London, a playground for 10,000 urban foxes

Google – AFP,  Jacques Klopp (AFP), 27 august 2013

A fox runs in the Field of Remembrance in London's Westminster 

Abbey on November 11, 2004 (POOL/AFP/File, Arthur Edwards)

LONDON, England — To some they are a nuisance, even a danger. To others, London's 10,000 foxes are a delightful reminder that this concrete wilderness is teeming with wildlife.

The ruddy brown creatures seem out of place on the streets of the British capital -- but they are now so common that 70 percent of Londoners will have seen one slinking around in the last week, according to a recent survey.

For some city-dwellers, the red fox is the ultimate nightmare neighbour.

Many a Londoner will have had a night's sleep ruined by a fox's eerie screeching, only to wake and find their rubbish bins have been upturned. To add insult to injury, the scavenging fox will have left a stench of musk behind.

With their flashing eyes and razor-sharp teeth, the foxes have even been characterised as a menace.

A fox looks through a gate at the Royal

 Courts of Justice in central London on

 September 23, 2003 (AFP/File, Odd 

Andersen)

There have been a spate of reports of babies attacked in their cots by foxes in recent years, though animal rights campaigners say the dangers are wildly exaggerated.

In June, London's mayor Boris Johnson reignited a long-running debate over whether the animals should be culled -- by jokingly suggesting that the traditional sport of fox hunting, outlawed in Britain since 2005, should be legalised in the capital.

"This will cause massive unpopularity and I don't care," said the colourful mayor, who said he was driven to speak out after his cat was apparently attacked by one of London's foxes.

"If people want to get together to form the fox hounds of Islington (a leafy north London borough), I'm all for it."

There are some 33,000 urban foxes in Britain and a third reside in the capital, according to research by Bristol University. A further 250,000 live in rural areas.

"They are adaptable animals which can eat many kinds of food and are by nature opportunists," said Calie Rydings of the animal charity RSPCA.

"So it is not surprising that they can be found in some towns and cities."

With its large parks as well as thousands of houses with private gardens, London is a paradise for foxes.

They have been a part of the city landscape since the 1930s, when the urban sprawl began to encroach on their rural territory.

Despite the complaints, the foxes have mostly cohabited happily with their human neighbours.

Some 86 percent of people like the animals, according to a poll for Channel 4 TV. Another survey by Bristol University found that 10 percent of Londoners regularly feed them.

Britain has some of the highest-density fox populations in the world, according to Stephen Harris, professor of environmental sciences at Bristol.

"Despite this, they cause remarkably few problems and the vast majority of householders like to see the foxes in their garden," he told AFP.

Yet every few years, a case hits the headlines that sparks an outcry against the foxes and a slew of calls for the animals to be culled or moved to the countryside.

In 2010, an east London mother spoke of her "living nightmare" after her nine-month-old twin girls were mauled by a fox as they slept in their cots.

In February, a one-month-old baby boy had his finger ripped off.

But animal charities say such attacks are extremely rare -- and in some case, foxes are not even the culprits.

Trevor Williams, director of the Fox Project charity, said he knew of three reported 'attacks' by foxes on babies in eleven years -- but claims one was actually carried out by the family's own dog.

A fox runs through the Field of 

Remembrance in London's Westminster 

Abbey on November 11, 2004 (POOL/

AFP/File, Kirsty Wigglesworth)

"According to neighbours, the second also involved a dog. The third story was so full of contradictions, few people believe it," he told AFP.

Even if the stories are true, Williams claimed, the rate of attacks is nothing compared to the 250,000 people bitten by pet dogs each year in Britain.

The biggest threat, according to the RSPCA, is to the foxes themselves.

The average life expectancy of an urban fox is only two years, compared to four years in captivity.

Cars are responsible for 60 percent of their deaths. The rest die from illness or are killed by around 100 marksmen authorised to shoot foxes in London.

Three years ago, there was an uproar after a video emerged showing four masked men bludgeoning a fox to death with a cricket bat in a London park.

But it turned out to be a hoax. The perpetrators, film directors Chris Atkins and Johnny Howorth, had faked the killing in a bid to highlight the "ludicrous media coverage" of fox attacks.

Fox in the city (AFP/Graphics)

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Russia, West on collision course over Syria

Google – AFP, 26 August 2013

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and US Secretary of State

John Kerry in Washington, August 9, 2013 (AFP/File, Paul J. Richards)

MOSCOW — Russia's two-and-a-half year dispute with the West over the conflict in Syria hit a new peak Monday as Moscow warned against military action without UN approval and cast doubt over the regime's involvement in a claimed chemical weapons attack.

The alleged use of chemical weapons in an attack outside Damascus has driven a new wedge between Russia and the West, with Moscow and Western capitals offering vastly different interpretations of the incident.

Whereas Britain, France, Turkey and the United States have said the attack appears to have been perpetrated by the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Russia believes it was a ploy by rebels with the aim of discrediting the Kremlin's traditional ally.

A telephone call Monday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron underlined how far apart Moscow and the West were.

Putin said that "they did not have evidence of whether a chemical weapons attack had taken place or who was responsible," according to a Downing Street spokesman in London.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov 

gives a press conference on Syria in

 Moscow on August 26, 2013 (AFP,

Kirill Kudryavtsev)

Cameron insisted that there was "little doubt" Assad's regime had carried out a chemical attack, according to a readout of the conversation.

With clamour growing in Western states for military action against Assad, Russia warned such intervention would destabilise the entire Middle East and be based on false reasoning.

Any action such as air strikes would likely have no mandate from the UN Security Council, where Russia and its ally China would be almost certain to block resolutions approving force.

Britain -- as well as staunchly anti-Assad Turkey -- raised the prospect of a confrontation with Russia similar to that over the 2003 US-led Iraq invasion or the 1999 Kosovo NATO air campaign by launching military action without UN approval.

"If force is used without a UN resolution it will lead to very serious consequences in relations between Russia and the United States and its NATO partners," said Alexander Filonik, a Middle East expert at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

At a hastily called news conference Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said any use of force against Syria without UN approval would be a "very grave violation of international law."

He said ideas floated in the West about knocking out the regime's military infrastructure and helping hand victory to rebels were not just an "illusion" but a "grave mistake that will not lead to any peace, but only mark a new, even bloodier stage of the war in Syria."

Taking military action against Assad would be a clear sign from the West that it does not want to take account of Moscow's opinion, Maria Lipman of the Carnegie Centre in Moscow told AFP.

"Moscow could not let that go by without a response," she said, adding that Russia could hit back by strengthening military cooperation with the Assad regime.

The surge in tensions coincided with the appearance Monday in the Izvestia newspaper -- one of the most slavishly pro-Kremlin media outlets in Russia -- of a lengthy interview with Assad.

Assad used the interview to thank Russia for its support, ridicule as "nonsense" the idea that his regime used chemical weapons and warn the United States of failure if it attacked Syria.

"London and Washington... just need a guilty verdict (on Assad). Any other verdict will be rejected," the head of the lower house of Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, Alexei Pushkov, wrote on Twitter.

Russian officials are now comparing the possible use of force against Syria to the US-led invasion of Iraq, which was vehemently opposed by Putin as based on flawed intelligence that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction.

The US administration's claims of weapons justifying the invasion at the time later proved false.

"There are many similarities in the tactics of the Western states in Iraq," Filonik told AFP. "History is repeating itself."

Russia has been chastened by its experience in the 2011 air campaign that ousted Libyan leader and longstanding Moscow ally Moamer Kadhafi, which Moscow allowed to go ahead by abstaining at the Security Council.

With Putin now back as president after a four-year stint as prime minister, Russian foreign policy has become newly assertive, notably avoiding further diplomatic irrelevance by abstaining at the United Nations.

Russia also has military and political interests in Syria dating back to the Soviet Union's alliance with Assad's father and predecessor Hafez al-Assad that it is not willing to surrender in a hurry.

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Archangel Michael on Putin -  May 14, 2013 (An Hour with an Angel)

SB: Okay. Thank you, Lord. I’m going to put the Vladimir Putin question ahead of the Boston bombing question. I think a lot of Russian readers and listeners are wondering if they can trust Vladimir Putin.

Now, you’ve said he was in containment and he’s coming out of containment. Can you direct yourself to Russian listeners, please, and tell them what they need to know about Vladimir Putin, please?

AAM: Well, I will say that he has been gradually coming out of containment, and reintegrated, shall we say, into society and into his role and decisions. So what I say to you is be vigilant and be the observer. Do not get caught in what appears to be the drama of this readjustment of power. So, allow the shifting of the core and the centers of power to be adjusted.

Russia has a very important role to play in the future years, as I have said before. So, stand back, my friends. Be the observer. I am not asking you to extend your wholehearted trust and empathy to this individual. What I am asking you to do is to extend trust to your own discernment, because it is not 100 per cent clean, but it is not dirty either.

Claims of illegal eviction in Uganda haunt German firm

Deutsche Welle, 26 August 2013

In 2001, more than 4,000 people were evicted from land in Uganda after it had been acquired by a German coffee firm on a 99 year lease. The company insists the deal was above board, but an NGO is now raising doubts.

Many of the residents from Kyengeza village in Mubende district have always insisted that they were forcefully driven off from their land, which lies approximately 170 kilometers (106 miles) from Uganda's capital Kampala.

Margaret Nakiyingi, 29, is one of the evictees. She now lives in a small wooden house located close to Kaweri coffee plantation. Kaweri is a subsidiary of Neumann Gruppe based in Germany.

After the eviction came despair

Margaret's estranged husband works at the Kaweri coffee farm where he earns $1.5 (1.12 euros) a day. Margaret, who has four children, does not have a regular income but still has to find $15 a month for rent for the tiny house, an enormous amount of money by her standards.

“We don't have a life to enjoy. We move like human beings but deep down in our hearts we are not living a good life", she told DW correspondent Leylah Ndinda.

This is because she has serious financial problems. “We are now suffering because we are in rented houses and have no land to cultivate. Some of our colleagues acquired land away from the coffee farm,” Margaret said.

"Water is challenge. The coffee farm managers constructed a water tap for us but we do not get water all the time, “ Margaret said.

Neumann says it provides fresh drinking water free of charge to two villages

“Another problem is firewood. They kicked us out from our land, but when we go to the coffee farm to collect firewood they beat us up,” she complained, saying they don't have an alternative source of firewood.

The majority of the people living in Kyengeza village were evicted from their farms with a promise from the government that they would be compensated. Twelve years later John Bosco Senginiya, a casual laborer on one of the privately owned farms, said they were subjected to physical abuse during the eviction.

"I didn't even get 100 Uganda shillings, but they paid us with a beating,” he added.

When asked by DW if they knew how much compensation they were entitled to, many residents were unsure with one admitting that "did not know the compensation rate".

Compensation

Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, (NKG in Uganda), the German coffee company behind the controversy, insists that it leased the land in good faith from the Ugandan government.

The firm claims the Ugandan government compensated 166 families.

Residents say they now find it hard to
put a meal on the table

According to Neumann, which operates in 28 countries worldwide, only 25 families in Mubende district refused to move and they were then driven off the land by the Ugandan government.

In a document posted on their website, Neumann Company has denied any allegations of land grabbing or carrying out illegal evictions.

After 12 years, this dispute over land in Uganda has resurfaced in Germany.

FIAN international, an NGO that campaigns for people's right to food, started a campaign to protest against what it calls "brutal evictions". It is also demanding adequate restitution for those who lost their land.

The protests led Germany's Development Minister Dirk Niebel to write a letter to FIAN asking them to cease their activities. The minister warned that such accusations could have far reaching consequences for Uganda's coffee industry. "It is a known fact that since last year some coffee traders in Germany have started to boycott Ugandan coffee," Niebel told the German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

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Artists protest Russia's anti-gay-'propaganda' law

Deutsche Welle, 25 August 2013

German artists are showing solidarity with gays and lesbians in Russia. However, while some are calling for a boycott, others believe there are better ways to get their voices heard and make a difference.

Starting in the dark days of National Socialism and ending with the fall of Communist East Germany, successful playwright Marius von Mayenburg spans 60 years of German history in his play "The Stone," a fascinating tale of self-deception, family secrets and lies.

It is due to be staged at the Moscow Theater of the Nations, as part of the international "Territoriya" festival in September. The festival is designed to showcase the state of artistic freedom in Russia. In this it's supported by Putin's presidential administration - not least as a means of demonstrating openness.

Author Marius von Mayenburg is
 boycotting the Moscow production
of his play "The Stone"

But theater director von Mayenburg has announced that he will not now be attending the premiere of the production. "I want to be honest," he writes, in his letter to the festival team: "The main reason is the so-called law against homosexual propaganda. I regularly work with many homosexual artists: I'm friends with them, I associate with and feel obligated to them." He explains that he doesn't want to come to Russia and end up "playing the activist."

Artists unite to spread a different message

Athletes at the World Athletic Championships in Sochi have been trying to draw attention to homophobia in Russia, and they're not the only ones. International artists have also been speaking out on behalf of gay rights, and the German art scene is no exception. "Art in general makes an important contribution in the sense that museums, galleries, theatres or cinemas can raise awareness of the topic," says Dr. Birgit Bosold, chairwoman of the Gay Museum in Berlin.

For years, the museum has maintained contacts with homosexual activists in other countries - Russia among them. One group of women activists is called "Quarteera - Queer in Russian." Together they discuss how arts and culture can be deployed to counter homophobia in Russia.

One example is an exhibition by the photographer Petra Gall, who documented the homosexual community of 1980s Russia. According to Bosold, artists are able to sensitize the public in a different way. "The subject is being disseminated by the media, and it touches people's hearts. If we, here in Germany, put on an exhibition that concerns gays and lesbians from those countries, that, too, is an act of solidarity."

Gay rights activists demonstrate in Moscow, with a banner reading
"Love is stronger"

The anti-homosexuality law

The Russian law in question has provoked international protests from the start. Earlier this year, the Russian parliament passed legislation making public statements on "non-traditional sexual orientations" a punishable act. The law stipulates that this applies to anyone who presents love between two members of the same sex in a positive manner in front of children and young adolescents. Since the introduction of the law, organizations as well as prominent public figures, athletes and artists have been trying to draw attention to the issue.

Here in Germany, Marius von Mayenburg's response has caught the attention of the media. A boycott may be one strategy to raise awareness, but it's not always the most sensible option, says Markus Ullrich of the German Association of Gays and Lesbians (LSVD). "Generally, it's better to have a public discourse about the topic, rather than closing the door on all dialogue," he comments. "Russian activists within the country don't see any benefit in a boycott."

Film director Rosa von Praunheim is a
 prominent gay rights activist in Germany

The LSVD works closely with Russian gay rights organizations. More than 90 German towns are twinned with towns in Russia, and the LSVD uses them to combat homophobia in Russia. Ullrich believes that now, above all, artists should be making their presence felt in Russia and proclaiming their opinion. "As international guests they have a different status," he says. "They can leave the country whenever they like, without being prosecuted for it."

In Germany, homosexual couples have been able to register a civil partnership since 2001, and are legally protected from discrimination. Artists here were particularly active in blazing a trail for Germany's gay rights movement in politics. One of its most prominent representatives is the film director Rosa von Praunheim.

Birgit Bosold from the Gay Museum believes that every response by an artist is an important contribution to the struggle for equality for bisexuals, transsexuals and homosexuals. She adds that art actions can also have an effect even if they take place only in Germany. "Information spreads quickly via social networks and the Internet, and they reach the relevant region in that way," she says. "It's important for other countries to see that we are thinking of them here, and that the subject is in the public eye."

David Miranda's detention is a threat to press freedom, say European editors

Newspapers urge prime minister to restore Britain's reputation for free press after holding of Guardian journalist's partner

The Guardian, The Observer, Jamie Doward, Saturday 24 August 2013

The editors of leading European newspapers have written to David

Cameron over the detention of the partner of a Guardian journalist.

The detention and subsequent criminal investigation into the partner of a Guardian journalist threatens to undermine the position of the free press around the world, the editors of several northern European newspapers have warned.

In an open letter to David Cameron published in today's Observer, the editors of Denmark's Politiken, Sweden's Dagens Nyheter, Norway's Aftenposten and Finland's Helsingin Sanomat describe the detention of David Miranda, the partner of the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald, as harassment.

They say that the "events in Great Britain over the past week give rise to deep concern" and call on the British prime minister to "reinstall your government among the leading defenders of the free press".

Miranda was detained by the Metropolitan police for nine hours last Sunday as he was passing through Heathrow on his way to Brazil.

Greenwald has broken a series of stories about the US intelligence agencies based on material leaked by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The editors describe a free press as crucial to holding governments and their intelligence agencies to account. They write: "We are surprised by the recent acts by officials of your government against our colleagues at the Guardian and deeply concerned that a stout defender of democracy and free debate like the United Kingdom uses anti-terror legislation in order to legalise what amounts to harassment of both the paper and individuals associated with it."

They add: "It is deeply disturbing that the police have now announced a criminal investigation" and they warn that "the implication of these acts may have ramifications far beyond the borders of the UK, undermining the position of the free press throughout the world".

The letter's publication comes as it emerged that Scotland Yard will face legal action over its use of anti-terrorism powers to question people at airports unless it hands over the results of investigations into alleged misuse by its officers.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has said it has given the force a seven-day ultimatum to reveal its findings into outstanding complaints about the use of the tactic following its "continued refusal" to investigate.

The watchdog said it was supervising 18 investigations into the use by the Met of Schedule 7 powers, which allow officers to detain passengers for up to nine hours without needing reasonable suspicion of involvement in terrorism.

The IPCC said it ordered the Met in February to "investigate the rationale for stopping and questioning people under Schedule 7". The force agreed to investigate two months later, following the threat of legal action, but then refused to hand over the resulting investigation documents to the watchdog, an IPCC spokesman said.

Scotland Yard said it was "working hard" to agree a procedure for dealing with investigations with the IPCC and and that legal action had so far been "unnecessary".

A Met spokesman said: "The Metropolitan Police Service recognises the IPCC's role in scrutinising complaints related to Schedule 7 stops and has been working hard to agree a procedure for dealing with such investigations that is acceptable to all stakeholders. As a result of these efforts, legal action has been unnecessary. We hope to be in a position to finalise a way forward with the IPCC in the future."

Meanwhile it has emerged that the US government's efforts to determine which highly classified materials Snowden took from the NSA have been frustrated by the former contractor's sophisticated efforts to cover his digital trail.

The Associated Press reported that the US government investigation is examining whether Snowden was able to defeat safeguards established to deter people looking at information without proper permission by deleting or bypassing electronic logs.

In July, nearly two months after Snowden's earliest disclosures, the NSA director, Keith Alexander, declined to say whether he had established what Snowden had downloaded or how many NSA files he had taken with him.

The latest disclosure undermines the Obama administration's assurances to Congress and the public that the NSA surveillance programs cannot be abused because its spying systems are so aggressively monitored and audited.

Fears about government snooping are now a major concern for internet companies, which are examining measures to restrict external surveillance of people's online activity.

The Internet Engineering Task Force, a body that develops internet standards, has proposed a system in which communication between websites and browers would be shielded by encryption. The proposals, which are at an early stage, would make it harder for governments, companies and criminals to eavesdrop on people as they browse the web.

No more Christmas? Berlin tries neutrality

Deutsche Welle, 23 August 2013

Will Berlin cancel Christmas this year? Germany's multicutlural capital is experimenting with religious neutrality to make all its residents feel more at home. DW's Louise Osborne is all for it.

It may be too early to start talking about Christmas in August unless you work in the chocolate industry, but as summer slowly eases into fall, it is already cropping up in casual conversation as plans are being made.

That's not because people are particularly looking forward to the festive season. Personally, I'm hoping to stave of winter as long as possible with an Indian summer. But it is, nevertheless, now occupying the thoughts of Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain's district officials due to a row over religious terms - such as "Christmas" - when referring to the annual, um, winter markets that are legendary well beyond Germany's borders.

It seems that some in Berlin's more alternative district have chosen to refer to the Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) taking place in the neighborhood under the more neutral and non-religious term Winterfest (winter festival).

The Emmauskirche in Berlin-Kreuzberg
 suffered severe damage during World
War II

In fact, according to an article in Tagesspiegel this week, this has already been done in the past in a bid to take religion out of the equation and make sure everyone living in the district, whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or atheist, can personally identify with the rows of stands that sell handmade trinkets and mulled wine.

An even playing field

But the Christmas market is not the only event that has seen its title changed. The paper also reports the transformation of the feast marking the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, to Sommerfest (summer festival), with the Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain district apparently saying that religion has no place in public places. Apparently the district has also removed the word "religion" from the official criteria for its awards for citizen engagement.

While some think this equates to an anti-religious sentiment, I don't think that's the case.

It's not about having a negative attitude toward faith - but rather providing an even playing field and promoting equality for those of every religion, as well as for non-believers aiding integration in a multicultural neighborhood.

Living close to the Landwehrkanal - the canal that straddles the multicultural districts of Kreuzberg and Neukölln - I can see the diversity in the way people live, their religions and traditions, ranging from my Christian Syrian flat mate to the Muslim Turks running the snack bar on Kottbusser Dam that serves my favorite takeaway food.

The Omar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque in Berlin-Kreuzberg opened in 2008

Walking down Skalitzerstrasse toward Görlitzer Park, you pass a modern-looking mosque with its decorative turrets and glass dome almost opposite Lausitzer Platz, where there is a church with a towering spire and red façade.

Meanwhile, religious buildings dedicated to Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and many other religions are scattered around Berlin's leafy streets creating a feeling of diversity and color in the cosmopolitan city.

No threat to Christmas

While it is wonderful to live in a place surrounded by so many cultures and religions, it can be difficult to ensure everyone feels like they're valued equally regardless of their religion - or, as in my case, non-religion.

One way of trying to achieve this, and the way the Kreuzberg district seems to favor, is by looking to the US, which has long focused on politically correct terms and tried to achieve inclusion by promoting secularism.

In the way Americans say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," Kreuzberg is saying Winterfest to mean Christmas market. In countries as deeply Christian as both the US and Germany, the name of the holiday itself will continue to refer to the celebration of Jesus' birth, but the change of related terminology at least makes the festivities more inclusive.

Suppression versus neutrality

It is a concept that appears to have been lost on the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Church, both of which have expressed concern over this way of thinking in Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain. The deputy superintendent of the Protestant Church in the Mitte district, Peter Storck, even went so far as to call religious neutrality a hallmark of "dictatorial states," according to Tagesspiegel.

Indeed, Germany did experience two dictatorships in the 20th century - the Nazis and the communists in East Germany - which suppressed religious freedom. But suppression and neutrality are two entirely different situations that cannot be compared.

I come from a country that is far from secular, with the state and the Church of England intertwined, and there, as well as in Berlin, I think changes need to be made to help everyone feel as if they are respected and equal - regardless of religion.

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Russian TV takes US journalist off air for gay-rights protest

France24 – AFP, 22 august 2013

Protesters demonstrate against Russian anti-gay legislation in front of the
Russian Consulate in New York on July 31, 2013. 

AFP - Russian government-funded TV channel RT was at the centre of a new controversy Thursday after taking an American journalist off air for launching into a diatribe against Russia's anti-gay legislation.

In solidarity with Russian gays, journalist James Kirchick had snapped on rainbow-coloured braces in the colours of the gay-rights movement for an appearance on the RT channel, where he condemned the "horrific environment of homophobia in Russia".

He was speaking by video-link from Stockholm along with other panelists on a live show Wednesday afternoon discussing the case of WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning ahead of his sentencing by a US military court.

After Kirchick argued with RT's studio anchors about the anti-gay legislation and denounced the channel as a "Kremlin-funded propaganda network", the broadcaster switched to another speaker and the video link to Kirchick disappeared from the screen.

A controversial law signed in June by President Vladimir Putin banning the dissemination of "gay propaganda" has prompted international protests, including a call by British actor Stephen Fry for Russia to be denied the right to host the Winter Olympics in Sochi next year.

"A comrade decided to troll us on a show about Bradley Manning. Of course we listened to him but we decided he had nothing to do with the topic," RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan wrote on Twitter.

"Next time we will invite him to discuss gay rights. But for the moment, good-bye," she said.

The hosts on the English-language channel, which is funded by the Russian government, looked bewildered as Kirchick used his air time to take Russia to task over the legislation.

"Being here on a Kremlin-funded propaganda network, I'm going to wear my Gay Pride suspenders and I'm going to speak out against the horrific anti-gay legislation that Vladimir Putin has signed into law," said Kirchick, who writes for publications including the New York Daily News.

The RT hosts tried to interrupt Kirchick and draw him back to the topic, but he refused, saying: "I'm not really interested in talking about Bradley Manning, I'm interested in talking about the horrific environment of homophobia in Russia right now."

Fry praised Kirchick on Twitter, posting a link to a YouTube video of the exchange to his six million followers and saying, "This is truly magnificent!"

RT has been frequently criticised by Western commentators over alleged unobjective reporting, particularly on the conflict in Syria, and for avoiding topics that might discomfort the Kremlin.

The channel insists it is not a Kremlin mouthpiece and is merely giving a different point of view to an audience tired of a news environment dominated by Western media organisations.

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Support for Muslim Brotherhood isolates Turkey

Deutsche Welle, 21 August 2013

Turkey risks endangering ties with the international community because of its support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. But an Erdogan aide says Ankara faces not isolation but a "precious loneliness."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's criticism of the July 3 coup and the bloody crackdown in Egypt has sparked an angry diplomatic row between Ankara and Cairo.

Egypt accused Turkey's Islamic-conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) government for interfering in its internal affairs. Extending strong support to the Muslim Brotherhood, members of the AKP government accused the military-backed regime in Egypt of committing crimes against humanity.

The two countries recalled their ambassadors for consultations, the latest sign of worsening relations between two strategically important countries in the Muslim world.

Disagreeing diplomatically

Erdogan has made his support for
Morsi clear

Former Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis, a founding member of the AKP and its first foreign minister, expressed concern for the future of Turkish-Egyptian ties. Yakis, who also served as an ambassador to the Cairo during the 90s, said continuation of diplomatic ties with Egypt is critical for Turkey's ability to influence developments in the country.

"I think Turkey was right to define the situation as a coup from the very beginning and to strongly condemn it in the international arena," Yakis told DW. "One can criticize anti-democratic developments, but there is no need to be at loggerheads with the current regime in Egypt."

Erdogan angers all

Erdogan has been a vocal opponent of the military regime in Egypt that ousted his close ally, former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Over the last two years, Erdogan's AKP government extended its support to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, not only due to their ideological closeness, but also due to Turkey's aspirations of gaining clout in the region. After Morsi's removal from office, however, Ankara saw its influence in Cairo decline.

On Tuesday, Erdogan accused Western countries as well as the Islamic world, of failing to stand against the coup and the bloody crackdown in Egypt. He also said he had documents showing Israel had a hand in events in Egypt.

Erdogan's remarks angered not only the Israeli and the Egyptian governments, but also sparked a strong condemnation by the US government.

"We strongly condemn the statements that were made by Prime Minister Erdogan," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. "Suggesting that Israel is somehow responsible for recent events in Egypt is offensive, unsubstantiated and wrong."

A military-backed crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood camps left hundreds dead

Isolation or "precious loneliness"?

According to international relations professor Ihsan Dagi, Turkey's foreign policy is unlike that of any other country in the region and is troubling Turkey's relations with other countries. "aEven among the Muslim nations, there is no country that has a similar position to us on Egypt," he wrote in his column for the daily "Zaman."

Dagi said Turkey should return to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's "no problems with the neighbors" policy and focus on dialogue and cooperation.

But despite the criticism, the Turkish government does not seem willing to alter its approach.

If critics were correct, then Turkey's current position in the Middle East should not be seen as "isolation," but rather as a "precious loneliness" that comes from sticking to Turkey's morals and principles, tweeted Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan's chief foreign policy advisor.

Former foreign minister Yakis' said the weeks ahead will be difficult for Turkey.

"We are likely to face serious differences with the Gulf states, the US and other Western countries," he said.

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"THE RECALIBRATION OF BELIEF"– Aug 18, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

"2013 - A Difficult Year" – July 14, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… You Can See It In Your News

The final item is this: All around you, dear ones, is proof of what I'm telling you. You have two countries currently in turmoil at the moment, and a third one about to go. All three have been stable for a very long time. Who would have thought that Egypt would be part of this? Egypt seemed to be in balance for decades - or was it? Syria ruled itself with an iron hand and created a stability of power that was absolute. What would then cause these to erupt the way they did and at this time? If you take a look at why, and why now, you'll see the timing is all around 2013 and 2012. And it's around Human consciousness that is starting to be more transparent and saying, "We don't want what we now understand and see is continuing unbalance in our country. We see it never getting better, and now we want finality and we want resolution." That is what you're looking at.

It's ugly to look at this, for there is death, suffering, sorrow and turmoil. There is frustration, and the resolution of it all may take longer than you want it to. But someday you will look back and see the results clearly. Mass Human consciousness is starting to change and demand what it expects in the way of integrity. Governments often want the old ways of power, but their people want schools, hospitals, safe streets and parks, and peace with their neighbors.

So expect more of this, especially this year. The more turmoil you see, the more the puzzle is being worked with. So we close this message the way we started it. I know who you are, magnificent one. I sit at your feet in awe. Do not miss this point! Old souls have been here through all of the transitions of humanity. Do you understand that? Four times you came close to this shift you are today experiencing and four times you missed it. Four times you died in the process of trying. This time you didn't.

Do not miss this: There is something within your Akash, a "remembrance button", that is being pushed and plays an emotion that says, "We've felt this before and it didn't turn out well." Don't let this energy define you. It's the button of duality and fear that says things are always the way they are and they will repeat themselves because that's just the way life works. No it isn't! You are magnificent and you have the ability at this point to finally begin to see it, and to cast all the fears and the voices in the back seat of life and tell them you are in charge now and you are the one driving the car of your reality. That's the message of the day. ….”

"TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE" - The Last 18 years – Dec 8, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Who is Kryon, God, Love, Great Central Sun, (Old) Soul, Benevolent Design, 1987 - Harmonic Convergence (11:11), 36 years galactic window (Precession), 26.000 years cycle, Mayan Calendar, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, “TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE”  song – Composer, Human Consciousness, Conceptional Thinking, Old and New energy, Middle East, Protest against the new leader in Egypt because he is of an old energy, Syria is a Nightmare, Libya, People of Iran, Israel, Higher Self, You did it !, Change of Paradigm, 2012,  US/Russia, Global Unity, ... etc.)