a repeat of what happened in the Philadelphi Corridor (Gaza-Egypt border) a few weeks back," Deputy Israeli Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said.
"We don't plan to fool around in this regard," he told Israel Radio. "We will use measures in the way we deem necessary to prevent people breaking into the state of Israel's territory."
Asked if this could include using live fire against Palestinians, Vinai said: "Anything that must be done, will be done."
Arabs try lure/threat on Israel
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2350
The Arab League tried at the weekend to scare or lure Israel into explicitly accepting its so called peace initiative.
It failed.
The initiative, upon which the Quartet's 'Road Map' is based, sees the Jews relinquishing all Judea, Samaria and Gaza, including parts of the Israeli capital Jerusalem, for the creation of a Palestinian state.
In exchange, the Arab League promises that all its states will grant Israel full recognition and peace.
Charging Israel with "sabotaging" its efforts and fueling despair among the Palestinian Arabs, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal warned that the League was running out of patience because of the lack of progress towards the birthing of Palestine.
Al-Faisal, in an address to South American and Arab foreign ministers meeting in Argentina Thursday, said it was "unbelievable that we keep blaming the weak party in the equation, which is the Palestinian people [as if the Arab League has ever blamed them-Ed], with all the suffering they live under, while ignoring [sic] what Israel does by expanding settlements, tightening the siege, humiliating the Palestinians and carrying out a mass punishment against them."
If Israel does not get serious about peace we'll be "forced" to review our options, he added, darkly.
Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Muhammad Sobeigh slammed Israel for risking the termination of the "sole political initiative" there is.
"If Israel makes it fail, [the Arabs] have to search for other options," Sobeih said, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem insisted Sunday that Israel's position remains unchanged, and dismissed al-Faisal's threats as meaningless.
The Arabs won't withdraw their plan, they said, confidentally.
Czech PM to Agree to Missile Defense
http://www.newsmax.com/international/czech_prime_minister_missile_defense/2008/02/25/75284.html
PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Monday he will complete a deal on missile defense during talks this week in Washington.
The United States wants to place a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in neighboring Poland as part of a system it says is necessary to protect the U.S. and Europe against future attacks.
"We have reached a stage that we are able to complete the talks during my visit to America," Topolanek told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. He meets with President George W. Bush at the White House on Wednesday.
The U.S. and Czech governments have been in talks for a year about the plan to place a missile tracking radar at the Brdy military zone southwest of Prague.
Topolanek said he could not see "any serious problems that would prevent us from completing the treaties" this week, but added that final agreement will not come until the Poles are fully satisfied with the project.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday he supports the missile defense project _ but on condition that Washington, in return, help modernize Poland's military defenses. Tusk will visit Washington March 8-10.
Poland says Washington has agreed to help strengthen the country's short-to medium-range air defenses, but that exact details have not yet been worked out.
Russia fiercely opposes the prospect of U.S. military installations so close to its borders, and has threatened to target any future base in Poland with its missiles, causing deep anxiety in Warsaw.
Iran Confirms New Nuclear Centrifuges
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/iran_nuclear/2008/02/24/75154.html
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran said Sunday that it has started using new centrifuges that can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate of the machines that now form the backbone of the Islamic nation's nuclear program.
The announcement was the first official confirmation by Tehran after diplomats with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog reported earlier this month that Iran was using 10 of the new IR-2 centrifuges.
"We are (now) running a new generation of centrifuges," the official IRNA news agency quoted Javad Vaidi, deputy of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying. No futher details were provided.
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official on Sunday blamed the U.S. for Tehran's refusal to respond to an International Atomic Energy Agency probe into whether Iran tried to make nuclear weapons in the past. Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, claimed information provided by Washington and used by the U.N. agency was fake and it came to Tehran too late for a proper review.
The U.S. dismissed the complaint, saying Iran could have answered concerns about its nuclear program years ago.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is intended only to produce energy, but the U.S. and some of its allies suspect it could lead to the development of weapons.
Iran is already under two sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany have agreed on a draft resolution for a third set of sanctions.
The IAEA highlighted the "new-generation centrifuges" in its latest report on Iran released Friday, but did not provide details on their operation.
Earlier this month, diplomats accredited to the IAEA told The Associated Press that 10 IR-2 centrifuges had started processing small quantities of uranium hexafluoride gas in a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a weapon.
Ten centrifuges are too few to produce enriched uranium in the quantities needed for an industrial-scale energy or weapons program and far below the 3,000 older centrifuges in Iran's underground enrichment plant in the central town of Natanz.
Friday's IAEA report said many past questions about Iran's nuclear program had been resolved but highlighted Tehran's continued refusal to halt uranium enrichment, paving the way for another set of sanctions.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday the report vindicated Iran and called on the U.S. and its allies to apologize for accusing Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons. He also warned that Tehran would take unspecified "decisive reciprocal measures" against any country that imposed additional sanctions against Iran.
Most of the material shown to Iran by the IAEA in its investigation of the nation's alleged attempts to make nuclear arms came from Washington, though some was provided by U.S. allies, diplomats told The Associated Press. The agency shared it with Tehran only after the nations gave their permission.
But Soltanieh dismissed much of the material as false. In any case, he said, it came too late _ three years after U.S. intelligence claimed it had material on a laptop computer smuggled out of Iran indicating that Tehran had been working on details of nuclear weapons. The data supposedly included missile trajectories and ideal altitudes for exploding warheads.
"They should have given it to us three years ago," Soltanieh said, suggesting Tehran would then have had a more substantive response.
Instead, he said, Iran did not get an offer for a review until mid-February. By that time, he said, the deadline for the conclusion of the IAEA investigation into Iran's nuclear past had passed and experts were already working on the agency's report.
"All of a sudden, the Americans notice this thing is going to be closed," he said, referring to the investigation. Suddenly, he added, "they have additional and new documents _ these dirty games should be stopped immediately."
The United States denied being at fault.
"Iran did not need to wait for information to answer" the accusations coming from many sides that it was trying to make nuclear arms, said Gregory L. Schulte, the top U.S. delegate to the IAEA.
Soltanieh also acknowledged that his country's uranium enrichment program was experiencing "ups and downs." It appeared to be the first Iran admitted its enrichment activities were running into some difficulties.
Serbia, Russia reject Albanian rule in Kosovo
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL25511575
BELGRADE - Serbia intends to rule parts of Kosovo where "loyal citizens" still look to Belgrade for government, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Monday.
He won renewed backing from ally Russia, whose likely next president, Dmitry Medvedev, made a high-profile visit to say Moscow will continue to back Serbian sovereignty, despite Western support for the independence of Kosovo.
Kostunica said protest rallies against the new republic would continue and there would be no normalisation of ties with capitals which had accepted it, until they changed policy.
"Serbia will do everything to implement its jurisdiction and state prerogatives for all loyal citizens in Kosovo -- Serbs and non-Albanians," Kostunica said.
"There cannot be normalisation of relations with the states that recognised Kosovo independence until they annul their decision. Protest rallies will not stop as long as illegal independence is not annulled."
Medvedev, who met Kostunica and Western-leaning president Boris Tadic, said there would be no shift in his country's support for Serbia after the presidential election next week.
"We assume that Serbia is a single state whose jurisdiction covers all of its territory," Medvedev said. "We will stick to this position."
Serbia sees Kosovo as the cradle of the nation, where Serb history dates back 1,000 years and ancient monasteries dot the land. But few Serbs have visited the impoverished province, where 90 percent of the people are ethnic Albanian.
DON'T CONDONE VIOLENCE
Kosovo's United Nations governor Joachim Ruecker urged Serbia to confirm its respect for the U.N. mandate, following Belgrade's endorsement of mob attacks on border posts and disruption of police and justice in the Serb-dominated north.
Ruecker said he told visiting Serb Minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 puts the U.N. and the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR "in charge of the whole territory of Kosovo".
"I made it very clear to him that the condoning of violence, direct or indirect support for violence, is totally unacceptable," Ruecker said, referring to earlier remarks by Samardzic saying that attacks on border posts were legitimate.
Samardzic said Serbia would do all it can to maintain peace and order "in the areas that it controls, where Serbs live".
"We will keep convincing Serbs to cooperate with the U.N. mission," he said. But the U.N. must remember that violence against international law begets violence.
Serbia would also provide jobs, schooling and infrastructure in Serb areas of Kosovo, Samardzic said.
"They must enjoy life in the Serbian state as all other citizens of Serbia enjoy that life. Serbia will do everything to achieve that," he told reporters in central Kosovo
In the Serb stronghold of north Mitrovica, over 1,000 people demonstrated for a seventh day, burning an EU flag and a picture of Serbia's president Tadic.
DOMINOS
Tensions have risen in Kosovo's first full week as a separate state as Serbs vent their anger and determination to reverse the move. But there has been no ethnic violence.
One local Kosovo Serb leader, Marko Jaksic, said rumours that Kosovo was headed for partition "are total nonsense".
But while Serbia would hardly undercut its own case by seeking to legitimise partition of the territory to which it claims full sovereignty, Serbs in the north are determined not to heed the new government of Kosovo or the European Union mission that is due to support it.
Jaksic said "Albanians are waiting for any excuse" to use violence against Serbs in the isolated enclaves of eastern and southern Kosovo -- a nightmare scenario for the U.N. and NATO.
U.N. officials say the first ethnic violence might just as easily be triggered by Serbs driving out the few remaining Albanians in the north. Either way, it could cause panic and refugee flight, with no clear end to the domino effect.
Protesters Burn EU Flag in North Kosovo
http://www.newsmax.com/international/kosovo_independence/2008/02/25/75287.html
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Kosovo -- Up to 2,000 Serb protesters rallied against Kosovo's independence in the new nation's tense north on Monday, and a few set fire to EU flags in what has become a daily challenge of the country's secession from Serbia.
The protesters gathered beneath a banner that read "Kosovo is Serbia" and listened to speeches by local Serb leaders in the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica _ as they've done every day since Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership proclaimed statehood on Feb. 17.
Serbs consider Kosovo the heart of their ancient homeland and the cradle of their Serbian Orthodox faith, and reject its independence as illegal.
U.N. police guarded the main bridge separating the town's Serb and ethnic Albanian sides, and Monday's protest was peaceful.
Earlier Monday, a senior Serbian official entered Kosovo to visit Serb communities _ a move Kosovo's deputy prime minister denounced as a provocation.
Serbia's minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, was making a one-day visit Monday _ eight days after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia _ to meet with Kosovo's Serb minority and with the top U.N. official, Joachim Ruecker.
U.N. officials originally announced they wouldn't let Samardzic enter Kosovo, but changed their minds.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian deputy prime minister, Hajredin Kuqi, called Samardzic's visit a "provocation" by Serbia, which refuses to recognize Kosovo's independence.
"Unfortunately, the government of Serbia is continuing with provocation regarding Kosovo's future," Kuqi told The Associated Press.
"I hope they are understanding the position that Kosovo is now an independent state," he said. "They need to build some bridges for cooperation with Kosovo, but ... they are provoking us, provoking our people and raising tension in Kosovo."
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority fought a 1998-99 separatist war with Serbian forces, and 10,000 people were killed.
Samardzic on Monday visited a construction site southeast of the capital, Pristina, where Serbia's government has been building houses for some of Kosovo's 100,000 minority Serbs.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci _ marking Kosovo's first full week of independence _ urged Serbs to integrate with Albanians and pledged that the new state's ethnic Albanian leadership would respect minority rights.
But Samardzic has ignored such statements, and publicly supported Kosovo Serbs who set fire to a border post in the tense north last week.
Ruecker said Monday that the U.N. reconsidered its original decision to keep Samardzic out of Kosovo on condition that he issue a public statement "making it very, very clear that he distances himself from violence and the visit is about ensuring peace and calm with the Kosovo Serbs."
Ruecker said he also insisted that Samardzic meet with the U.N. official so "I can tell him what we think of some of his recent statements."
In Serbia, Dmitry Medvedev _ widely expected to be Russia's next president _ visited Belgrade on Monday in a trip that underscored Moscow's close ties with its traditional ally.
Moscow, which insists that independence without U.N. approval risks encouraging separatist movements worldwide, has emerged as Belgrade's primary ally in the Kosovo crisis.
Prayers, Protests as Kosovo Marks Its First Full Week of Independence
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,332125,00.html
Kosovo marked its first full week of independence with prayers and protests Sunday as outraged Serbs staged demonstrations in the new nation's tense north and across Europe.
Refusing to let Kosovo secede from Serbia without a fight, up to 1,000 protesters gathered briefly in the ethnically divided northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica in a seventh day of demonstrations denouncing Kosovo's independence.
They listened to a rock concert by a Belgrade band playing on a stage decorated with a poster of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a sign reading: "Russia Help!" Moscow supports Serbia's resistance and has declared Kosovo's independence illegal.
Serbs also organized anti-independence rallies Sunday in other European capitals.
In central Vienna, about 5,000 protesters waved pro-Serbia banners, and a few burned, spit or stomped on American flags before some demonstrators fanned out across the city, throwing bottles as riot police pursued them.
In Geneva, 3,000 people massed outside U.N. offices, and in Brussels, several hundred Serbs gathered outside EU offices to chant "Kosovo is Serbia," and held placards reading "Ask any lawyer" and "Don't legalize it."
Sunday's protest in Mitrovica was peaceful, and the smallest of daily rallies held there for a week — a stark difference from the rioting that broke out Thursday in Belgrade, where demonstrators stormed the U.S. Embassy and set part of it ablaze.
Cameron Munter, the U.S. ambassador to Serbia, warned leaders in Belgrade on Sunday to prevent future violence against diplomatic missions. "I'm very angry at what happened. It had better not happen again," he told The Associated Press in an interview.
In Kosovo's ethnic Albanian-dominated capital, Pristina, the curious gathered around a sculpture spelling out "NEWBORN" in giant yellow letters and covered in graffiti scribbled by revelers after lawmakers proclaimed independence on Feb. 17. "We love you Kosovo!" someone signed in English.
"We celebrate this important day with historic responsibility and a very satisfying result bringing huge recognition from the entire world for an independent Kosovo," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said Sunday while visiting the grave of the late pacifist President Ibrahim Rugova, revered among ethnic Albanians for his drive for statehood.
Thaci, a former guerrilla leader of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1998-99 war with Serbian troops, which claimed 10,000 lives, reached out anew to Kosovo's Serbian minority.
"I will be beside them to help them to integrate in Kosovo's democratic institutions, to integrate in the democratic society of our country," Thaci said. "They, as citizens of this country, should be comfortable with this new reality since Kosovo is a homeland to all its citizens and all the rights of minorities will be respected."
But in Belgrade, fury over Kosovo's declaration of independence showed no signs of abating.
Branislav Ristivojevic, an adviser to nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, said the only way to ease tensions in the Balkans would be for the United States, "which has produced the crisis," to convene an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council and "reaffirm" Kosovo as part of Serbian territory.
Serbs view Kosovo as the heart of their homeland and their Serbian Orthodox faith, and have refused to let it go despite formal recognition from the U.S., key European nations and other countries worldwide.
In the Serb enclave of Gracanica just outside Pristina, locals said Sunday they felt abandoned by the Serbian government and were fearful of reprisal attacks by the ethnic Albanians who surround their village.
"We are afraid. Every night that we lie in bed we don't know in the morning what is going to happen," said Jovanka Petrovic, among Sunday worshippers at Gracanica's sole Orthodox church. "We are afraid to go to sleep. We are not free."
"There is no more Serbia. We have lost everything," added Ana Ivanovic, another worshipper.
But ethnic Albanians exulted in their independence and held out hope that the unrest and uncertainty would subside.
"People are still celebrating," said Artan Dedushaj. "It's only been a week and I think it's too early to see any changes in our new country. People keep celebrating every night, but this is something that all Albanians have waited centuries for — and changes will come soon."
Bishop stands firm on ‘no-go' areas claims
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/bishop.stands.firm.on.nogo.areas.claims/17040.htm
The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, has held steadfast to controversial claims he made last month that Islamic extremism was turning parts of Britain into “no-go” areas for people of different faith.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph in January, the bishop challenged the Government on its multicultural policy, claiming that non-Muslims were finding it difficult to live or work in largely Muslim areas as a result of hostility.
Bishop Nazir-Ali also warned that Christianity was being eroded by a “multi-faith mish-mash” without “moral or spiritual vision”.
His comments sparked fierce criticism from a number of political and religious leaders, whilst others commended the bishop for his courage in speaking up on a difficult issue they agree needs to be addressed.
In an interview with the same paper on Sunday, Bishop Nazir-Ali said he would not be silenced, despite the huge backlash, which included death threats to himself and his family.
"I believe people should not be prevented from speaking out," he says. "The issue had to be raised. There are times when Christian leaders have to speak out."
The Pakistan-born bishop was warned that he would not “live long” and would be “sorted out” if he continued to speak against Islam.
"If you disagree, that must be met by counter-arguments, not by trying to silence people. It was a threat not just to me, but to my family. I took it seriously, so did the police. It gave me sleepless nights."
Bishop Nazir-Ali, who remains under police protection with his family, went on to warn that unless Christianity fills the current "spiritual and moral vacuum" that has grown in Britian over the last 50 years Islam could its place.
"Do the British people really want to lose that rooting in the Christian faith that has given them everything they cherish - art, literature, architecture, institutions, the monarchy, their value system, their laws?" he asked.
He strongly rejected the recent assertion of the Archbishop of Canterbury, however, that British law should accommodate aspects of the Muslim legal framework, Sharia.
"People of every faith should be free within the law to follow what their spiritual leaders direct them to, but that's very different saying their structures should replace that of the English legal system because there would be conflicts," he told the Sunday Telegraph.
Pakistan Blocks YouTube for 'Blasphemous' Content
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,332126,00.html
Pakistan's government has banned access to the video-sharing Web site YouTube because of anti-Islamic movies that users have posted on the site, an official said Sunday.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority told the country's 70 Internet service providers Friday that the popular Web site would be blocked until further notice.
The authority did not specify what the offensive material was, but a PTA official said the ban concerned a movie trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who has said he plans to release an anti-Koran movie portraying the religion as fascist and prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals.
The PTA official, who asked not to be identified because he was not an official spokesman, said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority also blocks Web sites that show controversial drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. The drawings were originally printed in European newspapers in 2006 and were reprinted by some papers last week.
The PTA urged Web users to write to YouTube and request the removal of the objectionable movies, saying authorities would stop blocking the site once that happened.
Pakistan is not the only country to have blocked access to YouTube.
In January, a court in Turkey blocked the site because some video clips allegedly insulted the country's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is illegal to insult Ataturk in Turkey.
Last spring the Thai government banned the site for about four months because of clips seen as offensive to Thailand's revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Moroccans last year were unable to access YouTube after users posted videos critical of Morocco's treatment of the people of Western Sahara, a territory Morocco took control of in 1975.
Musharraf Dismisses 'Graceful' Exit Suggested by U.S. Senators
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,332211,00.html
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman on Monday dismissed a suggestion from three U.S. senators that the embattled leader make a "graceful exit" from power his opponents' victory in Pakistan's elections.
Musharraf was elected to a new five-year presidential term last year by Pakistani lawmakers, "not by any senator from the United States," his spokesman Rashid Qureshi told Dawn News television.
"So I don't think he needs to respond to anything that is said by these people," he said.
The three U.S. senators met Musharraf shortly after last week's parliamentary vote in which his political allies were routed. Some Pakistani political leaders have also called for him to resign.
Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Sunday that he would advise Musharraf to seek a dignified way to leave office.
"I firmly believe if (political parties) do not focus on old grudges — and there's plenty in Pakistan — and give him a graceful way to move," then it could happen, Biden, a Democrat, said on ABC television.
Republican Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Chuck Hagel also endorsed a negotiated retreat rather than a push from power for Musharraf.
Chad’s believers testify God Emmanuel
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/chads.believers.testify.god.emmanuel/17025.htm
Stories of God’s saving grace and protection are emerging from the Christian pastors who chose to remain in troubled Chad throughout the recent violence in the country’s capital N’Djamena.
Around 160 people were killed when rebels stormed the capital N’Djamena in early February, including many civilians, while thousands more fled to neighbouring Cameroon.
In spite of the darkness of recent weeks, Jerry Dykstra of Open Doors USA is receiving testimonies from a number of Christian pastors that God protected them during the rebel attacks on the capital, reports Mission Network News.
Pastor Rene Daidanso of N’Djamena said that the crisis situation caused him “to experience progress in the reading of God's Word and in prayer”.
“I don't exaggerate when affirming that I never prayed as much as I have during this period,” he shared.
“The Lord showed me that I must not leave the city of N’Djamena. I had to follow Abraham's example when he interceded of behalf of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. I interceded for my city, and N’Djamena was delivered.
“He communicated to me clearly that if there were only 10 Christians in N’Djamena. He would not destroy the city. I asked Him in my prayer to direct all deadly bullets toward empty spaces so that lives would be spared. And my prayer has been granted."
Pastor Daidanso told Dykstra that the Church of the Good News, a Christian Assemblies of Chad church, survived the bombardments, whilst the Chadian Radio Television next door was completely burned to ashes.
The Evangelical Church of Chad, with a congregation of more than 1,500 members, also survived the attacks unscathed, whilst N’Djamena’s major market just 100 metres away was severely damaged.
Open Doors, whose ministry teams were scattered by the conflict, continues to keep a watchful eye on the situation in Chad, however. Although the violence has halted, an “uneasy calm” hangs in the air, admits Dykstra.
Christians in eastern Chad have appealed to Open Doors for prayer as armed rebels coming in from Sudan’s Darfur region “spread terror in the name of Islam”.
"Open Doors works in the area, sending biblical materials, much of which is for the training of Christians.
“Continue to pray for them,” he said. “The growth of Islam is a big threat in Chad, so we need to keep that in prayer, too.”
Prayer appeals have also come in from Pastor Hadama Christopher in Kousseri, a border city in Cameroon sheltering Chadian refugees since the outbreak of the conflict. The lack of water and food, and the sharp escalation of prices for food and basic goods remain serious concerns.
“Pray for the Christians of Chad to be helped by God in all circumstances and to be strengthened in their faith,” said Open Doors.
More Economists Forecast Recession
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/economy/article/economists-forecast-recession_492466_3.html
WASHINGTON -- Job growth is faltering, consumer confidence plunging. The fallout from the worst housing slump in a quarter-century grows. Wherever you look, the signs are unmistakable that the economy is in trouble.
Because of all the bad news, more and more economists foresee the country falling into a recession, according to the latest survey by the National Association for Business Economics.
The group said in a report being released Monday that 45% of the economists on its forecasting panel expect a recession this year. In September, only one in four economists was pessimistic enough to put the chance of a recession at 35% or higher.
The drumbeat of bad news since last fall has caused many analysts to consider a recession more likely now, said Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, chief economist at Ford Motor Co. and NABE’s current president.
The survey shows that 55% still believe the country will be able to skate by without falling into an actual downturn, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of declines in the gross domestic output, the broadest measure of economic health. All the analysts, however, expect growth to slow considerably this year.
The forecasters believe GDP will expand by 1.8% this year, which would be the weakest growth in five years. That compares with an estimate of 2.5% growth for 2008 made in the previous survey, in November.
The new estimate is in line with a downgraded forecast from the Federal Reserve this past week.
The NABE forecast reflects the expectation the economy will grow only sluggishly or actually contract from January through June. Then it is seen starting to expand more strongly in the second half of the year. Helping accomplish that is a $168 billion federal aid plan, with its rebate checks for millions of families, and aggressive interest rate cuts from the Fed.
The panel of 47 top forecasters thinks “any recession, if it occurs, will be short and shallow,” Hughes-Cromwick said.
The biggest change in the new survey involves the outlook for interest rates.
In November, economists expected the Fed would keep a key rate, the federal funds rate, at 4.5% through all of 2008. That rate, the target for overnight bank loans, already is at 3%, after significant cuts by the Fed in January. Fed
Chairman Ben Bernanke has indicated that further rate cuts will be coming if the economy fails to rebound.
So the NABE experts now predict the funds rate will end this year at 2.5%.
Inflation is expected to moderate greatly this year as the weak economy cools price pressures. Inflation shot up by 4.1% in 2007, the biggest jump in 17 years.
The Consumer Price Index is forecast to rise by 2.5%. That is based in part on the NABE panel’s view that demand will weaken for oil and the barrel price will drop to about $84 by December. The current trend, however, is up; crude oil jumped to all-time highs above $100 per barrel over the last week.
The weaker growth will mean higher unemployment, according to the forecasters. They predict that the jobless rate for 2008 will average 5.2%, compared with 4.6% last year.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com and a NABE panelist, said he believed the economy entered into a recession in December and it will pull out of the downturn in June, aided by the rebate checks that begin going out in May.
If problems worsen for the financial industry, hard hit by the housing downturn, then Zandi said Washington will rush through a second rescue measure because nervous politicians will not want to be seen as dawdling before the November elections.
“A recession in an election year represents a problem for incumbents,” Zandi said. “That is why the first stimulus package got passed so quickly and that is why I expect more of a policy response before this is all over.”
A second panel member, David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York, also believes the country is now in a recession. While he believes the economic aid plan signed by President Bush should make the downturn a mild one, he worries the economy could falter again next year.
“There is a danger that this could turn into a double-dip recession,” he said. “Once the rebate checks are spent, we could go back down again.”
The latest NABE forecast, however, shows the economy continuing to grow in 2009. It predicts a modest GDP increase of 2.7% for the whole year, compared with the 1.8% expected this year and the 2.2% actual GDP growth in 2007.
First Amendment Rights Denied in Georgia as Pro-Life Activist is Arrested on Public Sidewalk
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06903.shtml
ATLANTA -- As things begin to heat up in a busy legislative session in Georgia, and state lawmakers fight over there own special interests some of these political tensions have clearly lead to the arrest of one demonstrator last week.
Robert Roethlisberger Jr., of Clarkston, Georgia, was arrested on February 15, 2008, while holding a sign promoting House Resolution 536 known as the "Human Life Amendment." It is an attempt to place on this year's election ballet an amendment to the state Constitution that would protect human life at every stage of development.
"Having been arrested for criminal trespass while standing on a street corner can only give you the idea that someone wants your message to disappear," said Roethlisberger. "A 'right to petition' are the last three words written in our first amendment to 'The Bill of Rights' but this right carries little meaning for if you get arrested for expressing a need for change in government," says Roethlisberger about his most recent arrest.
Roethlisberger continues, "Everyone living in the state of Georgia that believes in life needs to demand from Mr. Speaker Glen Richardson that H.R.536 gets to the floor of the House for a vote and also ask for there own State Assemblyman's support for H.R.536 so that the people of Georgia can have this opportunity to vote for life on their 2008 election ballet."
Producer of 'Demographic Winter' Responds to 'The Nation's' Polemic
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06904.shtml
Barry McLerran, producer of "Demographic Winter: the decline of the human family," responded to an article in The Nation, America's largest-circulation leftwing publication, which attacks the documentary as conservative, pro- natalist propaganda.
McLerran observed. "We didn't expect the documentary to be criticized by someone who has only seen the 3-minute trailer and is attacking 'Demographic Winter' based on preconceived notions."
The article by Kathryn Joyce ("Missing: The 'Right' Babies") will appear in the March 3 issue, but is now available online at The Nation's website.
Joyce claims those who warn of plummeting birthrates worldwide are really only concerned about maintaining white majorities in Europe and the United States, in light of declining native birthrates and increasing immigration from North Africa and the Middle East.
"But the film notes that falling birthrates is a worldwide phenomenon -- affecting developing as well as developed nations," McLerran says. "It speaks of emigration as a threat to developing nations."
The documentary reports that Egypt's total fertility rate dropped from 7.3 (children per woman) in 1965 to 3.7 today. The United Nations estimates the nation will be below replacement-level (2.1) by the middle of the century. Iran is now the first country in the Middle East to have achieved below-replacement fertility (having gone from 2.8 in 1996 to around 2 today).
Joyce seeks to debunk the concept of demographic winter (suggesting it's a scare tactic to promote pro- family policies) without citing a single statistic.
McLerran: "Statistics are inconvenient for someone arguing from the author's perspective. How do you explain the 50% decline in birthrates, worldwide, in the past half-century - or the fact that the UN estimates there will be 248 million fewer children in the world in 2050 than there are today?"
Joyce claims the documentary is a springboard for "conservative scholars, activists and European politicians" to advance their views on the family.
"In fact," says director Rick Stout, "most of those interviewed for the film do not consider themselves 'conservatives' at all. Besides a smattering of pro-family activists, interviewees addressed the crisis of falling birthrates from an academic perspective."
Those who appear in the film include sociologists, demographers, and economists (among them, a Nobel laureate in economics) from some of the most prestigious universities here and abroad.
McLerran concluded: "We look forward to 'Demographic Winter: the decline of the human family' stimulating a candid discussion of a global crisis and a debate based on the reality of demographic decline -- instead of the type of polemic contained in The Nation article."
To view a trailer for "Demographic Winter" or for more information, go to www.demographicwinter.com
Documents Secretly Removed from Tiller Abortion Clinic
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion06906.shtml
WICHITA, Kansas -- A large Penske box truck arrived at Women's Health Care Services on Monday, February 18, 2008, and was loaded with several boxes that appeared to contain documents, according to eye-witness Margaret Weaver, who was monitoring the late-term abortion mill. The clinic was not open to patients at the time, and no other vehicles came in or out of the parking lot.
What made the incident more suspicious was that the truck's license plate had been removed.
"Trucks of this nature are often leased to businesses," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "But driving a motor vehicle without a license plate is illegal. No legitimate business would operate like that. Something is obviously going on there that Tiller and his secret collaborator do not want anyone to know about."
What makes yesterday's incident even more suspect is the fact that currently Tiller is resisting subpoenas from a grand jury that has requested 2,000 abortion records, with patient identifying information redacted, in their investigation of illegal late term abortions. The Kansas Supreme Court issued a stay until briefs can be filed. A ruling from the Court on the release of the records to the grand jury is expected after February 25.
"Something must be done to preserve the integrity of those records until the court rules," said Newman. "We already know that Planned Parenthood falsified records submitted to a judge in another Kansas abortion investigation. We also documented shredding trucks at Tiller's destroying documents just days before a Supreme Court ruling on a different records request. Tiller cannot be trusted. From past performance, it is obvious that he will stop at nothing to avoid having to hand over accurate abortion records that could land him in prison, and that includes altering, moving or destroying incriminating evidence."
About Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
U.K. Artist Kills Herself After Aborting Twins
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,332117,00.html
A British artist, expressing remorse and regret, hanged herself after aborting her twins when she was eight weeks pregnant, London's Sunday Telegraph reported.
"I should never have had an abortion," Emma Beck wrote in a note she left. "I see now I would have been a good mum."
The note continued: "I told everyone I didn't want to do it, even at the hospital. I was frightened, now it is to late. I died when my babies died. I want to be with my babies: they need me, no one else does."
Beck, 30, was found in her home on Feb. 1 and pronounced dead the following day, her 31st birthday.
She terminated the pregnancy after breaking up with her ex-boyfriend, who "reacted badly" to her pregnancy, the Telegraph reported.
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