A list of prominent people missing in Syria

By The Associated Press14 hours ago

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a group of nuns who were freed after being held by rebels, greet church officials at the Syrian border town of Jdeidat Yabous, early Monday, March. 10, 2014. Rebels in Syria freed more than a dozen Greek Orthodox nuns on Monday, ending their three-month captivity in exchange for Syrian authorities releasing dozens of female prisoners. The release of the nuns and their helpers, 16 women in all, is a rare successful prisoner-exchange deal between Syrian government authorities and the rebels seeking to overthrow the rule of President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/SANA)

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BEIRUT (AP) — With the release of 13 Greek Orthodox nuns held hostage by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Syria for over three months, here's a list of some other prominent people, including clerics, journalists and activists still missing in Syria and believed in the captivity of rebels. Many are thought to have taken by radical factions, in particular the al-Qaida breakaway group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

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CLERICS

Two bishops and a priest have been missing since last April, according to Syrian opposition activists and church officials. Gunmen pulled Bishop Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and Bishop John Ibrahim of the Assyrian Orthodox Church from their car and killed their driver on April 22 while they were traveling outside the northern city of Aleppo. It is not clear who abducted the priests and no group has publicly claimed it is holding them.

An Italian Jesuit, Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, went missing in July after traveling to meet Islamic militants in the eastern city of Raqqa. The city fell into rebel hands in March and was subsequently taken over by radicals including the Islamic State.

ACTIVISTS

Syria's leading human rights lawyer, Razan Zaytouni, was abducted along with her husband and two other prominent activists from a rebel-held Damascus suburb Dec. 10. Zaytouni is an icon of Syria's secular revolutionaries. Nobody claimed responsibility for her abduction, but it came after she wrote an article denouncing the Islamic State.

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In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a nun who was freed after being held …

Abdullah Khalil, also a human rights lawyer, has been missing since last May. Khalil became the head of the local council in Raqqa. Khalil was last seen on May 18, when was taken away by unidentified armed men as he was leaving his office.

According to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, some 60 Syrian opposition activists have been abducted since last spring in from northern areas controlled by Islamic State. Most have been released but as of December, 22 were still being held.

JOURNALISTS

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists estimates about 30 international and local reporters are currently in captivity. Most of the kidnappings over the past six months have occurred in opposition-held parts of northern and eastern Syria. They include among others two Spanish journalists, El Mundo reporter Javier Espinosa and freelance photo journalist Ricardo Garcia Vilanova; French journalists Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres; and a Lebanese, a Mauritanian and a Jordanian national of Palestinian origin.

The spike in abductions of journalists while on assignment in the opposition-held areas in northern Syria prompted major news organizations, including The Associated Press, to call for urgent action. It called on rebel leaders to assist in identifying groups currently holding journalists and take the steps necessary to bring about their release.

Michele Bachmann Claims Gay People Have 'Bullied The American People'

Quote:

Michele Bachmann Claims Gay People Have 'Bullied The American People'

UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 27: Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks during the Tea Party Patriots 5-year anniversary event at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) | Tom Williams via Getty Images

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is still not pleased with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's (R) decision to veto SB 1062 late last month.

In an interview with conservative radio host Lars Larson during last week's Conservative Political Action Conference, Bachmann said the downfall of the bill, which would have allowed businesses to refuse service to gay individuals on religious grounds, illustrated how LGBT activists have "bullied" voters and politicians.

"There's nothing about gays in there. But the gay community decided to make this their measure," Bachmann said. "I think the thing that is getting a little tiresome, the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they've so intimidated politicians. The politicians fear them, so that they think they get to dictate the agenda everywhere."

Bachmann said, however, that liberals likely wouldn't attempt to change the U.S. Constitution to "take away" religious rights because "activist judges" and President Barack Obama will simply ignore the document instead.

"He's a lawless president who's violating the Constitution with every executive order," Bachmann said of Obama.

(Listen to the clip here.)

Bachmann had voiced her opposition to Brewer's veto in an interview with ABC News & Yahoo's "Fine Print" earlier this month.

“I was sorry that she made the decision, and it’s because I believe that tolerance is a two-way street and we need to respect everyone's rights, including the rights of people who have sincerely held religious beliefs," Bachmann said. "Right now, there's a terrible intolerance afoot in the United States, and it's against people who hold sincerely held religious beliefs."

The congresswoman, who is set to retire after this congressional session, has previously dismissed the issue of school bullies targeting gays.

"That's not a federal issue," Bachmann said in 2011.

(h/t Right Wing Watch)

Quote:

Why do folks overlook the validity of this statement. Only someone that doesn't live here in the states looking in would think otherwise. OR Should I say for those that live here only a mentally disturbed liberal would take issue with the following statement. IMHO TOLERANCE IS A TWO WAY STREET!

"“I was sorry that she made the decision, and it’s because I believe that tolerance is a two-way street and we need to respect everyone's rights, including the rights of people who have sincerely held religious beliefs," Bachmann said. "Right now, there's a terrible intolerance afoot in the United States, and it's against people who hold sincerely held religious beliefs."

Quote:

Michele Bachmann Claims Gay People Have 'Bullied The American People'

UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 27: Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks during the Tea Party Patriots 5-year anniversary event at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) | Tom Williams via Getty Images

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is still not pleased with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's (R) decision to veto SB 1062 late last month.

In an interview with conservative radio host Lars Larson during last week's Conservative Political Action Conference, Bachmann said the downfall of the bill, which would have allowed businesses to refuse service to gay individuals on religious grounds, illustrated how LGBT activists have "bullied" voters and politicians.

"There's nothing about gays in there. But the gay community decided to make this their measure," Bachmann said. "I think the thing that is getting a little tiresome, the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they've so intimidated politicians. The politicians fear them, so that they think they get to dictate the agenda everywhere."

Bachmann said, however, that liberals likely wouldn't attempt to change the U.S. Constitution to "take away" religious rights because "activist judges" and President Barack Obama will simply ignore the document instead.

"He's a lawless president who's violating the Constitution with every executive order," Bachmann said of Obama.

(Listen to the clip here.)

Bachmann had voiced her opposition to Brewer's veto in an interview with ABC News & Yahoo's "Fine Print" earlier this month.

“I was sorry that she made the decision, and it’s because I believe that tolerance is a two-way street and we need to respect everyone's rights, including the rights of people who have sincerely held religious beliefs," Bachmann said. "Right now, there's a terrible intolerance afoot in the United States, and it's against people who hold sincerely held religious beliefs."

The congresswoman, who is set to retire after this congressional session, has previously dismissed the issue of school bullies targeting gays.

"That's not a federal issue," Bachmann said in 2011.

(h/t Right Wing Watch)

February 27, 2014 at 6:30 AM

Watch ‘Secrets of the Vatican’

“In Secrets of the Vatican, FRONTLINE tells the epic, inside story of the collapse of the Benedict papacy and illuminates the extraordinary challenges facing Pope Francis as he tries to reform the powerful Vatican bureaucracy, root out corruption and chart a new course for the troubled Catholic Church and its 1.2 billion followers.”

Watch the video here.

Watch Secrets of the Vatican on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE

No one could make up what this documentary reveals. For all of the horror on display, the reality is basic: arrogance, hubris and insularity will bring down any organization, even one ordained to do God’s work on earth. A human organization manifests all human frailties. Allow it to make its own rules and hide, and the worst happens.

This is a tragedy that defies description. Abuse of people, power and a benefit of the doubt that goes with the job description. Pope Francis is viewed as the institutional savior who comes from far enough outside the Roman Curia and the inner sanctum to instigate and sustain change.

The only optimism in the documentary are references to a new beginning for a wounded church, and a religious crusade to save the church.