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Too liberal to lead his parish?
By Samuel Burke, CNN
A Catholic priest in Ireland says he is being threatened with excommunication by the Vatican because of his liberal stances on homosexuality and contraception.
Last year, Father Tony Flannery says he was asked to sign a document accepting the Vatican tenet barring women from becoming priests and accepting all the sexual and moral teachings of the Catholic Church.
“I cannot put my name to that document,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday. His unwillingness to sign it means he is now prevented from ministering as a priest. FULL POST
PM David Cameron responds to uproar over his E.U. speech
By Samuel Burke, CNN
Prime Minister David Cameron could either be remembered as the man who led Britain out of the European Union or the person who managed to keep it in the union.
Cameron believes history will see him as the prime minister who helped "reform" the European Union, he said in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
"I feel very confident and positive that having set out a plan, having explained to the world ... everyone can see there is a plan to change Europe for the better and to secure Britain's place in it." FULL POST
Nigeria battles to stop spread of al Qaeda chaos in Africa
By Samuel Burke, CNN
In her testimony to Congress on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cited jihadist group Boko Haram as part of the broader Islamic militant threat in Africa.
Clinton said that the West-African group, whose name means "Western education is sinful" is a major threat to Nigeria – Africa’s largest oil exporter.
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan agreed that Boko Haram could pose an existential threat to his country.
“If Boko Haram is not contained, it would be a threat not only to Nigeria, but to West Africa, Central Africa and of course to North Africa,” he said. “Elements of Boko Haram link up with some of al Qaeda in northern Mali and other North African countries.” FULL POST
Dramatic surprise in Israeli elections
By Samuel Burke & Mick Krever, CNN
Exit polls in Tuesday’s Israeli election have delivered a dramatic surprise.
The second-place finisher, behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, was Yesh Atid, or “There is a Future,” the center-left party whose founder campaigned for eliminating the exemption for ultra-religious Jews to avoid military service.
As expected, Netanyahu’s Likud won first place, with 31 seats out of 120 in the Knesset. It was a comfortable plurality, but far below the commanding result that would have given him broad leeway to form a coalition – negotiations to build that coalition will presumably begin immediately.
Yesh Atid is projected to win 19 seats, and Labor is projected to come in third with 17.
The far-right party, Habayit Hayehudit, or “The Jewish Home,” is projected to take fourth. Its fourth-place finish, though somewhat weaker than had been expected, represents a shift toward the far right in Israel.
David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker magazine, discussed the exit polls with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and what they could mean for the future of Israeli politics – which you can watch in the video above.
In a recent New Yorker article, Remnick examined the seeming shift to the right in Israeli politics and the rise of parties clearly opposed to a state for the Palestinians.
Former U.S. ambassador to Mali explains the conflict
The former U.S. ambassador to Mali, Vicki Huddleston, explains how the conflict there came about. International leaders are responding to an uprising of Islamist militants in northern Mali, hoping to inject stability in a country once hailed as a model for democracy in Africa. Huddleston tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour that it was the conflict in Libya that "lit the fuse" in Mali.
Timbuktu comes out of hiding
By Lucky Gold & Richa Naik, CNN
For nine months Islamic militants have had the legendary city of Timbuktua in a head lock, destroying ancient monuments and enforcing their brand of Sharia law in northern Mali.
France now has 1,800 troops on the ground in Mali and has pledged to keep them there until stability returns to the nation.
Even though French troops have not reached Timbuktu yet, the rebels have withdrawn and people are coming out of hiding.
Some victims of the militants bear horrific scars and tell stories of draconian punishment, but now people are beginning to celebrate.
One man there said just being able to step out and smoke a cigarette was a sign of progress.
Women can choose to walk outside again without a headscarf and people are waving French flags in Bamako, Mali’s capital city.
France’s president vows that French troops will stay “as long as it takes” to build Mali’s army back up, so that country can take on the long struggle against the Islamic militants.
RELATED: What's behind Mali instability?
How to beat back Islamic militants in Africa
By Samuel Burke, CNN
Battles with Islamist militants in Mali and Algeria this week underscore the major challenge al Qaeda poses in North Africa.
But in one northern African country, Islamic fighters are on the run.
This week Somalia’s recently elected president met U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton State who hailed that country's major success in beating back al Qaeda's East Africa affiliate al-Shabab. FULL POST
WEB EXTRA: Somali president on protecting women and children
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud discusses women's rights, protecting children and how he felt about Knaan’s endorsement with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
Insider’s account of rescue in Algeria
It is unclear how many people escaped the hostage crisis in Algeria, but an Irishman named Stephen McFaul did manage to get out. Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister, Eamon Gilmore, spoke to McFaul’s wife on the phone and gave an insider’s account of the rescue to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
READ MORE: Former al Qaeda captive ‘not surprised’ by Algeria attack
Former al Qaeda captive ‘not surprised’ by Algeria attack
By Mick Krever, CNN
The Canadian diplomat who was held captive by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb for five months said that he was “not in the least” surprised by the attack by militants on workers at a natural gas facility in the Algerian desert.
“They are on the look, constantly, for this kind of operation,” Robert Fowler told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
“What does surprise me,” he said, “is any suggestion, either from the spin-meisters on the al Qaeda side or indeed from the Algerian government side that somehow this action against the LNG [Liquid Natural Gas] facility was a direct result of the situation in Mali.”
The perpetrators of the attack, as well as their one-eyed leader, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, have been waging a rebellion against the Algerian government for 20 years, Fowler said.
“I suspect that Belmokhtar has been scoping this one out for some time,” he told Amanpour.
Four years ago, Fowler was kidnapped by Belmokhtar’s followers in Niger. He was held for 130 days in neighboring Mali, where he met Belmokhtar several times.
As to whether the attackers are “bandits flying a flag of Islamic convenience” or “latter-day Robin Hoods doing some banditry to nourish the cause,” Fowler said, he believed it was the latter.
“I’ve never seen a more focused, more selfless group of young men in my life,” he said. “They were dressed in rags. There was absolutely no suggestion of wealth or interest in wealth. They were young guys. They didn’t want cool sunglasses or neat shoes. They didn’t have MP3 players. They tended their weapons carefully, and they would tell me again, and again, and again that their only objective was to do God’s will, fight God’s fight, and to get to paradise as soon as possible.”
READ MORE: Algerian army frees some hostages in military strike
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