"The consequences of doing nothing in the face of evil were demonstrated when the world did not stop the Rwandan genocide that killed almost a million people in 1994. Where were the peace protesters then? They were just as silent as they are today in the face of the barbaric behavior of religious fanatics."
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta

That is why Iran's arriving at the threshold of nuclear weaponry is such a signal historical moment. It is not just that its President says crazy things about the Holocaust. It is that he is a fervent believer in the imminent reappearance of the 12th Imam, Shi'ism's version of the Messiah. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been reported as saying in official meetings that the end of history is only two or three years away. He reportedly told an associate that on the podium of the General Assembly last September, he felt a halo around him and for "those 27 or 28 minutes, the leaders of the world did not blink ... as if a hand was holding them there and it opened their eyes to receive" his message. He believes that the Islamic revolution's raison d'être is to prepare the way for the messianic redemption, which in his eschatology is preceded by worldwide upheaval and chaos. How better to light the fuse for eternal bliss than with a nuclear flame?

There are of course deeper but intangible problems that are even more difficult to solve than the inflexibility of the labour market. If you speak to small businessmen in France, they will tell you that the young in any case do not want to do the kind of work of which there is no shortage. At a time of such high unemployment, artisans have no one willing to be trained by them, even if they are willing to take the risk by taking them on. This is even though such artisans are so overwhelmed by work that a carpenter, for example, is booked up for more than a year in advance and can charge almost anything he likes.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has confirmed that Abdul Rahman will not be executed for converting from Islam to Christianity. That's good news not just for Rahman himself, but also for relations between the West and the Islamic world.

To be sure, Afghanistan is a new democracy. In many ways, it is still finding its footing, and its citizens are learning what it means to be free and how that freedom must impact their society. It?s worth remembering that it took our society two hundred years and a bloody civil war to learn the lessons of equality and tolerance.
Nevertheless, Afghanistan?s leaders need not reinvent the wheel. They can learn from our mistakes and benefit from the lessons learned by thriving free societies all around the world. And they simply cannot and must not allow this prosecution to go forward ? in any form. To do so would send a clear signal that freedom is not growing in Afghanistan; it?s dying on the vine.

But this is about more than Mr. Rahman. This will be a persistent, recurring problem under Afghanistan?s sharia apostasy and blasphemy laws. The administration also needs to do more to ensure the reform Afghanistan?s judiciary. President Karzai must be encouraged to wrest it from the control of Islamists like Supreme Court Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari, who once told our National Public Radio that it is his duty as a judge to ?behead? those who do not conform to Islamic law. Americans continue to give billions of dollars, and sacrifice their lives to support the Afghan government. It not only serves compelling humanitarian interests to use this leverage now, but it would be a betrayal of America?s deepest national values not to.

Tim, I am, I hate to say, 51 years old, but it?s in my lifetime that black Americans were guaranteed the right to vote. Who are we to be so, so insistent that people must do this overnight? We?re working with the Afghan government. They?re moving in a democratic fashion. It?s going to be hard. But when something arises, as with Mr. Rahman, it is the obligation of the international community and of the United States?and there has been support across Europe for this?that the Afghans be reminded that in their own Constitution they have enshrined the universal declaration on human rights which guarantees certain religious freedoms. We didn?t have that Constitution with the Taliban to work with.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told CNN Sunday: "We've been very clear with the Afghan government that it has to understand the vital importance of religious freedom to democracy."

Those who argue that, given the violence and fanaticism we are encountering, we should get out of such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq, and leave them to their squalid fate, take an extremely irresponsible position. They must first explain what their alternative would be, to eliminate these countries as hatcheries of terror. They must consider the consequences of leaving elected, pro-Western governments, to be overthrown by ruthless psychopaths. They must justify abandoning the huge numbers of innocents who will be butchered and massacred when our troops withdraw -- including everyone who trusted us. And contemplate the effect this spectacle will have on our remaining allies.
(...)
We cannot pretend for long, the way President Bush has been doing (albeit from humane and sound tactical motives to begin with), that the Shariah is compatible with freedom and democracy. The systems of government we advocate, or by necessity impose, must explicitly provide civil protection to non-Muslims and Muslims alike, against Shariah courts and their rulings. I have come to realize there is no alternative to this.

?Partimos de um ambiente de muita dúvida e crítica relativamente aos jovens, mas já temos três condenações (em processos autónomos) e agora temos o Tribunal Arbitral a atribuir indemnizações em nome de uma credibilidade. Lentamente a verdade começa a formar-se?, afirmou Barreiros, sublinhando, porém, que ?as vítimas não se movem por dinheiro?. CM.

NBC: Fateful Tuesday-night meetings
State Department officials told NBC News Wednesday that two meetings took place in Washington on Tuesday night between U.S. and Nigerian officials, at which the United States told the Nigerians that the meeting between Obasanjo and Bush would be "dramatically different" if Obasanjo did not explain what had happened to Taylor prior to the presidential meeting. NBC

Uma viagem rápida pela imprensa internacional permite recolher análises unânimes em torno do Benfica-Barcelona, encontro da primeira mão dos quartos-de-final da Liga dos Campeões, que terminou com um nulo. Os orgãos de comunicação social que cobriram a partida destacaram a superioridade do Barcelona, o desperdício catalão no capítulo da finalização, a grande penalidade não assinalada a favor do Benfica e a exibição do «português» Moretto, guarda-redes brasileiro da formação encarnada.
A imprensa da Catalunha, com reputada disponilidade para «puxar a brasa à sua sardinha», considera que o Barcelona não deve ter dificuldades em apurar-se para as meias-finais da competição, depois de «ter perdoado a vida ao Benfica. «O conjunto azul-grana perdoou um rival que segue vivo por milagre», escreve o Sport, alinhando pelo diapasão do El Mundo Deportivo: «O Barça perdoou a vida ao Benfica. Podia ter sentenciado a eliminatória na Luz. O quadro luso não deve complicar as coisas em Nou Camp.» MF.

Civil wars are not eternal. This war will end not with an Appomattox instrument of surrender. It will end when a critical mass of Sunnis stops supporting the insurgency and throws in its lot with the new Iraq.
How does this happen? The stick is military -- the increased cost in the Sunni blood of continuing the fight. But the carrot is political -- a place at the table for those Sunnis, some of whom are represented in parliament, who are prepared to abandon the insurgency for a share of power, a share of oil income and a sense of security and dignity in the new Iraq.

It is now almost impossible to fire an employee in France, a circumstance that disproportionately penalizes groups seen by employers as risky: minorities, inexperienced workers and those without elite educations, like the outraged man sitting beside me.
This is the second time in four months that France has been seized with violent protests. And in an important sense, these are counter-riots, since the goals of the privileged students conflict with those of the suburban rioters who took to the streets last November. The message of the suburban rioters: Things must change. The message of the students: Things must stay the same. In other words: Screw the immigrants.

Uma visão mais pessimista tem o presidente do Colégio de Especialidade de
Obstetrícia e Ginecologia da Ordem dos Médicos, Luís Mendes Graça: «É mais um
retrato de um país de pessoas mal educadas para a saúde. Muitas raparigas
persistem numa incultura completa sobre a pílula, com diversos anátemas, logo
não a utilizam. Por outro lado, surge esta receita milagrosa e acham que não têm
que se preocupar».

(...)foi quando o juiz leiriense correu até ao meio-campo, para confirmar os seus apontamentos com um dos assistentes e o quarto árbitro, que Vítor Baía dirigiu palavras rudes ao colega de profissão. E, após dizer o que lhe ia na alma, o guardião do FC Porto lançou a bola, levando-a a embater na cara do guarda-redes da Selecção Nacional.
Pode não ter havido intenção de Baía atingir o adversário, mas a verdade é que a situação seria evitada, se o 99 portista tivesse colocado o esférico na marca.
As ?tropelias? do guarda-redes do FC Porto não afectaram a concentração de Ricardo, que partiu sereno para a bola e marcou golo. Record.

Sete confissões religiosas vão juntar- se quinta-feira na Capela do Hospital de S. João, Porto, numa celebração ecuménica para reclamar igualdade de direitos na assistência religiosa a doentes hospitalizados, disse hoje à agência Lusa o organizador. José Nuno afirmou que a Lei da Liberdade Religiosa não está regulamentada no que respeita à assistência religiosa em estabelecimentos hospitalares por parte de outras confissões além da Igreja Católica, o que cria dificuldades no acesso aos hospitais de membros de outras igrejas.
José Nuno relatou o caso de um bispo impedido de entrar num hospital por um funcionário que lhe exibiu um regulamento que limitava o acesso à unidade a padres da Igreja Católica.
«Como coordenador nacional das capelanias, sinto-me responsabilizado. A lei deve ser regulamentada numa questão fundamental como é o acesso aos doentes», frisou, referindo que a celebração de quinta-feira visa chamar a atenção para uma preocupação que une todas as religiões. PD.

Estou a desenvolver uma relação de amor-ódio com o Mozilla Firefox. Mais ódio que amor, admito. Help...

For Khaled, the controversy underlined what he has seen as a need for a new approach by Muslims, one of reform and dialogue with the rest of the world.
"For the past three years, with youth across the Islamic world, we've been working for a faith-based renaissance in this region, which will not take place by clashes but by coexistence," he said in an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo.
He said he had expected the criticism over his new campaign. "An initiative by definition is something new, and I represent a school that has opposing schools of thought," he said.
Khaled is not the only Muslim religious leader promoting dialogue. But he has become one of the most outspoken. And he brings the huge fan base of a pop star: young people, women and the middle and upper-middle class.

Consider that if we retreat now, there is every reason to believe Saddamists and terrorists will fill the vacuum -- and the free world might not have the will to face them again. Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis. It would be as great a disgrace as if we had asked the liberated nations of Eastern Europe to return to Soviet domination because it was too hard or too tough or we didn't have the patience to work with them as they built free countries. Donald Rumsfeld

As for gay marriage, I've come to a studied ambivalence. I think it a mistake for society to make this ultimate declaration of indifference between gay and straight life, if only for reasons of pedagogy. On the other hand, I have enough gay friends and feel the pain of their inability to have the same level of social approbation and confirmation of their relationship with a loved one that I'm not about to go to anyone's barricade to deny them that. It is critical, however, that any such fundamental change in the very definition of marriage be enacted democratically and not (as in the disastrous case of abortion) by judicial fiat. Call me agnostic. But don't tell me that we can make one radical change in the one-man, one-woman rule and not be open to the claim of others that their reformation be given equal respect.

• Governo acaba com 120 serviços públicos

• Amena cavaqueira em Belém (ou a coexistência social democrata)

It's not that European women are stuck in the house. (After all, 57 percent of women in the EU 15 work, less than the U.S. rate of 65 percent, but not dramatically so.) The real problem is that Europe has been consistently unable to tap the highest potential of its female workers, who represent half of college graduates in most countries. Women, it seems, can have a job?but not a high-powered career. Simply put, Europe is killing its women with kindness?enshrined, ironically, in cushy welfare policies that were created to help them. By offering women extremely long work leaves after children, then pushing them to take the full complement via tax policies that discourage a second income, coupled with subsidies that serve to keep them at home, Europe is essentially squandering its female talent. Not only do women get off track for long periods, many simply never get back on. Nor have European corporations adapted to changing times. Few offer the flextime that makes it easier for women to both work and manage their families. Instead, women tend to get shuffled into part-time work, which is less respected and poorly paid. Those who want to fight discrimination find themselves hamstrung by laws favoring employers.

• Constâncio fora do Conselho de Estado
• Sócrates «invadiu» a direita

• Violência doméstica: 2000 processos em dois anos ;
• Hospitais sem apoio para crianças ;
• Mulheres presas por asfixia de recém-nascido

• Jogadores do FC Porto são os que mais rendem

"The other guest on the program, identified as an Egyptian professor of religious studies, Dr. Ibrahim al-Khouli, asked, 'Are you a heretic?' He then said there was no point in rebuking or debating her, because she had blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and the Koran."Dr. Sultan said she took those words as a formal fatwa, a religious condemnation. Since then, she said, she has received numerous death threats on her answering machine and by e-mail."One message said: 'Oh, you are still alive? Wait and see.' She received an e-mail message the other day, in Arabic, that said, 'If someone were to kill you, it would be me.' "Dr. Sultan said her mother, who still lives in Syria, is afraid to contact her directly, speaking only through a sister who lives in Qatar. She said she worried more about the safety of family members here and in Syria than she did for her own.'I have no fear,' she said. 'I believe in my message. It is like a million-mile journey, and I believe I have walked the first and hardest 10 miles.'"

Hu's virtue list

*Love, do not harm the motherland.
*Serve, don't disserve the people.
*Uphold science; don't be ignorant & unenlightened.
*Work hard; don't be lazy and hate work.
*Be united and help each other; don't gain benefits at the expense of others.
*Be honest and trustworthy, not profit-mongering at the expense of your values.
*Be disciplined and law-abiding instead of chaotic and lawless.
*Know plain living and hard struggle, do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures.

• Vanessa: duas versões da história ;
• Vanessa: tia confirma maus tratos

• Governo procura alternativas para financiar a Saúde;
• Seixal: mulheres ciganas querem combater insucesso escolar (via Pantera);
• "Os políticos não devem interferir"

Last October a university in the conservative Turkish city of Diyarbakir released a survey on honor killings. It showed that 37 percent of the men and women in its sample believe that if a woman cheats on her husband, she should be killed. Another 21 percent would spare her life and just cut off her nose or ears.

Our agreement with India is unique because India is unique. India is a democracy, where citizens of many ethnicities and faiths cooperate in peace and freedom. India's civilian government functions transparently and accountably. It is fighting terrorism and extremism, and it has a 30-year record of responsible behavior on nonproliferation matter Aspiring proliferators such as North Korea or Iran may seek to draw connections between themselves and India, but their rhetoric rings hollow. Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism that has violated its own commitments and is defying the international community's efforts to contain its nuclear ambitions. North Korea, the least transparent country in the world, threatens its neighbors and proliferates weapons. There is simply no comparison between the Iranian or North Korean regimes and India.

It's all about adults and their rights, not about children and their needs.
Birth mothers are entitled to unlimited sexual activity, with only the outcomes they want. If they want to hang on to their parental rights as long as possible, they can. As long as they meet the (very) minimal requirements of child care and protection, they can keep their kids and keep making more of them.In other words, the child welfare law has institutionalized the least defensible features of the sexual revolution. Sex is an entitlement. The consequences of sex are all negotiable. Kids are an afterthought.Townhall.

A maioria dos jovens que praticam crimes provem de bairros degradados, sujeitos a fenómenos de imigração, marginalização, de famílias disfuncionais, em que falha a supervisão, com percursos escolares problemáticos e de baixas habilitações profissionais, segundo o perfil traçado até agora e divulgado pelo Diário de Notícias. PD.

A mesma opinião parece não ser a de Mário Soares. O ex-chefe de Estado, derrotado nestas eleições, não só não participou na sessão de cumprimentos ao novo Presidente, como fez um sinal negativo sobre se comentaria as palavras de Cavaco.

• Com o ranking de Portugal nesta tabela da Liberdade de Imprensa. Ficamos à frente de países como os EUA, a França, o Reino Unido e a Espanha.

• Com a resiliência destas mulheres

• Com esta medida:

O Governo pretende também punir a mutilação genital feminina, prática «tradicional nociva» que afecta «muito significativamente o bem-estar e a saúde», adiantou.
Jorge Lacão considerou que Portugal deve defender uma sociedade multicultural, o que não deve confundir-se com «uma menor vigilância na defesa dos direitos humanos».

O último desafio enunciado refere-se à credibilização do sistema político. «Os agentes políticos têm de ser um exemplo de cultura da honestidade, de transparência, de responsabilidade, de rigor na utilização dos recursos do Estado, de ética do serviço público, de respeito pela dignidade das pessoas, de cumprimento das promessas feitas», enumerou Cavaco Silva. TVI

Ana Drago

(sobre os crucifixos): «Se numa escola do interior estivesse pendurado um enchido, um chouriço ou qualquer outra coisa ligada à nossa cultura popular ninguém levantava a questão»

(sobre o arrastão): «de um grande grupo de 400 ou 500 pessoas, só 30 ou 40 praticaram ilícitos; muitos jovens que apareceram nas imagens televisivas e fotográficas a correr na praia naquele dia não eram assaltantes, mas tão-só jovens que fugiam com os seus próprios haveres; não houve arrastão, houve talvez furtos, mas o que aconteceu foi uma fuga de jovens de uma carga policial indiscriminada»

De acordo com a mesma fonte, no artigo agora criado entende-se que «quem de modo intenso causar maus tratos físicos ou psíquicos, incluindo privação da liberdade, a cônjuge, ex-cônjuge ou com quem vive em união de facto, bem como aos filhos, é punido com pena de prisão de um a cinco anos».

A fonte admitiu também que, no novo CP, o crime de violência doméstica deixe de depender de queixa da vítima.

Entre 1989 e 1997, a jornalista Xinran entrevistou mulheres de diferentes idades e condições sociais, a fim de compreender a condição feminina na China moderna. Seu programa de rádio, Palavras na brisa noturna, discutia questões sobre as quais poucos ousavam falar, como vida íntima, violência familiar, opressão e homossexualismo.

Women from across the Middle East have gathered in Dubai to mark International Women's Day and recognise women's achievements in the region. (...)
"Changes in Saudi law mean that now a woman can run her own business independently of any wakeel."

This then is what the landscape looks like now. South Dakota may be leading the way, but legislators in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, West Virginia, and Oklahoma have introduced similar bills. In the next months we'll see how fast an appeal heads to the Supremes and whether they'll hear it. Money is pouring in to support legal challenges on both sides. But in the meantime the conversation has changed... and there's no telling to whose advantage.