Facebook will unveil sweeping changes to its privacy settings as early as next week in response to a wave of complaints from advocacy groups and regulators, according to people briefed on the plans. The world's largest social networking site is facing regulatory scrutiny in the US and Europe over concerns that its privacy settings are not tight enough. Such criticism has intensified, sparking a flurry of activity within the company, culminating in an executives' meeting on privacy last week at Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters. The changes are likely to include a "master control" that would simplify privacy choices for users. Facebook's new system would allow users to choose to share all content among three broad categories, such as everyone, friends of friends, or just friends. Facebook hopes the master control will offer an alternative to the complicated and often confusing settings users now work with. The company has suggested in briefings that it wanted to make it easier for users to opt out of the controversial instant personalisation feature, which automatically shares users' information with third-party websites.
The chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines objected on Wednesday to a compromise plan to repeal the military’s ban on allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly, a position that put them at odds with President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. In letters solicited by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who is opposed to repeal, the chiefs said they wanted Congress to delay voting on the issue until after Dec. 1, when the Pentagon is to complete a review of how the military should carry out the changes. On Monday, Mr. Gates reluctantly signed on to an agreement with the White House and leading lawmakers that could lead to votes in Congress as soon as this week to repeal the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, which requires gay men and lesbians to keep their sexual orientation secret if they want to serve in the military. Under the compromise, if the repeal measure were to pass Congress, the new policy would not be put into effect until after the Pentagon completed its review. Mr. McCain’s solicitation of the letters appeared to be an attempt to give Republicans some cover to vote against repeal, since Republicans could say that they were supporting the view of the top officers of the services who preferred to delay any vote until after Dec. 1. Gay rights advocates have been pushing for a vote before the November midterm elections, when Democrats — who are more likely than Republicans to vote for repeal — are expected to lose seats. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, told Mr. McCain in his letter that “repealing the law before the completion of the review will be seen by the men and women of the Army as a reversal of our commitment to hear their views before moving forward.” Gen. James T. Conway, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said in his letter that “I encourage the Congress to let the process the secretary of defense created to run its course.” Mr. Gates, who until Monday had urged Congress to take a slow, methodical march toward repeal, had no comment on the letters. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with military personnel in Colorado Springs on Wednesday and said he was comfortable with the proposed legislation because it preserves the right for the president, the defense secretary and himself to certify whether the new law could go into effect. It remained unclear whether the legislation had the votes necessary to pass the House and Senate.
U.S. Homeland Security officials have asked Houston authorities to watch for a member of a Somalia-based terror group who may be coming to Texas through Mexico. The federal department issued an alert last week for, Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane, a suspected member of the al-Shabaab group, which has declared allegiance to al-Qaida. The alert was issued after federal prosecutors added new charges earlier this month against Dhakane, a Somali man who had been picked up in Texas in 2008. He pleaded not guilty May 14 in federal court in San Antonio to three counts of immigration fraud. Dhakane is accused of making false statements under oath in support of his application for asylum. According to the indictment, Dhakane failed to disclose that he was a member or associate of the al-Barakat financial transfer network and Al-Ittihad al-Islami, or the Islamic Union, which wants to impose Islamic law in Somalia. Both are on the Treasury Department's list of global terrorist groups with links to al-Qaida, according to the indictment. The indictment also alleges that Dhakane lied about his movements before entering the United States in March 2008, that he "participated in and later ran a large-scale smuggling enterprise out of Brazil" that smuggled hundreds of people, mostly East Africans, into the United States. Among those smuggled, according to the indictment, were several Somalis affiliated with Al-Ittihad al-Islami. The indictment also alleges he lied when he told officials that a young girl was his wife, when she actually "was a smuggling client" whom he had never married and had "repeatedly raped and impregnated prior to coming to the United States." He threatened to have the girl murdered if U.S. officials learned of the rapes or that he was not her husband, according to the indictment.
The questions on the ads aren't subtle: Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you? A conservative activist and the organizations she leads have paid several thousand dollars for the ads to run on at least 30 city buses for a month. The ads point to a website called RefugefromIslam.com, which offers information to those wishing to leave Islam, but some Muslims are calling the ads a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda. Pamela Geller, who leads an organization called Stop Islamization of America, said the ads were meant to help provide resources for Muslims who are fearful of leaving the faith. "It's not offensive to Muslims, it's religious freedom," she said. "It's not targeted at practicing Muslims. It doesn't say 'leave,' it says 'leaving' with a question mark." Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said Geller's ad was reviewed and did not violate the agency's guidelines. "The religion in question would not change the determination that the language in the ad does not violate guidelines," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said Wednesday. The agency had received no complaints since the ads went up on May 14, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. The 30 or so buses with the ads pass through all five boroughs of the city.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has declared five members of Russia's lower house personae non gratae for observing parliamentary elections in the disputed area of Nagorny Karabakh, a spokesman for the ministry said on Wednesday. "The decision is final. This list may be extended," Elkhan Pulukhov said. However, he conceded, the measure might be reviewed if the five lawmakers admit that their involvement in monitoring the elections was "deliberate malice." The predominantly ethnic Armenian region, at the center of a dispute between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia since the late 1980s, elected its 33-seat parliament on May 23 with a voter turnout of almost 68%. Konstantin Zatulin, one of those declared persona non grata, said the decision was a "demonstrative measure." "I was an observer during presidential and parliamentary elections in Nagorny Karabakh more than once," the lawmaker said, adding it was "surprising" that his decision to take part in monitoring the polls sparked such a reaction "for the first time." The other members from the State Duma considered persona non grata in Azerbaijan are Igor Chernyshenko, Kirill Cherkasov, Tatyana Volozhinskaya, and Maxim Mishchenko. Azerbaijani officials have called the elections in Nagorny Karabakh "illegal," saying they could seriously harm Armenian-Azerbaijani peace efforts. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh first erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia. Over 30,000 people are estimated to have died on both sides between 1988 and 1994, when a ceasefire was agreed. Nagorny Karabakh has remained in Armenian control and tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted. The conflict has been mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group that comprises the United States, Russia and France.
Moscow is gravely concerned over the uneasy situation in Kosovo and worsening ethnic intolerance in the region, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin has said. Speaking at an open session of the UN Security Council on Monday, the diplomat said that “Unfortunately, numerous cases of forcing Kosovo Serbs to sell their property and leave the province are disregarded.” Among the alarming signs the Russian ambassador named, for instance, the continuing desecration of Serbian temples and cemeteries. Also, territories of large Serbian enclaves in Kosovo are decreasing while small ones are simply dying out, he said. The situation with the preservation of the Serb Orthodox and cultural heritage leaves a lot to be desired. “In this context the special concern is caused by the NATO-initiated transfer over to the Kosovo police the monitoring of important Serb heritage facilities, the same as the general tendency towards the reduction of the KFOR [NATO Kosovo Force] strength,” he said as quoted by Itar-Tass agency. Another serious issue for concern is cutting Serbian mobile phone networks. In addition, Pristina authorities are intended “to adopt a law establishing the order of entry for Serbian citizens in the territory of Kosovo exclusively with foreign passports.” Churkin specifically underlined that it happens “with the connivance of international missions, first of all, the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX).” The mission’s indulgence and, sometimes, inactivity “undermine the authority of this mission that is practically going beyond the neutral status determined by its mandate,” the diplomat believes. Churkin stressed that EULEX must strictly observe the principles set by the UNSC Resolution 1244 which authorized international and civil presence in the partially-recognized Republic of Kosovo. Russia’s diplomat urged the mission to “act in a balanced way, taking into account the interests of both sides with the general coordinating functions of the UN Mission in Kosovo.” What should be done, according to the Russian diplomat, is that the international community should give a legal and political assessment to the actions of the Kosovo authorities. “Otherwise it may cause a sharp increase in inter-communal tension,” he stressed.
His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America opened the first day of the Episcopal Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Hierarchs of North and Central America on Wednesday morning, May 26, 2010. Among the 60-some hierarchs present were His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, and ruling and auxiliary bishops of the Orthodox Church in America. Following opening prayers invoking the Holy Spirit to guide the hierarchs in their deliberations, Archbishop Demetrios, who chairs the Assembly as Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch, addressed his brother hierarchs, outlining common concerns while reviewing the events that led to the historic gathering. "We strive for unity because the Lord asked of us to be one, but diversity and differentiation are not to be feared," Archbishop Demetrios said. "They are gifts that are to be used for the glory of God. Our unity cannot exist to destroy such differentiation; rather, our unity is meant to flourish as a result of our natural diversity, be it linguistic, cultural or ethnic. Is this not exactly the condition of our universal Orthodoxy today?" he asked. "Of course, problems related to unity, or to differentiation, or to both, always existed in the Church, starting already in the time of the Apostles, as the Book of the Acts of the Apostles testifies. This is a valid observation for us today. We come together to face the problems that have arisen in our region, where the Orthodox Faith has flourished for generations," Archbishop Demetrios continued before reflecting on various issues facing Orthodox Christianity in North and Central America and elsewhere around the world. "As we have grown and established ourselves, situations have been created that need our attention and our wisdom." Archbishop Demetrios went on to review the work of the Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference held in Chambésy, Switzerland in June 2009 in response to the extraordinary Synaxis of the Heads of the Autocephalous Churches convened earlier by His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The complete text of Archbishop Demetrios’ address may be found on the web site of the Greek Archdiocese. Also addressing the Assembly was its first vice-chair, His Eminence, Metropolitan Philip of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and its second vice-chair, His Eminence, Archbishop Justinian of the Russian Orthodox Church, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the United States of America. The complete texts of their addresses may be found on the web site of the Antiochian Archdiocese and the web site of the Eastern American and New York Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia respectively. Sessions will resume on Thursday morning, May 27. The Assembly will conclude on Friday, May 28, on which the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral. A gallery of photos appears on the web site of the Greek Archdiocese.