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February 2009
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Spanish King Meets With Pope’s Right Hand Man

spain-king_vatican

King Juan Carlos was one of the Spanish leaders Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone met with during his visit to Spain.

The point of the visit was to smooth relations between the Holy See and the mostly Catholic, yet secular Spain.

Relations between the two countries have been strained since a liberal government was elected in 2004. The Vatican has called Spain the leader of Europe’s liberal secularism. It has criticized Spain legalizing same-sex marriage and easing divorce laws. Spain has also irked the Holy See by aiming to ease abortion restrictions and allowing euthanasia.

But this time around, the Spanish government and the Pope’s right hand man were cordial to each other. There was even discussion of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Spain in either 2010 or 2011.

February 5th, 2009 | Tags: , | Category: Spain | Leave a comment

Kuwaiti Judge Keeps Australian on Detention for Two More Weeks

An Australian woman at the center of an international freedom of speech conflict was given two more weeks of detention in a Kuwaiti jail. kuwait_family

Nasrah Alshamery has been behind bars since late December for allegedly insulting Kuwait’s emir.

It happened when Alshamery, her husband and children travelled to the Middle East via Kuwait for a holiday. A misunderstanding at the Kuwaiti airport led to a chaotic scene between her family and officials. It led to Alshamery, 43, to cry out obscenities, including supposedly bashing Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

She, along with her family, were taken into custody. After a few days, the family was released, but Alshamery had to stay behind.

Her lawyer said the latest extension of Alshamery was the third one so far and that under Kuwaiti law, a judge can renew a suspect’s detention for up to six months pending investigation.

If convicted, she could face 3 to 5 years in jail, according to her lawyer, Salah al-Hajraf.

But the attorney said he was confident she will be acquitted if the case goes to trial. No charges have been raised yet.

“Does she know the emir? Did she intend to insult him? No,” the lawyer told The Associated Press. “She was just in hysterics after a misunderstanding got out of hand and turned into a melee.

“I see the matter as one of legitimate defense,” he said.

February 5th, 2009 | Tags: , , | Category: Kuwait | Leave a comment