Russia to start up Iran reactor

Russia has announced it will begin loading fuel into Iran's first nuclear power plant next week, a key step in launching the highly sensitive project after years of delays.

The power plant, built by Russia in the Iranian southern city of Bushehr, will be loaded with uranium-packed fuel rods after nearly 40 years of delays, a spokesman for Rosatom, the Russian atomic agency, said on Friday.

"The fuel will be charged in the reactor on August 21. From this moment, Bushehr will be considered a nuclear installation. This will be an irreversible step," Sergei Novikov told the AFP news agency.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head Iran's atomic energy organisation, said: "We are preparing to transfer the fuel inside the plant next week ... Then we will need seven to eight days to transfer it to the core of the reactor."

A ceremony inaugurating the plant will be held in late September or early October and inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, will be invited, Salehi said.

Delayed project

Russia's nuclear agency says it will send its officials to help Iranian specialists lower nuclear fuel rods into the reactor, Al Jazeera's Neave Barker, reporting from the Russian capital, Moscow, said.

"The reactor will not be fully active until mid-September," he said.

Russia had agreed in 1995 to build the Bushehr plant on the site of a project begun in the 1970s by Siemens, a German firm, but delays have haunted the $1bn project amid the standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear enrichment programme.

The United States had urged Russia to delay the process until Iran proves it is not developing nuclear weapons.

However, on Friday, officials in Washington said that the planned launch of the reactor showed that Tehran does not need to pursue its controversial plans for uranium enrichment.

"Russia is providing the fuel, and taking the fuel back out," Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman, said.

"It quite clearly, I think, underscores that Iran does not need its own enrichment capability if its intentions, as it states, are for a peaceful nuclear programme."

Russia said the Bushehr plant is monitored by the IAEA and has no link with Iran's uranium enrichment programme.

"It is highly unlikely that the Russians did this without the approval of the United States," Al Jazeera's Anand Naidoo, reporting from Washington, said.

"Relations between Moscow and Washington have been improving for some time."

UN sanctions

In June, the UN Security Council approved a fourth round of military and financial sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, which included arms embargo, financial controls, asset ban on Iranian companies and a travel freeze on individuals.

Western countries continue to accuse Iran of seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon under the guise of its civilian nuclear programme.

Meanwhile, Tehran insisted the drive is entirely peaceful and that it needs nuclear energy for a rapidly expanding population whose fossil fuels will eventually run out.

If started, Bushehr will have an operating capacity of 1,000 megawatts.

Iran, the world's fifth oil producer, has said it wants to build a network of nuclear power plants with a capacity of 20,000 megawatts by 2020 to enable it to export more of its bountiful oil and gas.

Alabama sues over Gulf oil spill

The US state of Alabama is suing BP, Transocean and Halliburton for the "catastrophic harm" caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the state's attorney general said.

Alabama, one of four states hit by oil leaking from the fractured Macondo well off Louisiana, is seeking compensation for damage to natural resources, economic losses due to destruction of state property and for loss of tax revenue.

The state also wants money for cleanup response and rehabilitation costs, as well as punitive damages imposed on the companies.

"We are making this claim because we believe that BP has inflicted catastrophic harm on the state," Troy King, Alabama's attorney general, said on Friday.

"We are suing them for the amount it will take to make Alabama whole."

The suit was announced as BP and US government officials decided to proceed with a relief well to ensure that the blown-out well remains plugged.

Pressure tests

"Everybody is in agreement that we need to proceed with the relief well," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the effort to bring the spill under control, said. "The question is how to do it."

Allen had earlier raised the possibility that the relief well might not be necessary because the cement poured into the top of the welllast week might have permanently killed it, but after running pressure tests it was decided it was still needed.

The tests, which were completed late on Thursday, showed that the well is effectively sealed, with "no communication with the reservoir," Allen said.

But engineers are worried that increased pressure from the the "bottom kill" could damage the existing temporary cement plug and perhaps cause about 1,000 barrels of oil trapped in the well shaft to flow into the ocean.

After Allen gives the order to continue with the relief well, it will take about 96 hours to drill into the Macondo well shaft and perhaps days beyond that to complete the job, he said.

BP hired the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which sank into the Gulf of Mexico after a fire in April triggering the massive spill, from owner Transocean.

Halliburton provided the cement work for the well while Anadarko Petroleum Corp, which is also named in the suit, was a minority owner.

'Dangerous risks'

"It is believed the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon was a blowout relating to the cementing work," Alabama's suit said.

It accuses BP and the other defendants of "negligent or wanton failure to adhere to recognised industry standards of care".

"The defendants' conduct in operating the Deepwater Horizon and oil well illustrates their scheme to maximise profits and ignore dangerous risks posed to human health and property," the suit said.

The spill, which saw an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil leak into the water, has hurt industries including fishing and tourism and has affected other sectors such as housing.

People and businesses that have sustained losses can claim against a $20 billion BP compensation fund administered by Kenneth Feinberg, named by the White House as an independent overseer.

BP said on Thursday it had paid out $347m in claims since May 3, after receiving 148,000 claims. It said it has yet to deny a single claim, although about 40,000 claims were still outstanding or awaiting adjustment.

Obama backs 'Ground Zero' mosque

Barack Obama, the US president, has backed a proposed mosque and Islamic community centre near the site of the former World Trade Centre in New York that was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

He said the country's founding principles demanded no less for the project which has sparked debate around the country.

For several weeks, opponents of the plan in New York City have publicly protested against it claiming it is an insult to the memory of nearly 3,000 people who died in the 2001 attacks.

Obama gave his support to the mosque during an annual White House dinner marking the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, weighing in on the controversy for the first time.

"Let me be clear. As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," he said.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.

"This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable," Obama added.

Respecting differences

The White House had not previously taken a stand on the mosque, which would be part of a $100m Islamic centre two blocks from what has become known as Ground Zero.

Obama has tried to reach out to the global Muslim community since taking office, and the over 100 guests at Friday's dinner included ambassadors and officials from numerous Muslim nations, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

"Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect towards those who are different from us, and that way of life, that quintessentially American creed, stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today," he said.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent who has been a strong supporter of the mosque project, welcomed Obama's words as a "clarion defence of the freedom of religion".

But top Republicans including Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential candidate, and Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, have already announced their opposition.

The Cordoba Initiative, the group behind the project, describes it as a Muslim-themed community centre with a view of making it a hub for interfaith interaction, as well as a place for Muslims to bridge some of their faith's own schisms.

The mosque has won approval from local planning boards but faces legal challenges.

Opponents, including some relatives of the victims of the September 11 attacks, see the prospect of a mosque so near the destroyed trade centre as an insult to the memory of those killed. Some of the victims' relatives, however, are in favour.

Pakistan floods stoke cholera fears

The United Nations has confirmed at least one case of cholera in flood-ravaged Pakistan, where a second wave of water continues to threaten parts of Sindh province.

The cholera case was reported in Mingora, the main town in the northwestern Swat valley, which has seen some of the most extensive damage.

Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs, said on Saturday the world body had stepped up its efforts to treat cases of diarrhoea, which already affects more than 36,000 people in northwest Pakistan.

"Given that there are concerns about cholera, which is a very deadly disease, what we've started to do instead of testing them for cholera is to treat everyone for cholera," he said.

The cholera fears add to a growing litany of health concerns in Pakistan. In the Multan area of Punjab province, medical workers have reported at least 1,000 children with illnesses like gastroenteritis.

"Before the floodwater, normally we checked only 40 children a day. Now the number has increased twice," Mumtaz Hussain, a doctor at the main government hospital, said.

Unsanitary conditions and a lack of safe drinking water have created the potential for serious disease outbreaks, according to medical workers.

Flooding has killed more than 1,600 people in Pakistan since July 29, and the UN fears the final death toll could be far higher. Millions of acres of crops have been submerged, and more than 14 million people have been affected by the floods.

Festivities cancelled

Pakistanis will mark a sombre independence day on Saturday, more than two weeks after the flooding began.

Officials said on Friday that the government had cancelled its planned independence day festivities. A simple flag-raising ceremony will mark the end of British colonial rule 63 years ago.

General Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief of staff, said the military will use the money saved to bolster relief efforts.

Meanwhile, Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari will make his second trip to flood-affected areas. He will visit parts of the northwest, and Punjab province in central Pakistan. His first visit to the affected areas was on Thursday.

The UN said on Friday that it has received just 20 per cent of the $460mn it needs to provide emergency aid. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Saturday to appeal for further donations.

Pakistan says it is considering a $5mn aid offer from India, its neighbour and historic rival. The government is also considering a new tax to pay for flood relief efforts, according to Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper.

Sindh surge

Rains continue to fall in parts of Pakistan, and another surge of water is expected to reach Sindh province by Saturday night.

Pakistan's meteorological office has put the chances of flooding at "high" or "very high."

Waters have been rising at the Kotri barrage along the Indus river and threatening to overrun the river's embankments. Flooding at Kotri could threaten the city of Hyderabad.

Residents of the city of Jacobabad in Sindh were taking no chances. Kazim Jatoi, a city administrator, told the Reuters news agency that more than two-thirds of the city's 300,000 people have fled in recent days.

Authorities are now trying to evacuate the rest of Jacobabad's population, as well as several other towns along the Indus.

Boozing Jesus Angers Christians

A primary school textbook picture showing Jesus Christ holding a beer cane and a cigarette is infuriating India’s Christians and fueling sectarian tension in the country.

"We are deeply shocked and hurt at the objectionable portrayal of Jesus Christ in the school book," Archbishop Dominic Jala told Agence France Presse (AFP) Monday, February 22.

"We condemn the total lack of respect for religions by the publisher."

The lampooning picture was found in a handwriting book for children in church-run schools in the Christian-majority northeastern state of Meghalaya.

The image was used to illustrate the letter "I" for the word "Idol".

The Indian Catholic Youth Movement of the Shillong Archdiocese denounced the image.

"The publication of the despicable picture has deeply hurt our religious sentiments, and its publisher has manifestly breached the provisions of the Constitution of India."

The Meghalaya state government condemned the controversial Christ image.

"We strongly condemn such a blasphemous act," said M. Ampareen Lyngdoh, the education minister.

Christians make up less than 3 percent of India's 1.1 billion population, but over 70 percent of Meghalaya populace.

Insulting

The Catholic Church has banned all textbooks of the involved New Delhi-based printing house, Skyline Publications.

"We have told all our member schools across the country to ban this publisher," said Babu Joseph, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI).

"Jesus Christ is central to Christian faith and Christian life.

"The attempt to tarnish his image is highly objectionable and goes against the spirit of religious tolerance in India."

The blasphemous image has sparked sectarian tension and a spate of attacks on churches in the state.

Two churches were burnt while the priests were thrashed and their houses ransacked after Christian youths took to the streets to protest the picture.

To ease tension, the government has sealed off the printing house and arrested its owner.

"Legal action has been initiated against the publisher," said minister Lyngdoh.

India’s Christians often complain of discrimination and abuses by the Hindu majority.

In 2008, a Catholic nun was gang-raped and paraded half-naked through the streets by Hindu mob in the eastern state of Orissa.

Dozens of churches, prayer halls and Catholic-run schools were attacked by Hindu extremists in the state.

Hardline Hindu groups accuse Christian missionaries of bribing poor people and low-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity by offering free education and health care.

Catholic groups say Christians in the state are being forced to reconvert to Hinduism.

US Muslims Go Cyberspace for Soul Mates

In America, a growing number of single Muslims resort to matrimonial websites in their pursuit for life partners, seeing the cyberspace as a more accessible way to find Mr/Ms Right.

"We have people accessing our website from all across the US. We have people from Colorado, Missouri, Nevada," Vaseem Ansari, executive director of the Companionships matrimonial website, told IslamOnline.net.

The website was established in 2004 under the direction of Mohamed Majid, the imam of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, to help Muslims looking for marriage partners.

"I got so many requests from young people to help them find the right spouses," recalls Majid.

"When it became so many requests, I reached out to young couples and established Companionships with me and my wife putting the program together."

The goal in Companionships program is to provide a platform for young Muslims to meet and be introduced to Islamic matrimonial education.

"We work professionally," said Ansari, adding that they get many professional, educated and articulate people who just need help finding the right spouse.

"Some of them just do not want to go for traditional marriage and want to try a different thing."

She explained that interested people register online and provide background about them, where they are from and what they are looking for in a spouse.

The matrimonial website then arranges for retreat events where soul-mate seekers get together in a kind of a workshop.

"They meet other participants, do activities together, we ask them provoking questions about social skills, religion and politics so that all participants know each other’s background and priorities in life," explains Imam Majid.

They follow up with those who approach them on proposing to other participants and provide them counseling as well.

"Even if participants do not find spouses, they get to learn abut marriage and what it is about."

Needed, Accessible

Imam Majid says that like Companionships, there are many other matrimonial websites that attract US Muslims.

"There are many Muslim matrimonial websites nowadays and Muslims, especially young people, use them a lot," he asserted.

"They even go to non-Muslim matchmaking websites and participate in it."

Some Muslim organizations like the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) has realized that and created its own matrimonial website too.

Imam Majid believes that such websites help meet a need in the American Muslim community, estimated at nearly seven millions.

"They are very diverse, so scattered across the United States," he noted.

"We are creating a virtual community that is more accessible for them."

Ansari agrees that matrimonial websites respond to the community’s needs.

"A lot of people are immigrants from different countries. They do not have big communities as back home and their families are not together," she explained.

"They need this social connection."

She added that they get in their program many professional, educated and articulate people who just need help finding the right spouse.

"Some of them just do not want to go for traditional marriage and want to try a different thing."

Muslim Hearts for Haiti

Local Muslims in the US Midwest state of Missouri have organized a benefit dinner to contribute to feeding the hungry in the quake-hit Haiti.

"We found out from our friends who are working in Haiti right now that the biggest problem is hunger," Ahmad Sheikh, an area physician and co-organizer of the benefit dinner, told the Southeast Missourian on Monday, February 22.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned last week that Haiti is facing dire shortage of food more than a month after 7.0-magnitude quake killed nearly 217,000 people and left more than one million homeless.

It noted that many Haitians were eating the seeds they have stored for the next planting season and eating or selling their livestock.

"They're really, really suffering," lamented Sheikh.

Seeking to raise money to feed desperate Haitians, Muslims in Cape Girardeau city, southeast Missouri, held a benefit dinner for 400 donors.

Nearly 20 Muslim volunteers cooked and served Middle Eastern cuisine for the diners.

In addition to the time donated, all of the food was also given by the Muslim community.

Organizers said donations and the proceeds from dinner, themed Hearts for Haiti, will go to Helping Hand USA for relief efforts in Haiti and the Haitian Relief Fund.

"We work very closely with people who are doing relief efforts in Haiti and all over the world," Sheikh said.

Hailed

Muslims and non-Muslims who attended or participated in the event praised the Muslim initiative.

"I'm so glad there's a turnout for the Islamic community," said Ruth Ann Orr, a dinner.

Paul Mingus and Tina McRaven, invited to the event by their friends at the Islamic Center, were equally appreciative.

"It's for a good cause, and it's an opportunity to try different food," McRaven said.

Angie Tygett, a volunteer, said she was thrilled to see the mosque hosting an event to support Haiti.

"It's wonderful.

"I just think we all need to be more global," she said.

This is not the first time the Islamic center organize benefit dinners for a humanitarian cause.

A similar one was organized in 2004 after a tsunami devastated several South Asian countries, including Indonesia.

"Wherever there's a catastrophe, we try to create awareness and work with it,"

NATO Kills More Afghan Civilians

Scores of Afghan civilians, including women and a child, have been killed in a NATO airstrike, dealing a major blow to US-led efforts to win Afghan hearts and minds.

"Initial reports indicate that NATO fired Sunday on a convoy of three vehicles ... killing at least 27 civilians, including four women and one child, and injuring 12 others," the Afghan cabinet said in a statement cited by Reuters.

US troops said the civilians had been killed as they approached a joint NATO-Afghan unity in Gujran district of Daykundi province.

"We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives," US General Stanley McChrystal, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said.

"I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission."

The killing is the third by NATO troops in a week.

Last week, seven civilians were killed and two others wounded in a NATO airstrike in southern Afghanistan.

The attack also came days after seven Afghan policemen were killed in a NATO bombing in the northern province of Kunduz.

Also on Monday, 14 people, including an influential Afghan leader, were killed in a suicide bombing in eastern Afghanistan on borders with Pakistan.

Civilian casualties are a sensitive issue in Afghanistan, where Karzai and his Western backers are trying to win Afghan hearts and minds against Taliban.

Analysts have repeatedly warned that the indiscriminate killing of civilians is turning ordinary Afghans against foreign troops and eroding fragile public support for West-backed Karzai's government.

Anger

The Afghan civilians have been growing angry with the indiscriminately killings and night home searches by NATO troops.

"People still complain about how the house searches are being conducted,” said Abdur Rahman Saber, head of a local council monitoring the plight of civilians.

“The joint forces should not view every person here with suspicion of being a Taliban or a relative of one.”

Nearly 15,000 US-led troops launched a major offensive - dubbed Mushtarak (Together) - into Taliban stronghold of Helmand early this month.

The military phase of the offensive, now into a ninth day, will be followed by efforts to reassert government control with security and services.

Afghan police have moved into the target area, but commanders say it could be another month before it is cleared of Taliban fighters and their booby trap bombs.

Once controlling a village, residents are called into mosques by the troops to convince that the offensive aims to protect them against the Taliban.

"When the government and its foreign allies want the people on their side, they should respect every resident here,” said Saber.

“People should not feel any sense of insecurity from Afghan or foreign troops."