NATO strikes in Libya accidentally hit rebel forces again, for at least the third time since air combat began three months ago, reports the New York Times . The mistaken attack occurred Thursday, with back-and-forth fighting against Gadhafi’s forces on three fronts left rebel locations difficult to clearly determine. NATO forces…
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Legal advice says gay candidates should be considered as long as they have not been sexually active while in the priesthood The Church of England is set to approve the appointment of openly gay bishops, providing that they are celibate. In an attempt to clarify its policy following years of controversy and debate, the church is to publish its legal advice on the issue on Monday. The document, Choosing Bishops – The Equality Act 2010 , summarises points which those involved in the nomination process “need to keep in mind” when considering candidates in order to avoid breaking the law. It reiterates there is no bar to the promotion of gay clergy to a bishopric as long as they are not sexually active and never have been during their time in the priesthood. However, the document says a selection committee could veto a gay candidate if “the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question”. The document reads: “A person’s sexual orientation is in itself irrelevant to their suitability for episcopal office or indeed ordained ministry” but the Equality Act “allows churches and religious organisations to impose a requirement that someone should not be in a civil partnership or impose a requirement related to sexual orientation … to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers”. “It is clearly the case that a significant number of Anglicans… believe that a Christian leader should not enter into a civil partnership, even if celibate, because it involves forming an exclusive, lifelong bond with someone of the same sex, creates family ties and is generally viewed in wider society as akin to same-sex marriage. “It is equally clear that many other Anglicans believe that it is appropriate that clergy who are gay by orientation enter into civil partnerships, even though the discipline of the church requires them to remain sexually abstinent.” The guidance, to be presented to the General Synod in York in July, comes after damaging revelations about the Church of England hierarchy refusing to accept the reality of gay clergy. Documents obtained by the Guardian showed the House of Bishops unable to agree on whether gay clergy should ever be appointed to the episcopate and that meetings about candidates descended into shouting matches, leaving some of those present in tears. Much of the debate has centred on Jeffrey John, a celibate priest who is in a longstanding civil partnership with another cleric. He was forced by the archbishop of Canterbury to stand down after being appointed suffragan bishop of Reading eight years ago after conservative evangelicals objected. Last year, the archbishops of Canterbury and York prevented John from becoming the bishop of Southwark, to the dismay of his supporters. The guidance says the criteria when considering a gay cleric for the bishopric are “whether the candidate had always complied with the church’s teachings on same-sex sexual activity; whether he was in a civil partnership; whether he was in a continuing civil partnership with a person with whom he had had an earlier same-sex sexual relationship; whether he had expressed repentance for any previous same-sex sexual activity; and whether (and to what extent) the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.” The guidelines have angered those campaigning for greater inclusion in the Church of England. General Synod member Christina Rees said: “Nobody other than Jeffrey John has been honest about their sexuality. It is distasteful that gay clerics are asked about their sex lives. There is no parity between them and straight clerics.” Rees warned that the guidance was “too open” for people to exploit as they could argue that the appointment of a gay bishop could prove divisive at home or overseas. The Anglican communion remains at odds over the issue of gay bishops, even though the Episcopal Church in the US has made two such appointments in the last decade. Anglicanism Religion Christianity Gay rights Rowan Williams Equality Act 2010 Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Legal advice says gay candidates should be considered as long as they have not been sexually active while in the priesthood The Church of England is set to approve the appointment of openly gay bishops, providing that they are celibate. In an attempt to clarify its policy following years of controversy and debate, the church is to publish its legal advice on the issue on Monday. The document, Choosing Bishops – The Equality Act 2010 , summarises points which those involved in the nomination process “need to keep in mind” when considering candidates in order to avoid breaking the law. It reiterates there is no bar to the promotion of gay clergy to a bishopric as long as they are not sexually active and never have been during their time in the priesthood. However, the document says a selection committee could veto a gay candidate if “the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question”. The document reads: “A person’s sexual orientation is in itself irrelevant to their suitability for episcopal office or indeed ordained ministry” but the Equality Act “allows churches and religious organisations to impose a requirement that someone should not be in a civil partnership or impose a requirement related to sexual orientation … to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers”. “It is clearly the case that a significant number of Anglicans… believe that a Christian leader should not enter into a civil partnership, even if celibate, because it involves forming an exclusive, lifelong bond with someone of the same sex, creates family ties and is generally viewed in wider society as akin to same-sex marriage. “It is equally clear that many other Anglicans believe that it is appropriate that clergy who are gay by orientation enter into civil partnerships, even though the discipline of the church requires them to remain sexually abstinent.” The guidance, to be presented to the General Synod in York in July, comes after damaging revelations about the Church of England hierarchy refusing to accept the reality of gay clergy. Documents obtained by the Guardian showed the House of Bishops unable to agree on whether gay clergy should ever be appointed to the episcopate and that meetings about candidates descended into shouting matches, leaving some of those present in tears. Much of the debate has centred on Jeffrey John, a celibate priest who is in a longstanding civil partnership with another cleric. He was forced by the archbishop of Canterbury to stand down after being appointed suffragan bishop of Reading eight years ago after conservative evangelicals objected. Last year, the archbishops of Canterbury and York prevented John from becoming the bishop of Southwark, to the dismay of his supporters. The guidance says the criteria when considering a gay cleric for the bishopric are “whether the candidate had always complied with the church’s teachings on same-sex sexual activity; whether he was in a civil partnership; whether he was in a continuing civil partnership with a person with whom he had had an earlier same-sex sexual relationship; whether he had expressed repentance for any previous same-sex sexual activity; and whether (and to what extent) the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.” The guidelines have angered those campaigning for greater inclusion in the Church of England. General Synod member Christina Rees said: “Nobody other than Jeffrey John has been honest about their sexuality. It is distasteful that gay clerics are asked about their sex lives. There is no parity between them and straight clerics.” Rees warned that the guidance was “too open” for people to exploit as they could argue that the appointment of a gay bishop could prove divisive at home or overseas. The Anglican communion remains at odds over the issue of gay bishops, even though the Episcopal Church in the US has made two such appointments in the last decade. Anglicanism Religion Christianity Gay rights Rowan Williams Equality Act 2010 Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk
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Northern League’s Umberto Bossi makes life difficult for Italian PM with demand that could generate new eurozone crisis The threat of a new crisis on the eurozone’s southern flank loomed on Sunday as a crucial ally of Silvio Berlusconi demanded that the government cut taxes, despite the serious implications that this would have on Italy’s public finances. Umberto Bossi, the Northern League leader and arbiter of the prime minister’s fate, brushed aside concerns that Italy could go the way of Greece when he told cheering supporters in Pontida that the tax burden in Italy had gone “beyond all limits”. Bossi, Berlusconi’s partner in Italy’s rightwing coalition government, has been under huge pressure from his party’s rank and file since local elections last month showed a sharp fall in the league’s support. Tax cuts would offer both men the promise of regaining their lost popularity, but could widen the budget deficit of a country that has the eurozone’s biggest public debt. On Friday, the rating agency Moody’s warned it could downgrade Italy’s credit ratings because of concerns that the crisis in Greece could increase eurozone interest rates and derail Italy’s already precarious economic recovery. The finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, has been urging prudence on his cabinet colleagues and was reported by La Repubblica to be planning a mini-budget that would include deficit reduction measures totalling €40m (£35m). But Bossi told his supporters: “Tremonti says that we risk ending up like Greece. But, whatever, something has to be done to bring down taxes.” He stopped well short of threatening to bring down the government in a confidence vote on Wednesday because that would force a general election “at a moment favourable to the left”. But he said Berlusconi’s leadership of the Italian right would be at stake after the next general election in 2013 “if he does not do certain things”. Largely thanks to Tremonti’s insistence on fiscal rigour, Italy has remained comparatively unscathed by the financial hurricane blowing through southern Europe. Italy’s budget deficit this year is expected to be a modest 4% and investors demand a return of less than 5% for 10-year loans to the Italian treasury; in Greece, the rate is above 17%. But Italy’s public debt is expected to top 120% of GDP by the end of the year, so any increase in the cost of borrowing could swiftly make it impossible for the Rome government to contain its budget deficit, especially as Italy’s low economic growth is holding down tax revenues. Tremonti has tried to square the circle by rooting out tax evasion, but the clampdown is among the chief grouses of Bossi’s mainly lower middle-class following of small business owners and self-employed workers. A poll on Saturday indicated 55% of the league’s voters disapproved of the government’s performance. Many would like to see Bossi withdraw from the coalition and some would like him to lead the north out of Italy. Seven times during his speech, he was interrupted by chants of “Secession. Secession.” Bossi told them Tremonti had done “shameful things” and repeated a demand for some government ministries to be moved to the north. “The industry ministry shouldn’t be in Rome. It ought to be in the north, where the factories are,” he said, adding that he and another Northern League minister had signed decrees for the transfer of their departments to Monza “but then Berlusconi shat on it”. The League’s plan could yet cause the government serious problems. The regional governor of Campania in the south promptly demanded the transfer of an equivalent number of ministries to Naples. His counterpart in Lazio, the region around Rome, announced a petition to keep the government in the capital. And the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, warned of a “hard, serious” tussle. Italy Europe European debt crisis Europe Euro Silvio Berlusconi European Union Euro Currencies John Hooper guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Northern League’s Umberto Bossi makes life difficult for Italian PM with demand that could generate new eurozone crisis The threat of a new crisis on the eurozone’s southern flank loomed on Sunday as a crucial ally of Silvio Berlusconi demanded that the government cut taxes, despite the serious implications that this would have on Italy’s public finances. Umberto Bossi, the Northern League leader and arbiter of the prime minister’s fate, brushed aside concerns that Italy could go the way of Greece when he told cheering supporters in Pontida that the tax burden in Italy had gone “beyond all limits”. Bossi, Berlusconi’s partner in Italy’s rightwing coalition government, has been under huge pressure from his party’s rank and file since local elections last month showed a sharp fall in the league’s support. Tax cuts would offer both men the promise of regaining their lost popularity, but could widen the budget deficit of a country that has the eurozone’s biggest public debt. On Friday, the rating agency Moody’s warned it could downgrade Italy’s credit ratings because of concerns that the crisis in Greece could increase eurozone interest rates and derail Italy’s already precarious economic recovery. The finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, has been urging prudence on his cabinet colleagues and was reported by La Repubblica to be planning a mini-budget that would include deficit reduction measures totalling €40m (£35m). But Bossi told his supporters: “Tremonti says that we risk ending up like Greece. But, whatever, something has to be done to bring down taxes.” He stopped well short of threatening to bring down the government in a confidence vote on Wednesday because that would force a general election “at a moment favourable to the left”. But he said Berlusconi’s leadership of the Italian right would be at stake after the next general election in 2013 “if he does not do certain things”. Largely thanks to Tremonti’s insistence on fiscal rigour, Italy has remained comparatively unscathed by the financial hurricane blowing through southern Europe. Italy’s budget deficit this year is expected to be a modest 4% and investors demand a return of less than 5% for 10-year loans to the Italian treasury; in Greece, the rate is above 17%. But Italy’s public debt is expected to top 120% of GDP by the end of the year, so any increase in the cost of borrowing could swiftly make it impossible for the Rome government to contain its budget deficit, especially as Italy’s low economic growth is holding down tax revenues. Tremonti has tried to square the circle by rooting out tax evasion, but the clampdown is among the chief grouses of Bossi’s mainly lower middle-class following of small business owners and self-employed workers. A poll on Saturday indicated 55% of the league’s voters disapproved of the government’s performance. Many would like to see Bossi withdraw from the coalition and some would like him to lead the north out of Italy. Seven times during his speech, he was interrupted by chants of “Secession. Secession.” Bossi told them Tremonti had done “shameful things” and repeated a demand for some government ministries to be moved to the north. “The industry ministry shouldn’t be in Rome. It ought to be in the north, where the factories are,” he said, adding that he and another Northern League minister had signed decrees for the transfer of their departments to Monza “but then Berlusconi shat on it”. The League’s plan could yet cause the government serious problems. The regional governor of Campania in the south promptly demanded the transfer of an equivalent number of ministries to Naples. His counterpart in Lazio, the region around Rome, announced a petition to keep the government in the capital. And the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, warned of a “hard, serious” tussle. Italy Europe European debt crisis Europe Euro Silvio Berlusconi European Union Euro Currencies John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Northern League’s Umberto Bossi makes life difficult for Italian PM with demand that could generate new eurozone crisis The threat of a new crisis on the eurozone’s southern flank loomed on Sunday as a crucial ally of Silvio Berlusconi demanded that the government cut taxes, despite the serious implications that this would have on Italy’s public finances. Umberto Bossi, the Northern League leader and arbiter of the prime minister’s fate, brushed aside concerns that Italy could go the way of Greece when he told cheering supporters in Pontida that the tax burden in Italy had gone “beyond all limits”. Bossi, Berlusconi’s partner in Italy’s rightwing coalition government, has been under huge pressure from his party’s rank and file since local elections last month showed a sharp fall in the league’s support. Tax cuts would offer both men the promise of regaining their lost popularity, but could widen the budget deficit of a country that has the eurozone’s biggest public debt. On Friday, the rating agency Moody’s warned it could downgrade Italy’s credit ratings because of concerns that the crisis in Greece could increase eurozone interest rates and derail Italy’s already precarious economic recovery. The finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, has been urging prudence on his cabinet colleagues and was reported by La Repubblica to be planning a mini-budget that would include deficit reduction measures totalling €40m (£35m). But Bossi told his supporters: “Tremonti says that we risk ending up like Greece. But, whatever, something has to be done to bring down taxes.” He stopped well short of threatening to bring down the government in a confidence vote on Wednesday because that would force a general election “at a moment favourable to the left”. But he said Berlusconi’s leadership of the Italian right would be at stake after the next general election in 2013 “if he does not do certain things”. Largely thanks to Tremonti’s insistence on fiscal rigour, Italy has remained comparatively unscathed by the financial hurricane blowing through southern Europe. Italy’s budget deficit this year is expected to be a modest 4% and investors demand a return of less than 5% for 10-year loans to the Italian treasury; in Greece, the rate is above 17%. But Italy’s public debt is expected to top 120% of GDP by the end of the year, so any increase in the cost of borrowing could swiftly make it impossible for the Rome government to contain its budget deficit, especially as Italy’s low economic growth is holding down tax revenues. Tremonti has tried to square the circle by rooting out tax evasion, but the clampdown is among the chief grouses of Bossi’s mainly lower middle-class following of small business owners and self-employed workers. A poll on Saturday indicated 55% of the league’s voters disapproved of the government’s performance. Many would like to see Bossi withdraw from the coalition and some would like him to lead the north out of Italy. Seven times during his speech, he was interrupted by chants of “Secession. Secession.” Bossi told them Tremonti had done “shameful things” and repeated a demand for some government ministries to be moved to the north. “The industry ministry shouldn’t be in Rome. It ought to be in the north, where the factories are,” he said, adding that he and another Northern League minister had signed decrees for the transfer of their departments to Monza “but then Berlusconi shat on it”. The League’s plan could yet cause the government serious problems. The regional governor of Campania in the south promptly demanded the transfer of an equivalent number of ministries to Naples. His counterpart in Lazio, the region around Rome, announced a petition to keep the government in the capital. And the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, warned of a “hard, serious” tussle. Italy Europe European debt crisis Europe Euro Silvio Berlusconi European Union Euro Currencies John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Finance ministers to throw Greece a €12bn lifeline but meeting marked by pessimism over fate of euro Europe’s single currency governments are expected to throw Greece a summer lifeline, agreeing to disburse €12bn by next month to keep the debt-stricken country from going broke and triggering an international crisis. But the meeting in Luxembourg of finance ministers from the 17 eurozone countries also faced the much bigger challenge of trying to structure a new three-year bailout for Greece in a way that would persuade European banks, pension funds and other private creditors to roll over the country’s ballooning debt. The Eurogroup meeting took place amid a mood of growing futility over Greece and pessimism over the fate of the euro. “We wouldn’t be able to control an insolvency,” warned the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. “We all lived through Lehman Brothers. I don’t want another such threat to emanate from Europe.” Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who heads the Eurogroup, said that Italy and Belgium, rather than Spain, could be at risk if the new bailout being negotiated for Greece involved losses for creditors and the financial markets then declared Greece to be in default. On Friday in Berlin, Merkel admitted defeat in a fight with the European Central Bank, dropping German insistence that the international banks should take part in the proposed bailout by swapping existing bonds for new paper with a seven-year maturity, giving Greece time to try to recover. At the weekend she reiterated that private creditor involvement should be “substantial”, but admitted there was no way of ensuring this. Germany is the biggest player in bailing out Greece, but the commitment of taxpayers’ money is deeply unpopular. Merkel’s volte-face on Friday earned her biting criticism in the weekend media. After a year in which Greece has already received €53bn in bailout funds, only to see the crisis worsen, doubts are growing over whether the embattled Greek government will be able to deliver the savage spending cuts being demanded as the price of rescue. Amid a sense of deepening panic and gloom, leading European industrialists are to take out full-page adverts in the French and German press on Tuesday pleading for intervention to save the euro. “A return to a stable financial situation will cost many billions of euros, but the European Union and our common currency are worth every effort,” says the advert. Top German economists lined up at the weekend to accuse Merkel and other EU leaders of “political failure”. The Greek government was also a target. “It is disappointing that the Greeks are not grateful for the help from Germany and the EU,” Hans-Werner Sinn, head of Munich’s IFO Institute, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper. The cover story in Monday’s edition of the influential Hamburg weekly Der Spiegel, is “an obituary for the common currency.” Britain, meanwhile, stressed that it wanted no part of any new Greek rescue, except through its participation in the International Monetary Fund. “It’s the eurozone that is taking forward discussions now about the next stage of dealing with Greece’s substantial problems,” the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, told Sky News. “There’s simply no proposition on the table for the UK to contribute beyond IMF involvement and I don’t expect there to be one.” That could change if the EU decides to use an emergency bailout fund administered by the European commission for the rescue. Britain is liable for a share of this and any decision would be taken by qualified majority vote, meaning the Cameron government would not be able to wield a veto. European debt crisis Greece European banks Europe European Central Bank Euro European Union Euro Angela Merkel Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
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Libyan government claims Nato missile struck house in residential Tripoli, killing civilians, including two children Nato is urgently reviewing the details of its weekend bombing missions after the Libyan government claimed one of its missiles had struck a house in a residential area of Tripoli, killing a number of civilians, including two children. If confirmed, the attack would be the biggest blunder by coalition forces during the four-month campaign, and a PR gift for Muammar Gaddafi at a time when Nato has been trying to increase the tempo of military operations against the Libyan leader. However, Nato officials were by no means sure it had been responsible for the alleged bombing in the Souk al-Juma district of the Libyan capital – the area was not being specifically targeted and the coalition has nobody on the ground to verify what the Gaddafi regime has been saying. The Guardian understands that investigators are focusing on French aircraft that were flying over Tripoli to target a potential missile site. RAF planes were not thought to be involved. Nato was debriefing the pilots who flew sorties on Saturday night and Sunday morning, as well as reviewing data gleaned from their aircraft, to establish whether one of their missiles had hit the three-storey house by mistake. A Nato official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was confusion over the exact location of the explosion, and pointed out that the district in question was an anti-Gaddafi stronghold. Wing commander Mike Bracken, a Nato spokesman, said: “Nato confirms it was operating in Tripoli last night, conducting air strikes against a legitimate military target. “Nato deeply regrets any civilian loss of life during this operation, and would be very sorry if the review of this incident concluded it to be a Nato weapon.” Reporters based in Tripoli were taken by government officials to the scene of the blast and then to a hospital, where they were shown the bodies of four people said to have been killed in the strike, including two infants. Associated Press said journalists were escorted back to the site during the day, where children’s toys, teacups and dust-covered mattresses could be seen amid the rubble. Foreign journalists in Tripoli are not allowed to travel and report freely and are almost always shadowed by government minders. Libya’s deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim said: “There was intentional and deliberate targeting of the civilian houses. This is another sign of the brutality of the west.” Nato appeared to strike the capital again on Sunday afternoon. A number of explosions could be heard in the city, and smoke could be seen rising over the southern part of the capital. Nato’s military campaign has come under renewed scrutiny in recent days, with rebel commanders saying the alliance is not doing enough to support efforts to topple the Libyan dictator. However, military commanders have privately expressed frustration about the present stalemate, saying that Nato’s mandate is not to act as the rebels’ air force. They also concede that they have run out of obvious targets, and are having to rely on precision weapons to take out Gaddafi’s command and control centres, which have been hidden in public buildings, such as schools. Libya Nato Middle East Africa Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Mietek Pemper, the Jewish prisoner who created “Schindler’s List”—a list of concentration camp workers “essential” to the Nazi war effort, which saved hundreds from extermination—has died at age 91, reports the New York Times . Pemper was secretary for the commandant of the Plaszow concentration camp, a brutal Nazi…
Continue reading …Add Michele Bachmann to the list of GOP presidential hopefuls who have been “glitter bombed” by gay rights supporters, reports Politico . Bachmann was leaving the stage after a 40-minute speech yesterday in Minneapolis when a young woman approached the stage and threw glitter, but largely missed the congresswoman. “My response…
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