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A selection of stories from today's press and other media that relate to Ekklesia's work, produced daily by James Vincent and covering papers such as The Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent, Guardian, and the tabloids.

Religion & Society

Methodist church 'prepared to go out of existence'
Leaders of the Methodist Church yesterday offered to surrender more than 200 years of independence from the Church of England.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250257/Methodist-church-prepare...

Church of England General Synod extends pension rights for gay partners
The Church of England may not allow its clergy to have their civil ­partnerships blessed in church but it voted tonight to allow the survivors of same-sex ­partnerships the same pension rights as other spouses.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/11/anglican-synod-gay-pension-r...

Pope to start UK visit in Scotland to visit the Queen
The Pope will fly from Rome and touch down in Scotland on his visit to Britain later this year.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/02/11/pope-to-start-uk-vis...

BA cross-wearing case ruling due
Christian Nadia Eweida is due to learn the result of an appeal against a ruling which cleared British Airways of discrimination by stopping her wearing a cross visibly at work.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/157728/BA-cross-wearing-case-ruling-due

Anglican church calls for tighter regulation of violent computer games
Tighter official regulation of violent computer games was called for by members of the Church of England general synod last night.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/12/church-violent-games-pornogr...

Comment: The ignored gospel message
Lord what fools these mortals be. It is difficult for an outsider to look upon the febrile maunderings of the General Synod of the Church of England without a sense of bewilderment and mild irritation.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-th...

Comment: Analysing generation jihad
A new BBC series is attempting to get to the bottom of Muslim radicalisation. Does it tell us anything we don't already know?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/feb/11/generation-ji...

Crime & Justice

Whingeing Miliband: In an extraordinary letter, he lashes out at judge who said Britain colluded in torture
Foreign Secretary David Miliband last night condemned critics including a senior judge who have accused British security services of colluding in torture.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250355/Whingeing-Miliband-In-ex...

Comment: How should we grill terrorists - with a cuddle and a cup of tea?
Maybe I'm in a minority of one here, but I still don't understand the fuss over Binyam Mohamed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1250332/How-grill-terrorists--...

Comment: conspiracy theories aid Britain's enemies
MI5 was not involved in any torture 'cover-up’, says its director general, Jonathan Evans.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/7217438/Jonat...

The torture memos show how illegal wars turn even the nicest people bad
The deceit, the slaughter, the atrocity, the abuse of human rights. Today, Hannah Arendt's banality of evil is everywhere.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/11/miliband-mi5-terrori...

Peace & War

Afghanistan quietly brings into force Taliban amnesty law
Taliban fighters who have maimed and murdered but who lay down their weapons will be given immunity from prosecution according to a law that came into force without announcement in the weeks running up to last month's London conference on Afghanistan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/11/taliban-amnesty-law-enacted

Iran: 'we're a nuclear state'
Hundreds of thousands of cheering supporters took to the streets of Tehran yesterday as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chillingly announced: “Iran is now a nuclear state.”
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/157641/Iran-We-re-a-nuclear-state-

Yemen agrees ceasefire with northern rebels
Yemen has agreed a ceasefire with northern Shi'ite rebels to end a six-year conflict which drew in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/7216424/Yemen...

Comment: Obama's secret prisons in Afghanistan endanger us all
He was elected in part to drag us out of this trap. Instead, he's dragging us further in.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-har...

Ecology & Environment

China's fears of rich nation 'climate conspiracy' at Copenhagen revealed
Rich nations furthered their "conspiracy to divide the developing world" at December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen, while Canada "connived" and the EU acted "to please the United States", according to an internal document from a Chinese government thinktank obtained by the Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/11/chinese-thinktank-cope...

Becoming vegetarian 'can harm the environment'
Adopting a vegetarian diet based around meat substitutes such as tofu can cause more damage to the environment, according to a new study.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/7219223/Becoming-ve...

Economy & Politics

The £8m bill for MPs' expenses: Watchdog costs seven times more than it claws back
Taxpayers have been landed with an £8million bill for cleaning up the MPs' expenses system.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250266/MPs-expenses-watchdog-co...

Comment: Feared by the bad, loved by the good?
Does the Tobin 'Robin Hood' tax, which would tax all bank trading transactions by 0.05%, really offer a way to deal with our most pressing problems?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/poll/2010/feb/11/tobin-tax-economy

Race & Identity

Asylum seekers get millions in compensation
Asylum seekers wrongfully locked up in detention centres have been paid millions of pounds in compensation, it was revealed yesterday.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/157647/Asylum-seekers-get-millions-i...

Student says 'slaughter the Jews' remark was misunderstood
A student who spoke out in Arabic during protests against a speech by an Israeli minister at the Oxford Union has denied he called out the words: "Slaughter the Jews".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/student-says-slaught...

Community & Family

Marriage: Labour has made it 'a thing of the past'
The number of people getting married has plummeted to its lowest level for more than 100 years, official figures showed ­yesterday.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/157633/Marriage-Labour-has-made-it-a...

Globalisation & Development

Comment: Forgiveness for Haiti? We should be begging theirs
The very idea of Haiti as debtor needs to be abandoned. We in the west should pay arrears for years of violations.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/11/we-should-beg-haitis...

People & Power

Somali TV broadcasts plea from East London: let the Chandlers go
Small TV station in northeast London campaigns for the release of Paul and Rachel Chandler, saying 'it brings shame on us all’.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7024173.ece

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