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Outrage over Nazi flag used at funeral

<p>Italian Catholic and Jewish officials have condemned an outrageous act of right wing extremism, as a flag with a swastika was placed on a coffin outside a church after a funeral, as mourners in attendance gave Nazi salutes. </p> <p>Rome's Catholic archdiocese shared a statement that said priests at the parish of St. Lucy in a neighbourhood in central Rome, including the one who presided at the funeral, had no idea the stunt would happen.</p> <p>Pictures have surfaced on the internet of the coffin bearing the body of Alessia Augello, a former member of the right-wing extremist group Forza Nuova, covered by the Nazi flag.</p> <p><span>The diocese statement called the flag "a horrendous symbol that cannot be reconciled with Christianity" and said the stunt was an offensive example of "ideological exploitation" of a religious service.</span> </p> <p>Italian police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. </p> <p>The Jewish community of Rome have expressed their outrage and devastation that such events could still happen more than 70 years after the Holocaust and the fall of Italy's fascist dictatorship. </p> <div class="block-content"> <div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is unacceptable that a flag with a swastika can still be shown in public in this day and age, especially in a city that saw the deportation of its Jews by the Nazis and their fascist collaborators," the statement said.</span></div> </div> <p><span>The Jewish community statement said the funeral incident was "even more outrageous because it took place in front of a church."</span></p> <p><span>In October 1943, a raid on Rome's Jewish neighbourhood saw more than 1,000 of the capital's Jewish people deported to the </span><span>Auschwitz death camp</span><span> in Nazi-occupied </span><span>Poland.</span></p> <p><span>Only 16 people returned.</span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images / CNN</em></p>

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10 things that are considered “extremist tendencies” in China

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A list of “extremist tendencies” has been pulled together in a book called the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Australian National University’s 2018 China Story Yearbook.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> This book casts a spotlight on China’s disturbing crackdown on Muslims in the far west region of Xinjiang.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The United Nations has said that between one and two million members of China’s Uyghur ethnic minority, who the majority practice Islam, have disappeared.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr Gerry Groot, senior lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Adelaide, told </span><a href="https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/having-a-beard-and-owning-a-compass-seen-as-extremist-tendencies-in-china/news-story/d0a2cfcdf1b07c2f9478a6a68f5359a2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that many of these people have been sent to “vocational-education facilities” and prison following random police checks.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“A lot of these people will be stuck in there for years and be doing hard labour under the guise of education,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In his chapter, he explains that the missing people in Xinjiang are a result of the Chinese Communist Party not knowing how to deal with the country’s religious minorities. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Groot also explains that state “encouragement” of China’s ethnic Han majority to Xinjiang and the reward of intermarriage over decades has dramatically reshaped the ethnic makeup of the region.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ever since the September 11 attacks in 2001, Groot says that the Chinese government has sought to link any unrest among the Chinese Muslims with foreign radical Islamist movements.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There’s zero interest against changing it within China, it probably has overwhelming support in so far as the average person knows what it’s about,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There’s almost zero support for Uyghurs among the general population because the Communist Party and, in particular, (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping, have framed these existential crises.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The issue lies with seeing religion and God above the Chinese Communist Party.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“So, the party sees religion itself as part of the problem,” Dr Groot said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If you believe in god then god is above the party and that’s a problem and they have to be crushed. You can’t have a different moral vision; you can only have a supportive moral vision.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The following ten reasons are just some of the 48 reasons you can be sent to an education camp.</span></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Owning a tent</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Telling others not to swear</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking with someone who has travelled abroad</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Owning welding equipment</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Telling others not to sin</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Owning extra food</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Eating breakfast before the sun comes up</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Merely knowing someone who has travelled abroad</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Owning a compass</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Arguing with an official</span></li> </ol>

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