Turkish PM storms off in Gaza row | |
Turkey PM storms off in Gaza row Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stormed off the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos after an argument with Israel's president. Mr Erdogan clashed with Shimon Peres in a discussion on the recent fighting in the Gaza Strip, telling him: "You are killing people." Mr Peres said Mr Erdogan would have done the same had rockets hit Istanbul. Mr Erdogan accused the moderator of not allowing him to speak and said he did not think he would return to Davos. He was cut off as he attempted to reply to a passionate defence of Israel's actions made by Mr Peres. Turkey is one of the few Muslim countries to have dealings with Israel, but relations have been under strain since the Islamist-rooted AK Party was elected to power in 2002. "I do not think I will be coming back to Davos after this because you do not let me speak," Mr Erdogan shouted before marching off the stage in front of Mr Peres, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and an elite audience of ministers and international officials. He criticised the moderator for cutting him short on the grounds that the debate had gone over time. Mr Peres had told the audience Israel was forced on to the offensive against Hamas by thousands of rockets and mortars fired into Israel. "The tragedy of Gaza is not Israel, it is Hamas," the Israeli leader said. "They created a dictatorship. A very dangerous one." More than 1,300 Palestinians and 14 Israelis were killed during the three-week conflict which began on 27 December. BBC | |
Utah Mormons, Protestants finding new spiritual home in ancient Orthodox church
By BOB MIMS | The Salt Lake Tribune The Salt Lake Tribune It shook the fundamentalist Christian world to its roots: Hank Hanegraaff , the darling of evangelicals as host of the long-running, nationally syndicated "Bible Answer Man" broadcast, had joined the Greek Orthodox Church. Hanegraaff, for nearly 30 years president of the Christian Research Institute, an evangelical apologetics ministry, also has written 20 books opposing purported cults and heresies and non-Christian faiths. If ever evangelicals had a doctrinal superhero, Hanegraaff was he. But on Palm Sunday, in a video released via social media , there was the 67-year-old Hanegraaff kneeling for "Holy Chrismation" — a rite of anointing with oil accompanying baptism — inside St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church of Charlotte, N.C. Within days, Bott Radio Network, a 107-station strong, evangelical broadcasting empire, severed its longstanding relationship with him; other criti...
Comments