Gay marriage still unauthorised but California bishop gives support to same-gender civil marriages, domestic partnerships and relationships A bishop in the US Episcopal church has authorised the use of blessings for same-sex couples, breaking a ban on one of the most divisive issues affecting the Anglican communion. Chester Talton, from the diocese of San Joaquin, in California, has told clergy they may perform blessings of “same-gender civil marriages, domestic partnerships and relationships which are lifelong committed relationships characterised by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect [and] careful, honest communication”. The US state recognises domestic partnerships between gay and heterosexual couples as long as one or both of the people involved is 62 or older. Same-sex marriages were also legal for a short while in the state. A statement from the diocese said: “We must also recognise there are same-gender couples in relationships who have not entered in domestic partnerships, perceiving them to be inferior to marriage and who, for various reasons, did not or could not marry during the brief time when same gender marriages were legal. “Couples in such relationships are part of the diocese of San Joaquin. They are in our congregations and in positions of leadership. They are our friends, neighbours and brothers and sisters in Christ. It is now time, to the extent permitted by California law and the canons of the Episcopal church, to extend to these couples the generous pastoral response necessary to meet their needs as members of this church.” Talton’s authorisation states that no diocesan priest may perform a gay marriage until both sets of laws, and the diocesan bishop, allow it and that no priest is required to bless same-gender relationships. His decision follows years of discussion in the US on how to be more inclusive towards homosexual parishioners and clergy, a direction that has angered conservative evangelicals. The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has frequently voiced his opposition to moves allowing the consecration of lesbian and gay bishops and same-sex blessings – two of the three temporary bans in place designed, supposedly, to keep the disparate communion provinces together until a more permanent solution to disagreements is found. Gay rights Religion Anglicanism Christianity United States California Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk
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Application turned down because of man’s ‘degrading attitude’ towards his wife An Algerian-born man living in France has been refused French nationality because of his “degrading attitude” towards women. The man, who has not been named, is married to a Frenchwoman, but does not allow her to leave the family home freely, it was claimed. In what is seen as a legal precedent, his application for French nationality was turned down because “his idea of sexual equality is not that of the republic”, according to a high-ranking official quoted by French radio station Europe 1. The French constitution states that the government can refuse nationality or strip nationality for a “lack of integration”. The interior minister, Claude Guéant, has made it clear he expects candidates for nationality to not only integrate but “assimilate” into French society. A spokesman for the minister told the Guardian that concerns were raised when police interviewed the man as part of the application process. The refusal, she added, had been confirmed by the State Council – the legal body that advises the government on legislation – and was awaiting signature by the minister. “The man was eligible for French nationality as he had been married to a French citizen for more than four years. In such cases, however, it can be refused by a disrespect of or lack of assimilation into the French community or if the person practises polygamy. “In this case, during the interview at the police station his behaviour showed a lack of assimilation into the French community; it was incompatible with the values of the French republic, notably in respect to the values of the equality of men and women. This justifies the decision for not giving him French nationality. The case was examined by the State Council, which agreed and a decision to that effect was given.” The case emerged a week after far-right leader Marine Le Pen wrote to French MPs asking them to support an end to dual nationality, claiming it “undermines republican values”. Le Pen has made no secret that her demand is aimed at people from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. A delegation of 50 MPs from the ruling right-of-centre UMP party met President Nicolas Sarkozy recently to press for an end to dual nationality. Afterwards one of the MPs said Sarkozy was “very favourable” to the idea. Henry Guaino, one of the president’s closest advisers, told French radio: “It’s an idea that merits debate. Whatever the National Front’s position, it’s not wrong to discuss this issue.” Socialist MP Manuel Valls, who chairs a parliamentary committee on nationality rights, said scrapping dual nationality would be counter-productive and that French expatriates with dual nationality acted as “ambassadors” for their country around the world. Christophe Girard, the Socialist deputy mayor of Paris, wrote in Le Monde that the history of France and its mix of cultures was under threat. “This return to nationalism that locks and narrows pits citizens against each other in fear and hatred and is a proven risk,” he wrote. “The atmosphere fostered by the current government is even more revolting given that the current head of state himself is the son of an immigrant father and his third wife is French-Italian. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the backbone of France. We need to strengthen it. I would appeal to all those who are able to obtain a second citizenship to take the necessary steps now.” France Equality Europe Nicolas Sarkozy Algeria Africa Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …In an ancient Greek fable about the value of ingenuity, a thirsty crow raises the level of water in a pitcher by dropping in stones. Researchers who presented chimps with a similar problem to the one in the 2,000-year-old Aesop fable found that some of the animals were able…
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Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused of failing to remedy Kurdish-Turkish conflict Turkish Kurds have threatened a campaign of civil disobedience after Sunday’s national elections if the new government does not address their demands for more language rights and autonomy. Altan Tan, a key Kurdish politician, said relations between the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) and Turkey’s large Kurdish minority were at a nadir. He blames the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for failing to keep a promise to find a political solution to the bloody Kurdish-Turkish conflict during his eight years in office. “If Erdogan does not design a constitution which recognises our rights, we are going to start a civil disobedience campaign,” said Tan, a candidate in the south-eastern Kurdish stronghold of Diyarbakir. He said the Kurds could bring the country to its knees: “There are 17 or 18 million Kurds in Turkey who are overrepresented in a number of key industries, like construction, tourism and agriculture. We will stop working on the roads and will sit down on them and pray instead.” Others go further. In Istanbul and Diyarbakir, the Guardian met Kurds of all walks of life threatening an eruption of violence – even civil war – if the new constitution did not meet their demands. At a rally in Diyarbakir in 2005, Erdogan declared “the Kurdish problem is my problem”. In a historic speech, he admitted the government had mishandled its relations with the Kurds, saying their long-running grievances must be addressed through greater democracy, not repression. Playing on increased cultural autonomy, improved infrastructure and a sentiment of Muslim fraternity, the AKP has enjoyed solid, if far from universal, popularity in the poor south-east and has more than 60 Kurdish MPs in the outgoing parliament. Yet many Kurds complain the AKP has not delivered on its promises. “Erdogan thought he could just throw us a few candies and say that we are all brothers and that would be enough,” said Tan. “Yes, so we now have Kurdish language TV [in 2009, the AKP sanctioned the broadcast of the first Kurdish channel, TRT-6] but we could already watch Kurdish TV from abroad using our satellite dishes. Nothing important has changed.” Tan was an MP in an Islamic party alongside Erdogan 20 years ago but is now standing as an independent, backed by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy party (BDP). The BDP has decided not to officially field candidates because of a Turkish law which requires political parties to win 10% of the national vote in order to send even one MP to Ankara. Polls suggest BDP-endorsed candidates will win 25-30 seats, up from the 19 a defunct pro-Kurdish party won in 2007. Tensions have mounted prior to the polls amid a renewed military onslaught on the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) and deadly PKK attacks on police despite a truce declared by rebels last year. Emotions are highest in the south-east, where a PKK-led insurgency has claimed about 45,000 lives since 1984 in a war the Turkish government estimates has cost billions of pounds. Many observers believe Sunday’s election will be crucial in determining Turkey’s future. If the AKP, which emerged from banned Islamist parties, wins a two-thirds majority, it would allow Erdogan to unilaterally push through a new constitution. There is talk of the “Kremlinisation” of Turkish politics amid strong signs that Erdogan wants to copy Vladimir Putin by introducing a presidential system with himself as president. The opposition accuses the AKP of wanting to monopolise power and says that, while Turkey’s constitution needs reform, a new charter without input from other parties would be simply an AKP version of democracy and would concentrate too much control in Erdogan’s hands. Kurds want official recognition. The constitution declares that everyone who lives in Turkey is a Turk who speaks Turkish. The Kurds, who until recently were widely referred to not as a distinct ethnic group but as “mountain Turks”, want the right to use their own language in public and official settings and to be educated in their mother tongue. They also want more regional autonomy to be able to run their own affairs. Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan sent a letter from his cell in April warning “all hell will break loose” in Turkey unless the sporadic contacts with officials he had in prison were upgraded to full-fledged negotiations for a solution. Ocalan gave a deadline of 15 June, just three days after the elections, but Erdogan is not worried, according to his chief adviser, Ibrahim Kalin. “Ocalan has said such things before,” said Kalin. “The government is committed to tackling the Turkish problem, but we will not back down on our demand for the PKK to disarm. We are not talking about a ceasefire, but a full disarmament. We want them to come down from the mountains, down to the plains to fight for their demands with politics, but they only want to do that with their guns in their hands.” In Diyarbakir, civil disobedience already abounds. Every Friday since March, Muslim worshippers have boycotted prayers at state-controlled mosques to hear sermons in their native Kurdish, conducted in front of the city wall. Turkey Middle East Europe Kurds Protest Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk
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Judge tells paper it is ‘most implausible’ that former RBS chief’s alleged affair had any effect on bank’s financial difficulties Read Mr Justice Tugendhat’s judgment in full A high court judge has rejected a claim by the Sun that it was in the public interest to disclose details of an alleged affair between Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, and an unnamed woman who worked at the bank. Mr Justice Tugendhat said that it was “most implausible” that the relationship had any effects on the financial difficulties the bank encountered, which lead to it becoming majority-owned by taxpayers in 2009. He also criticised the newspaper for claiming when it first put the story to Goodwin in March that the woman in question had played a part in determining his severance package when he left the bank. “No evidence for this suggestion has ever been produced by NGN [Sun publisher News Group Newspapers] and there has been no explanation as to how it ever came to be advanced”, he said. “If true, it would have been a very serious matter.” “Sir Fred Goodwin and the lady have both denied that she had any involvement in determining his severance package and that denial is not challenged. Since that initial conversation on 1 March no one on behalf of NGN has mentioned that suggestion again.” Tugendhat pointed out that the Sun had also admitted it had been wrong to claim that the unnamed woman was promoted by Goodwin at the time of their affair and that it had now dropped that claim. He also criticised Liberal Democrat peer Lord Stoneham for naming Goodwin in the House of Lords when the original injunction barring his identity from being revealed as still in force. Tugendhat said Stoneham “was frustrating the purpose of the court order and thus impeding the administration of justice, but he was doing so under the protection of parliamentary privilege”. “If he had identified Sir Fred Goodwin in words spoken outside parliament he would have been interfering with the administration of justice, or committing a contempt of court, as it is called.” He made his comments in a judgment delivered earlier on Thursday on whether a high court injunction preventing the publication of details of the affair should be lifted. He said it should stay in place , but that it could be altered to allow the Sun to reveal the job description of the unnamed woman, referred to in court as VBN, and the length of her relationship with Goodwin. But in his judgment Tugendhat also criticised the Sun and News Group Newspapers, a subsidiary of News International, for arguing that revealing her identity is in the public interest when it said at an earlier hearing that it was not relevant to the story. “It is important to note that [News Group's lawyer] Mr Spearman … said that the identity of the lady was not of significance for the story, nor was it significant that she was an employee of RBS, nor in what field of employment she worked,” he said. “Mr Spearman submitted that the only relevance of the fact that the lady also worked for RBS was that that might have made the affair more distracting than it would have been with someone who Sir Fred Goodwin only came across at the weekend”, Tugendhat added. “At that hearing NGN was expressly disavowing reliance on matters which it is putting at the forefront of its case before me.” The high court judge also rejected a further public interest argument previously advanced by NGN and Daily Mail owner Associated Newspapers, which said the fact the woman was a senior RBS employee meant Goodwin could have broken the bank’s code of conduct. “On the evidence before me, NGN has failed to show that it has conducted such investigations as are reasonably open to it to support the allegations it makes that there has been any breach of the RBS code, or that Sir Fred Goodwin was distracted from his job as chief executive by the relationship with VBN,” he said. On NNGN’s claim that the relationship, which took place at the time of RBS’s disastrous takeover of ABN Amro, distracted Goodwin from his job during a critical period, Tugendhat said: “I regard the suggestion as most implausible, and there is no evidence before me to support it.” Tugendhat also said Goodwin had been right to allow his own name to come into the public domain, however, because it was likely that the injunction barring him from being named would have been successfully challenged by news organisations. “It is in the public interest that there should be public discussion of the circumstances in which it is proper for a chief executive (or other person holding public office or exercising official functions) should be able to carry on a sexual relationship with an employee in the same organisation,” he said. “It is in the public interest that newspapers should be able to report upon cases which raise a question as to what should or should not be a standard in public life.” •
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Tripoli rejects ICC allegation that soldiers had committed war crimes, while accusing enemies of cannibalism The embattled regime of Muammar Gaddafi has vehemently denied accusations by a UN panel and western governments that Libyan forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. Libyan diplomat Mustafa Shaban told the UN human rights council on Thursday that his government that was “the victim of a widespread aggression” and blamed the news media, opposition and foreign mercenaries for human rights violations and even acts of cannibalism. Shaban’s comments came after the chief prosecutor for the court in The Hague said on Wednesday that he was investigating whether Gaddafi provided Viagra to Libyan soldiers to promote rape . Last week a UN panel said its investigators had found evidence that government forces had committed murder, torture and sexual abuses. The three-member panel of UN investigators also said they found evidence that rebel forces had committed some acts that would constitute war crimes, in a civil war estimated to have killed between 10,000 and 15,000 people. Shaban questioned how the protest movement could be called peaceful when it was heavily armed. The opposition to Gaddafi’s government is also backed by an air campaign led by Nato that has so far lasted nearly three months. The Libyan diplomat told the Geneva-based council that opponents had “even admitted to acts of cannibalism” – without further elaboration – and that it would “reserve our rights to prosecute the media” for what he described as misinformation. The UN panel also investigated allegations that Nato air strikes in Libya had caused large numbers of civilian casualties. The alliance has conducted thousands of air strikes as part of its UN mandate to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians in Libya. Ibrahim Aldredi, a former Libyan diplomat who defected to the opposition, told reporters in Geneva that the Benghazi-based rebels accepted the findings of the UN panel and would help prosecute and punish any perpetrators of human rights abuses. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest United Nations guardian.co.uk
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CPS stands accused of misleading courts over the collapse of a trial against six environmental activists A senior judge is to conduct an independent inquiry into evidence that prosecutors suppressed secret surveillance tapes recorded by the undercover police officer Mark Kennedy, the Guardian can reveal. The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, has requested an independent investigation into claims, as disclosed on Tuesday, that the CPS misled courts over the collapse of a trial against six activists accused of conspiring to break into Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station . Starmer said in a statement: “In light of growing concerns about the non-disclosure of material relating to the activities of an undercover police officer in the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station cases, I have decided that I will set up an independent inquiry, conducted by a senior legal figure, to work in tandem with the Independent Police Complaints Commission inquiry into the matter which began in January 2011.” The IPCC has been looking at allegations that vital evidence was withheld from lawyers respresenting the activists. Starmer added : “The two inquiries will have full access to all the available evidence, whether held by the police or the CPS, and will share information. They will also share their provisional findings before final reports are drawn up.” When the trial was abandoned in January, the CPS told the court that “previously unavailable information” had come to light just two days earlier that undermined its case against the activists. However, the Guardian detailed how the supposedly new information – the Kennedy tapes – had been in the CPS’s possession for more than a year. Prosecutors appear to have taken part in a number of high-level meetings with police about Kennedy’s potentially explosive surveillance tapes, but withheld them from defence lawyers. In what could be a major miscarriage of justice, the withholding of the tapes may also have led to the wrongful conviction of 20 other activists who were convicted of planning to break into the same power station in December. Their case is now before the court of appeal. Starmer had already authorised two internal inquiries into accusations that prosecutors suppressed secret surveillance tapes, which was being dealt with as a “disciplinary” matter, but was under growing pressure to refer the matter to an independent body. Both his predecessor as DPP, Ken Macdonald, and Vera Baird, the former solicitor general, called on Wednesday for an independent figure to investigate the controversy. Starmer’s decision is understood to have followed a number of high-level discussions, which have included the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, and senior police officials. Senior CPS officials are also concerned that there may also have been serious failings by police. The six activists whose trial collapsed are known as the “deniers” because they told investigators they had never agreed to take part in the occupation of the Nottinghamshire power station in 2009. Kennedy, who developed growing sympathies for the activists after living among them for seven years, later revealed he secretly recorded conversations that heavily supported their case. “The truth of the matter is that the tapes clearly show that the six defendants who were due to go on trial had not joined any conspiracy,” Kennedy said. But his surveillance tapes were never disclosed to the defence lawyers – despite formal requests. On Wednesday, Macdonald and Baird both told BBC Newsnight that the controversy was extremely serious and warranted a full and independent inquiry. The former DPP said an inquiry conducted by an independent figure was “much more likely to get at the truth”. He also expressed concern over the case of the 20 activists who were convicted at the end of last year after conceding they planned to break into Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station. During the trial they argued their actions were defensible to avert climate change. The prosecution told the jury that the 20 campaigners, known as the “justifiers”, were in fact seeking publicity and did not genuinely believe their occupation of the Nottinghamshire plant would prevent large-scale carbon emissions. In April, Starmer said that the 20 convictions might be unsafe in light of the failure to disclose Kennedy’s evidence, and formally urged the activists to challenge the verdicts at the court of appeal. Macdonald said: “We are looking here at a position in which a number of people who might have otherwise have been acquitted, might have been convicted, through the absence of this material,” Macdonald said. “When it is that serious, I think you need an inquiry that is going to command public confidence.” He added: “If the prosecution don’t disclose their evidence fairly and appropriately, defendants don’t get fair trials. We saw in the 70s and 80s the effects of non-disclosure – terrible miscarriages of justice … That is the gravity of this situation and that is why I feel the inquiry needs to be independent.” Baird described the situation as “very, very, grave”. “You have maybe a bunch of people who should never have been prosecuted – at all – have been convicted … It is profoundly wrong that this occurred, and we need to find the culprits.” She added it was wrong for the CPS to “investigate themselves”. “It is the need for the public to be satisfied that this is being thoroughly investigated by somebody who has no axe to grind. The CPS blamed the police originally, the police are now blaming the CPS. We need somebody remote from both of them to get to the bottom of this.” In his statement this afternoon, Starmer also said the two inquiries working in tandem “will provide independent scrutiny of the actions of both the police and the CPS in relation to the disclosure issues arising from the Ratcliffe on Soar power station cases. It is an arrangement supported by the IPCC and the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire. Until the two inquiries report, it is important that no conclusions are drawn about any individuals involved in this matter.” The latest inquiry announced by Starmer will be the eighth formal investigation to be launched in response to the Guardian’s ongoing investigation into Kennedy and three other undercover police officers. In addition to Kennedy, it has emerged that police officers known as Lynn Watson, Mark Jacobs and Jim Boyling were given new identities to live for several years among activists. Kennedy, Jacobs and Boyling are all accused of having long-term sexual relations with activists; Boyling even married an activist he met while living undercover. Inquiries are under way by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Police forces have also opened internal disciplinary investigations. However, activists argue that only a full public inquiry can address the breadth of concerns about the operation run by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit. Mark Kennedy Police UK criminal justice Paul Lewis Rob Evans guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …With Anthony Weiner’s hopes of becoming mayor of New York City rapidly shriveling, Alec Baldwin spies an opportunity. The 30 Rock star is believed to be considering throwing his hat into the ring now that the front-runner is fading, reports the Wall Street Journal . With the primary still two years…
Continue reading …Delta, facing a firestorm of bad publicity after hitting soldiers returning from Afghanistan with excess baggage charges , is changing its policy on military baggage. Military personnel traveling on orders will now be able to check four bags free of charge, according to the airline’s blog . A YouTube video of a…
Continue reading …Look out, world. If you think Sarah Palin is a lot to handle, steel yourself for Piper Palin. The 10-year-old spitfire is turning out to be a staunch, prickly defender of her politician mom on the family’s One Nation bus tour. Her super-sass and trademark “stinkeye” have stood down some…
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