Free Republic

More than 50 prominent public figures including novelist, diplomats, Nobel prize winners and playwrights have accused David Cameron of fostering divisions in the UK by repeatedly referring to Britain as a Christian country. Signatories to the letter asserting that Britain is not a Christian country include Philip Pullman, Ken Follett, Prof Alice Roberts, Prof Harold Kroto and Sir Terry Pratchett. The authors say they respect Cameron's own religious beliefs but say they "object to his repeated mischaracterising of our country as a 'Christian country' and the negative consequences for our politics and society that this view engenders". In a letter...

When Gérard Depardieu triggered a fiscal feud with the French government a few weeks ago, the media had fun recasting him in his movie role as the comic book character Obélix, a fat and superhumanly strong Gaulois who stands up to the Romans. Now that the French movie star has abandoned the land of the Gauls to become a Russian citizen, his recent film role as the mad monk Rasputin is being evoked to put a cinematic image on a bizarre real-life drama that has become an affair of state. ...Depardieu's love for Russia cannot be indifferent to the country's...

NEW YORK) — The New York Police Department has secretly labeled entire mosques as terrorism organizations, a designation that allows police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, often without specific evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services there is a potential subject of an investigation and fair game for surveillance. Read more: http://nation.time.com/2013/08/28/nypd-designates-mosques-as-terrorism-organizations/#ixzz2dH35MYzO

The Belgrade-based Center for Free Elections and Democracy said their sample count after polls closed in the two-day vote indicated the draft charter secured a 51.6 percent of voters' support. Related news Serbia votes to keep breakaway Kosovo Serbian voters narrowly approved a new constitution reasserting Serbia's claim over the breakaway Kosovo province, according to independent observers. The Belgrade-based Center for Free Elections and Democracy said their sample count after polls closed in the two-day vote indicated the draft charter secured a 51.6 percent of voters' support. The group estimated the turnout among Serbia's 6.6 million electorate was 53.5 -...