Muslim parents to be prosecuted over gay education classes

Last week the English newspaper The Times revealed that parents who took their children out of school to prevent them being taught about lesbian, gay and transgender relationships were facing prosecution. Around 30 pupils from an east London primary school were absent from a week of special lessons to highlight homosexual relationships. The protesting parents said the content was more appropriate for secondary school pupils. Some of the parents said they informed the Leytonstone School they were removing their children for the week. Pervez Latif, whose children Saleh, ten, and Abdur-Rahim, nine, attend the school, said both Christian and Muslim parents objected to the theme linked to Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month. Mr Latif is quoted as saying: "I didn't want my children to be learning about this." The school has said that action had been taken against the protesting parents but refused divulge details.

UN racism draft permits criticism of Islam and protects Israel

Muslim-backed references to Israel and the "defamation of religion" has been dropped from a draft declaration being prepared for next month's world racism meeting, United Nations officials said this week. The United States and the 27-nation European Union have threatened to boycott the April 20-25 meeting in Geneva, unless Muslim countries back down from demands to limit free speech that criticizes Islam or other faiths. They also objected to passages that singled out Israel for its treatment of Palestinians. The draft declaration now speaks only of concern about the "negative stereotyping of religions" while omitting direct references to Israel. "We believe this shortened text represents a solid and meaningful basis for negotiations by member states toward a positive outcome for the conference," said Doune Porter, a spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office in Geneva.

G20: Germany and France repudiate Britain's plan to revive the world economy

Britain's hope of uniting the world's most powerful economies behind a massive new package of tax cuts and public spending increases suffered a serious blow this week, when France and Germany Gordon Brown's plan to revive the world economy. After talks at Chequers to prepare the way for next month's G20 summit in London, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, ruled out ordering another "fiscal stimulus" in the short term, and made it clear that if more action were to prove necessary in Germany it would be for Berlin to decide, not the G20. Her comments were echoed by the French finance minister, Christine Lagarde, who was attending a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Horsham, West Sussex. As ministers tried to agree a way forward, Lagarde said she was optimistic the meeting could make progress, but added that nations needed to "evaluate the remedies already put in place by each of us" before ordering huge extra spending on top of that already sanctioned. The remarks effectively killed off proposals being pushed by Brown - who will chair the G20 summit on 3 April - and to some extent US president Barack Obama, whose administration believes that more co-ordinated fiscal action by the world's biggest economies is essential to revive global demand.

Russia to rearm itself and counter NATO expansion

On March 17 President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia planned to boost its conventionally armed and nuclear forces to counter a growing threat from Nato, raising the spectre of a military confrontation between Moscow and the west. In a hawkish speech to Russia's top generals, Medvedev said Russia intended to upgrade its army and navy from 2011. Russia would also overhaul its strategic nuclear forces in an effort to guarantee the country's "security", he said. The modernisation was necessary because of the danger posed by the west's transatlantic military alliance, he said. "Attempts to expand the military infrastructure of Nato near the borders of our country are continuing." The Obama administration has said it wants to "reset" its troubled relations with Moscow - but has so far received mixed signals from the Kremlin.

Dutch MPs warn that Nigeria is on the cusp of an Islamic revolution which will spread across Africa

Oil-rich Nigeria, population 140-million, now is very close to an all-out ‘Islamic takeover', warn two Dutch MPs. This would have a massive impact on the future of all of Africa and of the West, warn Dutch parliamentarians Geert Wilders and Martin Bosma of the Party for Freedom, writing in an editorial in the Dutch religious daily, the Reformatorisch Dagblad. They describe this transformation of Nigeria as the launch pad for Jihad in Africa. They state: "Jihad, the holy war, is the duty which has to be carried out by every Muslim - and those Muslims who reject Jihad are no longer viewed as Muslims, but as heretics, and thus become marked for a Fatwa, a death sentence." The MPs further state:"When Nigeria falls to Islamic jihadists, this will have a powerful symbolic impact but also means that yet another oil-producing country will end up in the hands of Islam. In turn, those oil-dollars will be used to finance the worldwide Jihad. (And) an Islamic Nigeria also will become the starting point for the further islamisation of all of Africa. Once Nigeria has fallen to Islam, it will become even more difficult to remain positive about Africa's future."

US considers expanding the war into Pakistan

President Barack Obama and his national security advisers are considering expanding the covert US war in Pakistan far beyond the tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. It stated that two high-level reports about Pakistan and Afghanistan advocate the broadening of the target area to include Taleban sanctuaries in and around the city of Quetta. Missile strikes by Central Intelligence Agency-operated drones have until now been limited to the tribal areas, and never been extended into Baluchistan, a sprawling province under the authority of Pakistan's central government, and which is next to parts of Afghanistan where recent fighting has been fiercest, the newspaper website said.

Gandhi's grandson: Cut the head of Muslims

Varun Gandhi the grandson of the former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, defended himself a day after India's Election Commission ordered for him to face ‘criminal charges' for reportedly telling a rally that his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would ‘cut the head of Muslims.' Footage aired by the NDTV news channel this week showed Varun saying Muslims ‘have scary names' and that ‘if you meet them at night you will be scared.'