Buzzfeed: Britain To Offer Next-Of-Kin Letters To Same-Sex Couples Travelling Abroad

British same-sex married couples travelling abroad will be able to obtain an official letter from the UK government confirming their next-of-kin status in a world-first aimed at preventing LGBT citizens being denied their rights.

The trailblazing new policy – no other country currently offers this – was prompted by the sudden death four months ago of a British gay man on his honeymoon in Australia. His husband had to suffer the indignity of being told by the state authorities that the death certificate would read “never married” as same-sex marriage was not recognized.

The move will mean that anyone in a civil partnership or marriage will be able to present the document to hospital staff, police, funeral directors, donor organisations, or any officials they might encounter in the event of their spouse being taken ill or dying in a foreign country.

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Deutsche Welle: Islam classes will protect children from fundamentalists, bishop says

State-sponsored lessons in Islam could protect young Muslims from radical ideologies, the Evangelical Church's head bishop has said. The pontiff has called for all schools in Germany to teach the religion. [...]

Six out of 18 German states, including North-Rhine Westphalia, Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, currently offer lessons in Islam. Saarland has been experimenting with the idea in junior classes, according to Germany's Standing Conference of Education and Culture Ministers.

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The Atlantic: The Voters Who Want Islam Out of Germany

The AfD’s founder Bernd Lucke, an economics professor, left the party last summer, condemning rising xenophobia. Many other founding members have likewise defected. So who are the new supporters that helped the party to its best-ever election performance a few months ago? Which people, specifically, want to kick Islam out of Germany? [...]

What all these voters seem to share, say the experts studying them, is intense concern about immigration and Islam—issues with extraordinary capabilities for generating strange bedfellows. “Suddenly the far-right is pro-Jewish because it’s anti-Muslim,” said Lenka Bustikova, a political scientist at Arizona State University who has studied far-right movements further east in Europe. “Suddenly with the [influx] of refugees you have this new twist: You are for Western gender rights because you think the Muslims are cavemen. It’s going to be interesting to watch.”

This dynamic may yet tear the party apart, whether at the leadership or at the voter level. Even the AfD’s recent headline-generating manifesto, Arzheimer pointed out, showed signs of a delicate balancing act. “They very carefully avoided anything that could be used against them in some form of formal process. … There is so much leeway in what they have written. ... It might appeal to hard-core rightwingers but also the famous ‘concerned citizens’—part of a catchphrase in Germany: ‘I’m not a racist but I’m very much concerned about [issues] A, B, C.’” But, he continued, if the AfD “give any reason for the public or media to portray them as yet another NPD I’m sure their support will collapse. Those voters, even if they’re worried about Muslims or immigrants, don’t want to be associated with thugs.”

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The Huffington Post: The 11 Most Racist U.S. Presidents

Let’s imagine the unimaginable: Donald Trump was elected president in November. Yes, president of the United States. [...]

Let’s imagine that he did not moderate on his campaign pledges and he carried them out as president. Would a President Trump go down in the annals of American history as one of the most racist presidents ever?

He certainly would face a substantial amount of competition on the racist front. There have been many frightfully racist U.S. presidents in American history. Here are the 11 most racist U.S. presidents of all time.

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Reuters: Putin says Romania, Poland may now be in Russia's cross-hairs

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned Romania and Poland they could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security.

Putin issued his starkest warning yet over the missile shield, saying that Moscow had stated repeatedly that it would have to take retaliatory steps but that Washington and its allies had ignored the warnings. [...]

Putin did not specify what actions Russia would take, but he insisted that it was not making the first step, only responding to moves by Washington. "We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbor us."

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