tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53680195116804377062024-03-13T19:36:02.252-07:00Islami NewsIslami News - Catagory - Islam, Breaking News, Muslim, Religion, World, Technology, Science, International, Finance, Business, EconomyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger806125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-55280631986019593512013-05-14T22:28:00.000-07:002013-05-25T05:33:20.174-07:00Rashedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02982449741982068696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-59012782777919131592012-05-01T17:23:00.000-07:002013-05-13T22:48:36.595-07:00Daily Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table style="border: 0px none; width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/10/us-judge-bans-guantanamo-witness.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/5/201010511441928734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>US judge bans Guantanamo witness</b></span> The first civilian trial for a Guantanamo Bay detainee has been delayed after a judge told prosecutors they cannot call their star witness.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/10/crews-race-to-tackle-hungary-spill.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/imagecache/218/330/mritems/Images/2010/10/6/20101066529955734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Crews race to tackle Hungary spill</b></span> Rescue crews are working to clear roads and homes after a torrent of toxic red sludge swept over three Hungarian counties, killing four people and injuring 120.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/10/brazil-set-to-pick-lulas-successor.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/3/20101030252242734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Brazil set to pick Lula's successor</b></span> Brazilians are preparing to go to the polls to pick a successor to the hugely popular Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the outgoing president.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/10/ecuador-president-declares-victory.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/1/20101017211765580_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Ecuador president declares victory</b></span> Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, has declared victory over renegade police officers he said were part of an attempt to overthrow, just days after violence that left eight people dead and 274 wounded.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/10/deadly-train-crash-in-indonesia.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/2/2010102262223734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Deadly train crash in Indonesia</b></span> At least 34 people have been killed after two trains collided in central Indonesia, officials have said.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/10/us-sorry-over-syphilis-experiment.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/2/201010221658385580_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>US 'sorry' over syphilis experiment</b></span> Barack Obama has personally apologised "for all those affected" in a US-led study that deliberately infected hundreds of prisoners, soldiers and mental patients in Guatemala with sexually-transmitted diseases.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/koreas-hold-military-talks.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/8/30/201083023241682734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Koreas hold military talks</b></span> North and South Korea have begun their first military talks in two years, aimed at trying to ease tensions heightened by the sinking of a South Korean frigate near their disputed sea border.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/india-braced-for-mosque-verdict.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/29/2010929142031349371_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>India braced for mosque verdict</b></span> Authorities in India have tightened security across the country ahead of a court ruling that will decide whether Hindus or Muslims own land around a disputed mosque, the demolition of which in the 1990s led to one of the country's worst riots since independence.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/moscow-mayor-luzhkov-sacked.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/28/201092844327405734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Moscow mayor Luzhkov sacked</b></span> Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, has signed a decree dismissing the mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, according to Russian news agencies.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/venezuelan-leader-claims-victory.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/28/20109284531689734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Venezuelan leader claims 'victory'</b></span> Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has claimed victory in the country's legislative elections, in which the opposition bloc made big gains and denied the governing party a two-thirds majority.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/un-walkout-over-ahmadinejad-speech.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/23/201092321275715734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>UN walkout over Ahmadinejad speech</b></span> US diplomats and other Western delegations have walked out of a United Nations summit as the Iranian president said some believe the 9/11 attacks on the US was the work of Americans to save Israel.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/japanese-held-for-illegal-filming.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/19/201091914535560734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Japanese held for illegal filming</b></span> Four Japanese nationals have been arrested in China for allegedly filming a military facility, but Japan says it does not see their detentions as part of a simmering diplomatic row.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/bp-declares-deep-sea-well-sealed.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/8/13/2010813224740573734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>BP declares deep-sea well 'sealed'</b></span> US officials have declared that BP, the British oil giant, has finally sealed the deep-sea well that gushed millions of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since April.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/pope-ends-successful-uk-visit.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/19/2010919193124436734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Pope ends 'successful' UK visit</b></span> Pope Benedict XVI has completed a four-day state visit to the UK, with the Roman Catholic Church hailing the trip as a "great success."</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/pakistan-floods-not-over-yet-millions.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://muslimvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Pakistan-flood-crisis-is-not-over-yet-your-donations-are-still-needed-e1284686852543.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Pakistan floods not over yet: millions still face hunger & disease</b></span> Donor fatigue kicks in after a week or two of any natural disaster. It is a very natural process as things move very quickly on the world stage. People forget about a godforsaken place as a disaster unfolds in some other corner of the world. </a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/turkey-votes-for-new-constitution-to.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://muslimvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Turks-vote-yes-to-reforming-their-constitution.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Turkey votes for new constitution to redefine country’s future</b></span> Turks have approved constitutional changes that are set to reshape the judiciary and curb the powers of the military, in a referendum seen as a tussle between an Islamist-influenced government and its secular opponents.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/pope-admits-church-lacked-vigilance.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/16/2010916133751838876_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Pope admits church lacked vigilance</b></span> Pope Benedict XVI has criticised his church for being "insufficiently vigilant" over child sex abuse allegations, in what amounts to his strongest criticism of the raging scandal so far. As he flew to the UK for a historic visit.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/s-africans-charged-in-organ-trade.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/17/20109172335759580_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>S Africans charged in 'organ trade'</b></span> A prominent South African hospital chain and its chief executive have been charged in connection with trafficking human organs in a case that authorities say stretched to Israel and Brazil. Vish Naidoo, a police spokesman,</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/waiting-for-justice.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/16/201091685437122371_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Waiting for justice</b></span> "Amelia," a Filipina domestic worker who sought shelter at her embassy in Beirut earlier this year, had one wish: "I just want to get my money [unpaid wages] and to go back to the Philippines." Her employer had savagely beaten her with a stick - as photos taken by the forensic doctor clearly showed.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/pope-prays-for-warm-welcome.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://blogs.aljazeera.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/BlogsMainImage/popeprays.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Pope prays for a warm welcome</b></span> In 1982, Pope John Paul II came to Britain. The charismatic Pole drew huge crowds wherever he went. The Catholic Church was reinvigorated. People spoke of the feel good factor he left in his wake. Twenty eight years on, Pope Benedict will come on a short state visit which has already been plagued by discontent and threats of protest.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/warnings-against-quran-burning-plan.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/2/2010929448542734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Warnings against Quran burning plan</b></span> US military commanders in Afghanistan have said that a small Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks could endanger the lives of American troops.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-floods-peril-in-pakistan.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/7/20109715317816734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>More floods peril in Pakistan</b></span> Pakistani authorities are racing to protect two southern towns and their 360,000 residents from surging floods, as the nation struggles to cope with its worst natural disaster in nearly a century.</a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/obama-unveils-infrastructure-plan.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/8/19/201081919465474734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Obama unveils infrastructure plan</b></span> Barack Obama, the US president, has unveiled an ambitious plan to revamp US transport infrastructure in a bid to kickstart the country's ailing economy ahead of forthcoming mid-term congressional elections.</a></td><td style="border-color: #CCCCCC; border-style: dotted; border-width: 1px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;"><a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2010/09/there-is-increasing-anger-among-many.html" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/imagecache/218/330/mritems/Images/2010/9/5/201095182625934734_20.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 137px; margin-right: 10px; width: 112px;" /><span style="color: blue;"><b>French Roma scheme aids integration</b></span> There is increasing anger among many elements of French society over the government's recent removal of members of the Roma community from the country.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=khalidfo"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0pt none;" width="125" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=khalidfo" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --> | <a href="http://weare-muslims.blogspot.com/2009/09/we-are-muslims-home.html" style="color: #3333ff; font-family: "lucida grande",tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">Home</a> | <a href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/2009/09/we-are-on.html" style="color: #3333ff; font-family: "lucida grande",tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">We Are On...</a> |</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-84922059389891034572010-12-13T20:10:00.000-08:002010-12-13T20:12:34.605-08:00US diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/imagecache/318/480/mritems/Images/2010/12/14/201012141255644734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">US diplomat Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died after undergoing a second round of surgery to treat a heart condition, the state department said.<br /><br />Holbrooke was admitted to George Washington University Hospital in the nation's capital on Friday morning after he fell ill and collapsed at the state department. Surgeons spent more than 20 hours trying to repair a torn aorta, but were unsuccessful.<br /><br />Barack Obama, the US president, said he was saddened by the death of a man who "served the country he loved with honour and distinction."<br /><br />"Michelle and I are deeply saddened by the passing of Richard Holbrooke, a true giant of American foreign policy who has made America stronger, safer, and more respected. He was a truly unique figure who will be remembered for his tireless diplomacy, love of country, and pursuit of peace."<br /><br />Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said the United States had lost one of its "fiercest champions".<br /><br />"Richard Holbrooke served the country he loved for nearly half a century, representing the United States in far-flung war zones and high level peace talks, always with distinctive brilliance and unmatched determination," Clinton said in a statement.<br /><br />"He was one of a kind - a true statesman - and that makes his passing all the more painful," she said.<br /><br />Holbrooke's death is a significant blow to the Obama administration just days before it is scheduled to announce the latest review of US policy in Afghanistan. He was a key member of the team seeking to steer the US on a course of gradually reduced involvement in the country and transfer of responsibility towards the Afghan military forces.<br /><br />'The Bulldozer'<br /><br />Holbrooke's forceful style earned the 69-year-old nicknames such as "The Bulldozer" or "Raging Bull."<br /><br />He brokered the 1995 peace agreement that ended the Balkans war, and was a key player in Obama's efforts to turn around the faltering nine-year-old war in Afghanistan.<br /><br />Holbrooke served as the US ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration. He was also an ambassador to Germany from 1993 to 1994 and then assistant secretary of state for European affairs.<br /><br />Holbrooke was once called "Washington's favourite last-ditch diplomat'' and "America's toughest diplomatic tactician'' by Time magazine, a US publication. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize seven times.<br /><br />Holbrooke joined Obama's administration in 2009 as special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, which involved co-ordinating the approach to trouble spots that are key foreign policy priorities for Obama.<br /><br />He had been very critical of former president George Bush's Afghanistan policy, and his position Obama administration was considered critical as the new president sought to crackdown on al-Qaeda and Taliban in the region.<br /><br />A torn aorta is a condition in which a rip develops in the inner wall of the body's largest artery, allowing blood to enter the vessel wall and weaken it.<br /><br />The problem can lead to rapid death if not corrected. It causes serious internal bleeding, a loss of normal blood flow and possible complications in organs affected by the resulting lack of blood, according to medical experts.<br />Source:<br />Al Jazeera and agencies</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-15494131858352695042010-12-03T00:47:00.000-08:002010-12-03T00:51:21.694-08:00Leaks show UK Afghan failure<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/11/24/2010112485122740360_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">US diplomats and Hamid, Karzai, the Afghan president, criticised the role of UK troops in Afghanistan as "not up" to standard, according to cables released by WikiLeaks.<br /><br />In the US embassy memos published by the Guardian, a UK newspaper, on Friday, senior officials derided the forces' efforts in the southern Helmand province, a stronghold of the Taliban.<br /><br />"We and Karzai agree the British are not up to the task of securing Helmand," US diplomats from the Kabul embassy said in a 2008 cable.<br /><br />In a separate cable sent in February 2009, Karzai complains that UK forces had allowed law and order to breakdown in Helmand.<br /><br />'Dismayed'<br /><br />"When I first returned to Afghanistan, I had only 14 American soldiers with me," the cable quoted Karzai as having said.<br /><br />"Helmand was safe for girls to go to school. Now ... British soldiers are in Helmand, and the people are not safe.<br /><br />"We must stand on a higher moral platform than the bad guys."<br /><br />General Dan McNeill, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan from 2007-2008, was reported to have said to a US drug-control officer in April 2007 that the British "had made a mess of things in Helmand, their tactics were wrong".<br /><br />Gulab Mangal, Helmand's governor, was also quoted in a cable sent from the US embassy in Kabul as telling a US team led by Joe Biden, the vice-president, that US forces were needed urgently due to British security in the town of Sangin failing to extend even to the main bazaar.<br /><br />"I do not have anything against them [the British] but they must leave their bases and engage with the people," Mangal said.<br /><br />"Stop calling it the Sangin district and start calling it the Sangin base - all you have done here is built a military camp next to the city."<br /><br />The UK has reacted to the leaked memos, stating that their troops had performed well and that safety in Sangin - which the US now maintains responsibility for - was improved by their presence.<br /><br />"British forces did an excellent job in Sangin, delivering progress by increasing security and taking the fight to the insurgency," the UK's ministry of defence said in a a statement.<br /><br />"Both Afghan leaders, including the governor of Sangin, and the US Marines have publicly recognised and paid tribute to the sacrifice and achievements of British forces in that area," a spokesman added.<br /><br />Afghan graft<br /><br />The cables also show that US staff were concerned of widespread corruption within the Afghan government, with one memo from October 2009 stating that Ahmed Zia Massoud, the then vice-president, had been found with $52m in a suitcase when stopped at Dubai airport.<br /><br />Massoud has denied the claim.<br /><br />Al Jazeera’s James Bays, in Kabul, said that the documents showed US fears of corruption within the Afghan government and criticism of Karzai.<br /><br />"Certainly there is criticism of some of the things he has done, like releasing some prisoners from jail ... said to be for tribal, political reasons.<br /><br />"The cables show a progression of when Karzai has been in power from total confidence in him to now when they are deeply concerned."<br /><br />Nato forces have been in Afghanistan since 2001, following a US invasion of the country to remove the Taliban, whom they accused of harbouring al-Qaeda operatives connected to the September 11 attacks, from power.<br /><br />This year has been the most violent since the campaign began.<br /><br />The UK has 10,000 troops in the country, now costing more than £5bn ($7.7bn) a year, of about 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan.<br /><br />The WikiLeaks website began releasing a trove of classified US diplomatic cableson Sunday, infuriating Washington, which called the leak an "attack on the international community".<br />Source: Al Jazeera and agencies</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-13276689162245071052010-12-01T19:37:00.000-08:002010-12-01T19:40:58.895-08:00Appeal sought in US Sharia case<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/2/2010929448542734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">The Oklahoma State Election Board has voted to ask the attorney general to appeal a court's decision to grant a preliminary injunction on a ban preventing the use of Sharia and other international laws in the state.<br /><br />The vote comes after the state legislator who wrote the proposal on Tuesday lashed out at the judge who blocked it, calling her a "liberal, activist judge".<br /><br />Rex Duncan, a former Republican state representative, criticised US district judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange's ruling this week to grant a preliminary injunction, preventing the state from certifying the results of the November 2 election.<br /><br />More than 70 per cent of voters approved State Question 755 (the "Save Our State Amendment" proposition), which would place the Islamic (Sharia) law ban into the state constitution. The question proposed to preemptively ban "considering or using" international law and Sharia.<br /><br />Duncan said "one would surmise that her [judge's] sympathies were with the plaintiff".<br /><br />"But hers won't be the final order on the matter," he added.<br /><br />The plaintiff, Muneer Awad, is a Muslim living in Oklahoma who claims the proposed ban is unconstitutional.<br /><br />Along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma, Awad sued to block the law from taking effect. He argues the ban on Islamic law likely would affect every aspect of his life as well as the execution of his will after his death.<br /><br />Duncan has charged that Muslim rights groups such as the CAIR want to hijack the US legal system.<br /><br />Precedent-setting potential<br /><br />He said he has also heard from legislators in as many as a dozen US states who are interested in introducing similar bills intended to prevent foreign laws from being used, although he declined to say which states.<br /><br />The move could also complicate the way US courts already recognise some aspects of Sharia, as National Public Radio reported, in business contracts and divorce settlements.<br /><br />But when pressed, the courts will always rely on US laws over faith-based ones and avoid having to interpret religious laws.<br /><br />Noah Feldman, a Harvard law professor specialising in US constitutional law and religious studies, told Al Jazeera that the ban in Oklahoma "almost certainly" violates the First Amendment rights of of Muslims.<br /><br />He called the ban "a surprising piece of legislation that came out of the Islamophobia that has unfortunately surfaced in the US in the past few months", and said that striking the ban down is the right course of action for the courts to take.<br /><br />"Under existing law, you cannot endorse or disfavour a particular religion, and the passage of this constitutional amendment is intended to disfavour Islam," said Feldman, who was unaware of any similar precedent.<br /><br />"It's a violation of the free exercise of Muslims in Oklahoma and it's a violation of the separation between church and state."<br /><br />International issue<br /><br />Sharia and other faith-based laws were used in Ontario, Canada since 1991, allowing Christian, Jewish and Muslim Canadians access to faith-based tribunals to resolve family and domestic disputes.<br /><br />But a major backlash against specifically the use of Sharia put an end to the practise in 2005, effectively doing away with faith-based courts in the country.<br /><br />One of Canada's national newspapers, the Globe and Mail, reported at the time that "moderate Muslims" were "overjoyed" and that orthodox Jews and Christian leaders were "disappointed" by the decision.<br /><br />In Britain, faith-based courts, including ones following Sharia are commonly used and groups in Sweden and Holland have also had debates on the issue, with - in Sweden's case - Sharia courts operating outside the scope of the law.<br />Source:Al Jazeera and agencies</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-64387083458816398272010-11-29T21:12:00.000-08:002010-11-29T21:17:53.430-08:00Iran: West behind scientist's death<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368019511680437706"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/11/29/20101129121154191112_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has accused Israel and Western governments of being behind the killing of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist.<br /><br />Assailants on motorcycles attached bombs to the cars of two nuclear scientists as they were driving to work in Tehran on Monday, killing one and wounding the other, Iranian officials say.<br /><br />Ahmadinejad said that “undoubtedly the hand of the Zionist regime and Western governments is involved'' in the killing. But he said the assassination won't stop Iran from pursuing its nuclear programs.<br /><br />Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's nuclear chief, said the man killed was involved in a major project at the country's chief nuclear agency, though he did not give specifics.<br /><br />Some Iranian media reported that the wounded scientist was a laser expert at Iran's defence ministry and one of the country's few top specialists in nuclear isotope separation. State TV blamed Israel and the US for the attacks.<br /><br />At least two other Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in recent years in what Iran has alleged was part of a covert attempt by the West to damage its nuclear programme. One of those two was killed in an attack similar to those on Monday.<br /><br />Mohammad Reza Rahimi, the Iranian vice-president, also blamed Israel, saying it had "picked up the weapon of terror".<br /><br />"We will remove this mask and devilish cover from their face and reveal their identity," he said during a joint news conference with Saad Hariri, the Lebanese prime minister, who is in Tehran on a state visit.<br /><br />Some Iranian media have reported that the second scientist, Fereidoun Abbasi, had been killed in the attack as well, however Tehran's police chief said on Monday that he survived.<br /><br />The dead scientist, Majid Shahriari, was a member of the nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. His wife, who was in the car with him, was injured.<br /><br />The second separate attack that wounded Abbasi, also injured his wife, who was in the car with him.<br /><br />'Cable release orchestrated'<br /><br />Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad, said the US government had orchestrated the release of thousands of US diplomatic cables by Wikileaks to pursue its "political goals".<br /><br />According to the cables released on Sunday, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf leaders repeatedly urged the US to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program.<br /><br />"We don't give any value to these documents," Ahmadinejad told a news conference in Tehran, Iran's capital. It's without legal value. Iran and regional states are friends. Such acts of mischief have no impact on relations between nations," Ahmadinejad said.<br /><br />"These documents are prepared and released by the US government in a planned manner and in pursuance of an aim. It is part of intelligence warfare and will not have their desired political impact," he said.<br /><br />Despite countries calling for a political resolution to the controversy over Iran's uranium enrichment project, the cables show that in addition to Riyadh, both Manama and Abu Dhabi suggested a radical solution may be necessary.<br /><br />Saudi Arabia also offered to promote energy ties with China if the Chinese government backed sanctions against Iran, according to one of the diplomatic cables, the New York Times reported.<br /><br />Ahmadinejad announced on Monday that Iran has accepted a date for new round of talks with world powers about its nuclear programme.<br /><br />The talks will be held in Geneva on December 5, Russia's RIA news agency quoted the Iranian ambassador to Moscow as saying.<br />Source:<br />Agencies</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-50031755187178375032010-10-06T23:49:00.001-07:002010-10-06T23:53:44.036-07:00Crews race to tackle Hungary spill<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href=""><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/imagecache/218/330/mritems/Images/2010/10/6/20101066529955734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Rescue crews are working to clear roads and homes after a torrent of toxic red sludge swept over three Hungarian counties, killing four people and injuring 120.<br /> <br />Hungary declared a state of emergency after thick red sludge burst from a reservoir at Ajkai Timfoldgyar Zrt metals plant in Ajka, in the country's southwest.<br /><br />An estimated 700,000 cubic metres of the waste, a by-product of aluminium production, poured through Kolontar and two other villages, leading hundreds of people to be evacuated.<br /><br />Many have suffered from burns and eye irritations caused by lead and other corrosive elements in the mud.<br /><br />Fears for Danube<br /><br />There are fears that the pollution has already found its way into the Marcal river, which is connected to the Danube River, one of Europe's major waterways.<br /><br />Sandor Toth, deputy chief of the water management company for western Hungary said the sludge could potentially reach the Danube within four or five days.<br /><br />"From the point of view of water management, it's a catastrophe," he said.<br /><br />The European Union said on Wednesday that it feared the disaster could spread to half a dozen European nations and was ready to offer help.<br /><br />"This is a serious environmental problem," Joe Hennon, an EU spokesman, told The Associated Press news agency. "We are concerned, not just for the environment in Hungary, but this could potentially cross borders."<br /><br />Emergency workers and construction crews are pouring plaster into a river near the spill in an attempt to neutralise the waste and prevent it entering major river systems.<br /><br />Timea Petroczi, a spokeswoman for the disaster relief services, said that efforts to neutralise the pollution was "already getting good results showing that alkaline levels in the water are falling".<br /> <br />"We've got 500 people involved in the clean-up today. We're using high-pressure water jets to clean roads and houses."<br /><br />'Caustic effect'<br /><br />Hungary's national disasters unit defined the red mud on its website as: "A by-product of alumina production".<br /><br />"The thick, highly alkaline substance has a caustic effect on the skin. The sludge contains heavy metals, such as lead, and is slightly radioactive. Inhaling its dust can cause lung cancer."<br /><br />A Greenpeace expert said the impact from the mud spill could be much worse than a cyanide spill at Baia Mare in Romania 10 years ago, when cyanide-tainted water was discharged from a gold mine reservoir, polluting the Tisza and Danube rivers.<br /><br />"This disaster is seven times as large as the incident in Baia Mare," Katerina Ventusova, a Greenpeace expert for toxics, said.<br /><br />"The ecological impact can be very wide and take a long time to neutralise because heavy metals and caustic soda form a very dangerous toxic mix."<br /><br />Anna Nagy, a government spokesperson, said an investigation was under way to "find the person criminally responsible".<br /><br />"It is obviously not a natural catastrophe - it was caused by human mistake," she said.<br /><br />The country's state secretary said there was a suspicion that the company which owns the reservoir had stored more red sludge than was allowed, or that containers had not been properly fitted.<br /><br />Greenpeace also said satellite imagery taken a day before the disaster showed "catastrophic cracks in the tank's walls".<br /><br />However, MAL Zrt has insisted it had done nothing wrong.<br /><br />"According to the daily and annual checks, everything was working fine," Zoltan Bakonyi, MAL chief, said.<br /><br />MAL Zrt said on Wednesday that it wanted to restart production at the weekend. The government suspended production after Monday's spill.<br /><br />Polluted homes<br /><br />People in Kolontar, which lies closest to the burst reservoir, were trying to recover their belongings on Wednesday but police were not yet letting them return to their polluted homes.<br /><br />"My bathtub is full of this sludge ... when the dam burst, it made a terrible noise. I was in my yard, and I had to run up the steps to the porch but the water was rising faster than I could run," Ferenc Steszli, 60, said.<br /><br />Farmland around the village was covered in the sludge and many livestock was killed.<br /><br />Nagy told it is "forbidden and impossible" for local residents to return to their homes.<br /><br />"Everything is covered in this poisonous toxic sludge. There is no radiation, fortunately, but it causes severe burning and casualties when touched. Surface waters are polluted but deep water, where drinking water is supplied from, is not, which is very lucky," she said.<br /><br />She said that there was a good chance of preventing the mud from entering big river systems such as the Danube.<br /><br />MAL Zrt, the owner of the plant, said in a statement that there had been no sign of the impending disaster, and that the red sludge did not qualify as hazardous waste according to European Union standards.<br /><br />Reporting from the disaster area, said that the damage from the spill is enormous. <br /><br />"They [MAL Zrt] are claiming it is not hazardous waste, which is a bit of a semantic game they are playing at the moment.<br /><br />"The red sludge is not classified as hazardous waste per se, but the EU said today, that does not mean it is not toxic and does not mean it is not dangerous, because very clearly, it is both," our correspondent said.<br /><br />MAL Zrt recommended people to clean off the sludge with water to neutralise the substance.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-66966770502950884012010-10-06T23:49:00.000-07:002010-10-06T23:51:44.831-07:00US judge bans Guantanamo witness<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href=""><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/5/201010511441928734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">The first civilian trial for a Guantanamo Bay detainee has been delayed after a judge told prosecutors they cannot call their star witness.<br /><br />Lewis A Kaplan, the US district judge, blocked the government on Wednesday from calling a man who authorities said, sold explosives to Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the defendant.<br /><br />Defence lawyers say investigators only learned about the witness after Ghailani underwent harsh interrogation at a secret CIA-run camp overseas between 2004 and 2006.<br /><br />"The court has not reached this conclusion lightly," Kaplan wrote. "It is acutely aware of the perilous nature of the world in which we live. But the constitution is the rock upon which our nation rests. We must follow it not when it is convenient, but when fear and danger beckon in a different direction."<br /><br />The government immediately asked for a delay of the trial, which had been expected to begin with opening statements on Wednesday, so that it has time to appeal the ruling, should it decide to do so.<br /><br />The judge sent a pool of 66 jurors home until Tuesday, but not before warning them to avoid following the case on the news or discussing it with anyone.<br /><br />Ghailani is charged with conspiring in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.<br /><br />The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.<br /><br />The judge issued his written three-page ruling after a hearing three weeks ago in which Hussein Abebe, the witness, testified about his dealings with authorities.<br /><br />"The government has failed to prove that Abebe's testimony is sufficiently attenuated from Ghailani's coerced statements to permit its receipt in evidence," Kaplan wrote.<br /><br />The defence had asked the judge to exclude Abebe's testimony on the grounds that it would be the product of statements made by Ghailani to the CIA under duress.<br /><br />On that point, Kaplan said, "Abebe was identified and located as a close and direct result of statements made by Ghailani while he was held by the CIA. The government has elected not to litigate the details of Ghailani's treatment while in CIA custody. It has sought to make this unnecessary by asking the court to assume in deciding this motion that everything Ghailani said while in CIA custody was coerced."<br /><br />The judge noted that he had previously rejected defence motions to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that Ghailani was deprived of a speedy trial and that his treatment by the CIA was so outrageous as to require termination of the charges.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-64434978000843414352010-10-02T19:57:00.001-07:002010-10-02T20:01:54.589-07:00Ecuador president declares victory<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href=""><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/1/20101017211765580_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, has declared victory over renegade police officers he said were part of an attempt to overthrow, just days after violence that left eight people dead and 274 wounded.<br /><br />"This was a great victory for the government," Correa said in a nationally broadcast address from the presidential palace on Saturday.<br /><br />Correa blamed supporters of Lucio Gutierrez, a former army colonel who was president from 2003 to 2005, for the chaos on Thursday, when he was trapped in a hospital by police protesting over plans to cut their benefits.<br /><br />Airports were closed down, roads were blocked and renegade police officers clashed with supporters of the president before the army stepped in to bring the unrest to an end. <br /> <br />In his televised address, Correa said that Thursday was "surely the saddest day of my entire government and one of the saddest of my life".<br /><br />"Lives were lost, there were dozens of injured, Ecuadoreans against Ecuadoreans. How could it happen?" Correa asked after ordering three days of mourning for the victims.<br /><br />Police investigated<br /><br />Three police colonels have been placed under criminal investigation for failing to stop their subordinates from staging the protests, which spread to police stations in at least five of the country's 24 provinces.<br /><br />Officials did not name the three detained police colonels, but local media identified them as Manuel Rivadeneira, Julio Cesar Cueva and Marcelo Echeverria.<br /><br />Correa on Saturday urged the public to support the police, saying the rebellion was the work of just "a few dozen bad elements".<br /><br />Reporting from Quito said that Correa has said that there would be "no forgiveness" for those involved in the violence.<br /><br />"As they say here, heads are expected to roll, and obviously there will be a purge of the police and certain small factions of the military forces as well," she said.<br /><br />Despite plans to punish those responsible for the uprising, Doris Soliz, the Ecuadorean policy minister, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday that Correa was planning some changes to the austerity measures that prompted the violence. She said that the law would be rewrite to clarify it, but ruled out any major changes.<br /><br />Soliz also said that Correa had backed off the idea of dissolving congress and ruling by decree. <br /><br />Correa, 47 was re-elected last year to a second term as president of the South American country of 14.5 million people.<br /><br />Ecuador has a history riddled with violent political upheaval. Three of Correa's predecessors from 1996 to 2006 - including Gutierrez - were ousted before completing their terms.<br /><br />The US-educated economist has taken a tough stand with foreign investors and refused to repay some foreign debt, in moves welcomed by supporters who have blamed the effects of the economic crisis on foreign liberalism.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-91948393403430301492010-10-02T19:57:00.000-07:002010-10-02T20:01:13.995-07:00Brazil set to pick Lula's successor<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href=""><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/3/20101030252242734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Brazilians are preparing to go to the polls to pick a successor to the hugely popular Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the outgoing president.<br /><br />Opinion polls suggest that Dilma Rouseff, the candidate from Lula's Workers' Party and the president's former chief of staff, will win Sunday's election, but some obsevers have said that she could need a second round run-off to defeat Jose Serra, her main challenger.<br /><br />Rouseff needs more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round to avoid facing her closest challenger in another poll on October 31. <br /><br />Lula has dominated campaigning despite being barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term and Rouseff joined the outgoing president in his hometown of Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sao Paulo's southern outskirts on Saturday ahead of the election.<br /><br />The president enjoys an 80 per cent popularity rating unprecedented in Brazilian politics and many voters are prepared to support Rouseff on his endorsement. For her part, Rouseff has pledged to continue many of her mentor's investor-friendly policies.<br /><br />Reporting from Sao Paulo, said that the main change in Brazil after the election was likely to be the gender of the president.<br /><br />[Rouseff] is very much the candidate of continuity. She is promising no more, no less, than to President Lula's economic, social and foreign policies," she said.<br /><br />'Lower politics'<br /><br />However, her domination of the polls has been threatened by allegations of ethics violations by a former aide and internet rumours.<br /><br />In Sao Bernardo do Campo, the former leftist rebel who has never held an elected office hit out at what she said were underhand tactics by her rivals.<br /><br />"In this campaign there have been sneaky lies that came from the lower world of politics, from those who didn't have the courage to appear in public," she told reporters. "But the population is mature." <br /><br />Two opinion polls released on Saturday indicated that Rouseff, who would become the country's first female president, would just sneak home in the first round but the margin of error meant that victory on Sunday was far from ensured.<br /><br />Rousseff had 51 per cent of valid votes, compared with 31 per cent for former Sao Paulo state Governor Serra in a survey by pollster Ibope, according to the Globo network's website. A survey by the Datafolha firm showed her winning 50 per cent, compared with Serra's 31 per cent.<br /><br />"Candidate Dilma Rousseff has a chance of winning on Sunday as the latest Data Folha poll has shown. This victory is likely to happen with a small advantage, with a margin of two to four percentage points," Ricardo Ismael, a political analyst, said.<br /><br />"But there is also another possible scenario. Fifteen days ago we were not considering it, but now it is a possible outcome, that there may be a second round."<br /><br />Serra and Marina Silva, a former environment minister who is running third in the polls, have found themselves unable to get within striking distance of Rousseff in the polls laregly because of Lula's enthusiastic stumping for his candidate.<br /><br />Lula's farewell<br /><br />Lula himself had tears in his eyes on Saturday as he accompanied Rouseff.<br /><br />"He is very moved because he did so much for us ... He suffered what we suffered," Cleila Santos, a 54-year-old health worker wearing the red of a Lula campaigner, said.<br /><br />"We sure are going to miss him. He was everything in our lives, and we will never have another president like him," she told AFP.<br /><br />Programmes initiated by the outgoing leader are credited with lifting 20.5 million people from poverty since 2003 and boosting another 29 million into the middle class, creating new consumers who help drive the economy.<br /><br />Voters in the world's fourth most populous democracy will begin voting at 8am (11:00 GMT) on Sunday. They will also select candidates for congress and state governorships.<br /><br />The nearly 20,000 candidates in Brazil's 26 states and Federal District are identified by a number which they have been drumming into voters' heads for the past months.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-90860378025840977282010-10-01T22:14:00.001-07:002010-10-01T22:18:28.319-07:00US 'sorry' over syphilis experiment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368019511680437706"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/2/201010221658385580_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Barack Obama has personally apologised "for all those affected" in a US-led study that deliberately infected hundreds of prisoners, soldiers and mental patients in Guatemala with sexually-transmitted diseases.<br /><br />The US president telephoned Alvaro Colom, his Guatemalan counterpart, offering deep regret for the experiment conducted by US health researchers in the Latin American nation in the 1940s.<br /><br />Obama and other US officials voiced their outrage over the "reprehensible research", in which hundreds of people were infected with gonorrhea or syphilis and then allowed them to have unprotected sex.<br /><br />"This is shocking, it's tragic, it's reprehensible," Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman, said.<br /><br />Obama vowed that all human medical studies conducted today would be held to exacting US and international legal and ethical standards.<br /><br />Gruesome crime<br /><br />In an impromptu news conference in Guatemala on Friday, Colom denounced the study and said he was told of the gruesome years-long experiment by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state.<br /><br />"What happened all those years ago is a crime against humanity and the government reserves the right to lodge a formal legal complaint over it," Colom said.<br /><br />However, he acknowledged that the experiments were not the actions of those in power now.<br /><br />"We are aware that this is not the policy of the United States... this happened so long ago," he said.<br /><br />Clinton called Colom to express her deep regret, saying the injection of Guatemalan citizens was "clearly unethical".<br /><br />"Although these events occurred more than 64 years ago, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of public health," Clinton said in a joint statement with Kathleen Sebeliu, the health human services secretary.<br /><br />"We deeply regret that it happened, and we apologise to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices."<br /><br />Clinton said a thorough investigation was under way and that current regulations would prevent any repeat of similar experiments.<br /><br />The federal-funded experiment, which ran from 1946 to 1948, was discovered by Susan Reverby, a Wellesley College medical historian, who stumbled upon archived documents on it.<br /><br />It apparently was conducted to test whether penicillin, then relatively new, could prevent infection with sexually transmitted diseases.<br /><br />Sex workers infected<br /><br />Initially, the researchers infected female commercial sex workers with gonorrhea or syphilis, and then allowed them to have unprotected sex with soldiers or prison inmates.<br /><br />"When few of these men became infected, the research approach changed to direct inoculation of soldiers, prisoners and mental hospital patients," background documents on the study show.<br /><br />A total of some 1,500 people took part in the study, which lay hidden for decades.<br /><br />"The studies went on until 1948 and the records suggest that, despite intentions, not everyone was probably cured," Reverby said in a statement.<br /><br />The research was led by John Cutler, a US public health doctor, who was involved in the highly-controversial Tuskegee experiment from 1932 to 1972.<br /><br />In that study scientists tracked 600 black men in Alabama who had late-stage syphilis but who did not know it, and were never given remedial treatment.<br /><br />Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US government body that funded the study, called it "deeply disturbing" and "an appalling example in a dark chapter in the history of medicine".<br /><br />Collins said the US surgeon-general in the 1940s, Thomas Parran, appeared to have been aware of the experiment, as were "components" of the Guatemalan government at the time.<br /><br />He said independent experts under the umbrella of the US Institute of Medicine will conduct a fact-finding probe of the Guatemala study.<br /><br />The US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues will convene international experts to review standards surrounding human medical research, he added.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-43818479124049376022010-10-01T22:14:00.000-07:002010-10-01T22:16:53.135-07:00Deadly train crash in Indonesia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368019511680437706"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/10/2/2010102262223734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">At least 34 people have been killed after two trains collided in central Indonesia, officials have said.<br /><br />Another 27 people were wounded, many with broken bones and burns, in the accident near Pemalang, a city on the northern coast of Central Java province, early on Saturday.<br /><br />A train from the capital, Jakarta, crashed into the back of another waiting at Petarukan station, causing severe damage to both trains. <br /><br />Many of the dead and injured were trapped in three carriages, which had derailed and flipped over.<br /><br />Local media reported that rescue workers were late to arrive at the scene and lacked equipment to free passengers trapped in the wreckage.<br /><br />"The number of victims could still increase because the evacuation is ongoing," Bambang Ervan, a transport ministry spokesman, told Antara news agency.<br /><br />'Hospitals understaffed'<br /><br />Reporting from Jakarta, said the accident occurred in a pretty remote area.<br /><br />"The hospitals are quite small in that area and severely understaffed," she said.<br /><br />"People have been brought to four or five hospitals. The doctors and nurses are complaining that they can't cope with that many patients so people have been left unattended. They don't have enough medication so people have actually been asked to go other places to find help."<br /><br />Iskandar Hasan, the national police spokesman, said the collision was likely caused by a signal error.<br /><br />"The suspected cause of the accident was a mistake in the traffic management system," he said.<br /><br />"We're still investigating to see if it was due to negligence of the driver or because signalling equipment on one of the trains was faulty," he said.<br /><br />Sugeng Priyono, a spokesman for the national railway PT Kereta Api Indonesia, said the Argo Bromo Anggrek train was travelling from Jakarta to the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya, when it ploughed into the stationary Senja Utama train before dawn.<br /><br />"The Petarukan station is where double tracks change to a single track. Initial report is that the Argo Bromo Anggrek train had not yet been given permission to go ahead when it hit the other train," he said.<br /><br />"However, this is still under investigation, so there could be other causes."<br /><br />Vaessen said that although this was the first big rail crash for some time, accidents on the country's rail network were not uncommon.<br /><br />"There have been many accidents in the past, many train collisions like this, because many of the Indonesia lines are single track so it is very prone to accidents."<br /><br />Metro TV and El Shinta radio reported that another passenger train had crashed in the town of Solo on Saturday, killing at least one person.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-11760334786674247282010-09-29T21:48:00.001-07:002010-09-29T21:50:48.633-07:00India braced for mosque verdict<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368019511680437706"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/29/2010929142031349371_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Authorities in India have tightened security across the country ahead of a court ruling that will decide whether Hindus or Muslims own land around a disputed mosque, the demolition of which in the 1990s led to one of the country's worst riots since independence.<br /><br />The verdict, aiming to resolve the dispute over the Babri Mosque in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya, will be announced on Thursday by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court in the state of Uttar Pradesh.<br /><br />India's Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for the lower court to decide on the ownership of the Babri Mosque, over which the Hindus and Muslims have quarrelled for more than centuries.<br /><br />Hindus say the mosque stood on the birthplace of their god-king Rama and was built only after the destruction of the longstanding Hindu temple by Muslim invaders in the 16th century.<br /><br />The dispute flared up in 1992 after a Hindu mob destroyed the mosque and nearly 2,000 were killed in rioting between Hindus and Muslims across the country.<br /><br />Security challenge<br /><br />Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, described the 60-year-old Babri Mosque-Ram Temple case as one of the biggest security challenges in India - in addition to the Maoist insurgency and the Kashmiri separatist rebellion.<br /><br />In the western state of Gujarat, police have stepped up security at railway stations, bus terminals, shopping centres and were frisking all vehicles entering into the state.<br /><br />Shabbir Hussain Shekhadam Khandwawala, Gujurat's police chief, said more than 70,000 security personnel have been deployed to ensure there is no violence in the state which witnessed nearly 2,000 deaths in 2002 violence between Hindus and Muslims.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in Ludhiana, in the northern state of Punjab, Hindus were holding special prayers to maintain peace, regardless of the outcome of the court ruling.<br /><br />"The purpose of performing these prayers is that whatever decision is announced by the court, all the religions should accept it with an open heart and should respect the decision pronounced," Rajesh Mehen, a Hindu devotee, said.<br /><br />Hindus hope to see a temple rebuilt on the site, while Muslims demand the reconstruction of the mosque.<br /><br />Any verdict will present the ruling Congress party with a difficult decision.<br /><br />Endorsing a pro-Hindu verdict will damage the secular party's links with the Muslim population, while a pro-Muslim verdict could lead to the political nightmare of ordering the eviction of Hindu groups from the site.<br /><br />A decision against Hindus, who make up 80 per cent of India's population, would give political capital to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).<br /><br />But, any verdict will almost certainly be challenged in the Supreme Court, and a final decision could take years to emerge.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-71253015234388250992010-09-29T21:48:00.000-07:002010-09-29T21:50:11.503-07:00Koreas hold military talks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368019511680437706"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/8/30/201083023241682734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">North and South Korea have begun their first military talks in two years, aimed at trying to ease tensions heightened by the sinking of a South Korean frigate near their disputed sea border.<br /><br />Seoul's defence ministry said on Thursday that officers from the two sides met at the border truce village of Panmunjom after the North had accepted the South's revised date for the meeting.<br /><br />North Korea earlier this month proposed the military meeting to discuss the western maritime border and anti-North Korean leaflets spread by South Koreans.<br /><br />Seoul's defence ministry would not confirm what was on the agenda.<br /><br />History of tensions<br /><br />The poorly marked western sea border, drawn by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, is a constant source of tension between the two Koreas.<br /><br />Seoul has repeatedly rejected the North's long-standing demands that the sea border be changed. The navies of the two Koreas engaged in three bloody skirmishes near the area in 1999, 2002 and 2009.<br /><br />Military tensions have been high since the Cheonan, a South Korean patrol ship sank in March, killing 46 sailors. South Korea and the United States say the vessel was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, a claim Pyongyang denies.<br /><br />Seoul and Washington responded to the sinking by staging series of joint military exercises off the peninsula, and by squeezing the North's economy with tougher sanctions.<br /><br />The talks on Thursday come as South Korea and the US hold another set of naval drills in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean peninsula, near where the South Korean vessel sank.<br /><br />The exercises are the second in a series of joint manoeuvres focusing on anti-submarine warfare tactics, techniques, and procedures, according to the South Korean defence ministry.<br /></div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-62985069225949787222010-09-28T04:47:00.001-07:002010-09-28T04:52:12.454-07:00Venezuelan leader claims 'victory'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368019511680437706"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/28/20109284531689734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has claimed victory in the country's legislative elections, in which the opposition bloc made big gains and denied the governing party a two-thirds majority.<br /><br />Chavez declared on Monday, in his first news conference since the vote, that his Socialist party had won most of the votes with 98 seats in the 165-member National Assembly, compared with 65 for the opposition coalition.<br /><br />He claimed his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) had won most of the votes - 5,422,040 - while the Unity Table (MUD), a broad coalition of opposition parties, won 5,320,175 votes in Sunday's elections.<br /><br />He said another 520,000 votes won by the leftist Homeland For Everyone (PPT), which broke off from PSUV, could not be included in the opposition tally, as his opponents have done.<br /><br />Seat breakdown<br /><br />The electoral commission has only released figures for the seats, not votes.<br /><br />According to the official vote count so far, PSUV won 95 seats, while the MUD won 63, and the PPT two.<br /><br />Controversial new changes to electoral rules mean Chavez's party can have many more seats than its vote share would imply.<br /><br />But the results fall far short of the 110 seats Chavez needs to continue to push his socialist programme through the legislature.<br /><br />"As always they're lying, manipulating. The forces of the revolution won a very important victory on Sunday," he said.<br /><br />Chavez promised an "acceleration" of his socialist policies, saying an opposition presence in parliament was no threat to his agenda.<br /><br />"They won't be able to win a majority unless they raise both hands," he said.<br /><br />Sights on presidency<br /><br />Opposition parties boycotted the last election in 2005, giving Chavez complete control of parliament.<br /><br />The bloc has now set its sights on ousting Chavez in the 2012 presidential election.<br /><br />"It's been demonstrated that the country has an alternative, formed thanks to the convergence of very different people," Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, the spokesman for the opposition coalition, said early on Monday.<br /><br />In more than a decade of tumultuous rule, Chavez has nationalised public utilities, key industries and media, and launched health clinics and subsidised food programmes for the poor.<br /><br />He has also increased pressure on opposition groups and dissidents.<br /><br />The opposition's campaign focused on issues like Venezuela's murder rate, one of the highest in the world, and record inflation.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-22302540972388372792010-09-28T04:47:00.000-07:002010-09-28T04:51:40.760-07:00Moscow mayor Luzhkov sacked<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5368019511680437706"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/28/201092844327405734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, has signed a decree dismissing the mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, according to Russian news agencies.<br /><br />The order came a day after he defied the Kremlin, saying he had no plans to resign of his own free will and effectively challenging Medvedev to back off or sack him.<br /><br />Medvedev, who has not publicly commented on Luzkhov, was on an official visit to China when the decree was signed. The reason given was that Luzhkov had "lost the trust of the president of the Russian federation", Itar-Tass news agency said.<br /><br />Luzhkov, 74, has led the Russian capital since 1992 but lately faced harsh criticism from the Kremlin. He has angered the Kremlin by criticising Medvedev and suggesting the country needs a stronger leader in 2012 presidential elections.<br /><br />The clash is widely seen as a test of the resolve of Medvedev, the junior partner to Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, in the run-up to the election.<br /><br />Some Russians believe Luzhkov's downfall is part of a wider political tussle between Putin and Medvedev. However, Dmitry Babich, a specialist in Russian politics, plays down such talk.<br /><br />"I think it's too simplistic, because rumours about Luzhkov's resignation have been circulating for a long time, even before President Medvedev's coming to power," he told Al Jazeera from Moscow.<br /><br />Referring to Medvedev and Putin's relationship, he said: "They are pragmatic politicians. They understand that if they now stage a quarrel, that will end badly for both of them."<br /><br />Target of campaign<br /><br />Whatever the reality, there is no denying that the state media has run a vigorous campaign against Luzhkov. Television programmes have accused him of corruption and mismanagement while unnamed Kremlin sources have been quoted as saying he should resign.<br /><br />But on his first day back at work in Moscow after a one-week holiday in Austria, Luzhkov was defiant.<br /><br />"I have no plans to leave of my own volition," Luzhkov told the Interfax news agency early on Monday. Looking harried and distracted, he declined all comment when pressed on his plans by reporters at a later public speaking engagement.<br /><br />Russia's constitution allows Medvedev to sack Luzhkov, along with other regional officials, at will and to appoint a successor.<br /><br />Luzhkov is one the last of a generation who ruled their regions as mini-states under the fragile presidency of Boris Yeltsin in the early 1990s. Putin reined in the regions after replacing Yeltsin as president in 2000, abolishing elections for these posts in 2004.<br /><br />Medvedev has continued the push, replacing several veteran leaders in recent months, including in Volgograd, Sverdlovsk and Bashkortostan.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-70836706164304854072010-09-23T22:32:00.001-07:002010-09-23T22:37:09.266-07:00Japanese held for illegal filming<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/19/201091914535560734_20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/19/201091914535560734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Four Japanese nationals have been arrested in China for allegedly filming a military facility, but Japan says it does not see their detentions as part of a simmering diplomatic row.<br /><br />The four employees of Fujita, a Tokyo-based construction company, had been on a work trip to China's in Hebei province to do research, an executive of the firm said in Tokyo on Friday.<br /><br />"They were They were bidding for a project to dispose of chemical weapons that were left in China by imperial Japanese forces after World War II, the executive said.<br /><br />China had told Japan that the four were being held "based on China's laws on the protection of military facilities and on criminal procedure", Yoshito Sengoku, Japan's most senior government spokesman, said. He said Tokyo was trying to get more details through its embassy in China.<br /><br />China's state-run Xinhua news agency said earlier that the four Japanese men are being investigated for having entered a military zone without authorisation and illegally videotaped military targets.<br /><br />Fishing boat row<br /><br />The detentions come as diplomatic relations remains inflamed due to Japan's arrest of a Chinese fisherman earlier this month, with Beijing calling off all high-level official meetings.<br /><br />China has repeatedly protested and demanded Japan to release the captain of a trawler which Japan suspects intentionally rammed two Japanese coastguard ships in waters near a disputed island chain in the East China Sea.<br /><br />Japan warned on Friday that the deepening row with China could hurt both of Asia's two biggest<br />economies and sought to draw a line between a feud over the disputed island and the detainment of four of its nationals.<br /><br />"I don't think there is any correlation between this issue and the problem surrounding the Senkaku islands", referring to the island chain called Diaoyu by China.<br /><br />Tokyo and Beijing have agreed that up to 400,000 chemical weapons, left in China as Japan surrendered in World War II, remain in the country, although the exact figure has long been the subject of debate.<br /><br />Under the United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention, Japan is responsible for cleaning up the weapons. Tokyo has started the process, although technical and diplomatic problems have held up progress.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-57260038119227083672010-09-23T22:32:00.000-07:002010-09-23T22:36:27.754-07:00UN walkout over Ahmadinejad speech<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/23/201092321275715734_20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/23/201092321275715734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">US diplomats and other Western delegations have walked out of a United Nations summit as the Iranian president said some believe the 9/11 attacks on the US was the work of Americans to save Israel.<br /><br />Two US officials led the walkout as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the General Assemly in New York on Thursday. They were quickly followed by the British and other Western delegations.<br /><br />Ahmadinejad said there was a theory that "some segments within the US government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order also to save the Zionist regime.<br /><br />"The majority of the American people as well as other nations and politicians agree with this view," he said.<br /><br />PJ Crowley, the US assistant secretary of state, told Al Jazeera the statement was "totally outrageous".<br /><br />"[Those killed in the attacks] were people of all faiths, all nationalities. They were killed by 19 people, a plot perpetrated by al-Qaeda," he said.<br /><br />"We know who did it and they have admitted who did it. This idea that nine years later there is still some debate about who did it and why is outrageous."<br /><br />Lawrence Cannon, Canada's foreign minister, called Ahmadinejad's comments "unacceptable" and "a blatant violation of international standards and of the very spirit of the UN".<br /><br />About 3,000 people died when hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and a fourth aircraft plummeted into a Pennsylvania field in 2001. <br /><br />'9/11 denier'<br /><br />Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said: "[Ahmadinejad's] attack on the traditional version of the 9/11 story was similar to his attack on the traditional version of the holocaust.<br /><br />"So you can now say President Ahmadinejad is both a 9/11 denier and a Holocaust denier.<br /><br />"And that simply does not set a positive tone for any negotiations with the Americans, but also underlines that Iran is not interested in talks anytime soon."<br /><br />Ahmadinejad briefly touched on the four sets of UN sanctions imposed on his country over Tehran's refusal stop enriching uranium and to prove Iran is not trying to build an atomic bomb.<br /><br />Some members of the Security Council have "equated nuclear energy with nuclear bombs," Ahmadinejad said.<br /><br />He accused the US of building up its nuclear arsenal instead of dismantling it and reiterated his call for a nuclear-free world.<br /><br />The UN Security Council in June imposed a fourth set of sanctions against Iran and the European Union and the US have added even more extensive sanctions targeting its foreign trade.<br /><br />Iran insists that its nuclear programme has only peaceful intentions.<br /><br />In his speech, Ahmadinejad condemned some of the permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - for monopolising nuclear power.<br /><br />He said the criticism of Iran comes "at the same time they have continued to maintain, expand and upgrade their own nuclear arsenals."<br /><br />He said 2011 should be declared a year of nuclear disarmament - "Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapons for None".<br /><br />Ahmadinejad said that Iran was ready for negotiations but dismissed suggestions that such an act would be giving in to international pressure.<br /><br />"We have never submitted to illegally imposed pressures nor will we ever do so. It has been said that they want to pressure Iran into a dialogue," he said.<br /><br />"Firstly, Iran has always been ready for a dialogue based on respect and justice. Secondly, methods based on disrespecting nations have long become ineffective."<br /><br />US 'door open'<br /><br />Hours before Ahmadinejad's speech, Barack Obama, the US president, told the General Assembly that the US was open to diplomacy with Iran only if it proves that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.<br /><br />"The United States and the international community seek a resolution to our differences with Iran, and the door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it," he said.<br /><br />"But the Iranian government must demonstrate a clear and credible commitment, and confirm to the world the peaceful intent of its nuclear programme."<br /><br />However, Obama also noted that he made the same overture, in the same forum, a year ago, and tensions continue.<br /><br />About 800 people including many of Iranian origin protested outside the UN headquarters as Ahmadinejad was attending the General Assembly.<br /><br />They chanted "Ahmadinejad is a terrorist" and staged a street performance depicting people stained with fake blood and scenes of hanging and stoning.<br /><br />"It is time for the international community to stop dealing with Ahmadinejad and finally recognise and empower the opposition, so that the Iranian people can finally get the democratic change it deserves," Ali Safavi, a demonstrator, said.<br /><br />Many of the demonstrators were affiliated with the the People's Mujahidin Organisation of Iran, which is officially listed as a foreign terrorist organisation in the US, although a judge ruled in July that it should be removed from the blacklist</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-31446794061929872242010-09-19T21:32:00.001-07:002010-09-19T21:37:06.363-07:00Pope ends 'successful' UK visit<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/19/2010919193124436734_20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/19/2010919193124436734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Pope Benedict XVI has completed a four-day state visit to the UK, with the Roman Catholic Church hailing the trip as a "great success."<br /><br />The Vatican said on Sunday that it believed the Pope had reached out to the nation despite anger there at the sex abuse scandal surrounding the Church and weariness about his message.<br /><br />Reverend Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said the UK public had received "with profound interest" the Pope's warnings over increasing secularisation in society.<br /><br />Lombardi described the trip as "a spiritual success."<br /><br />Beatification<br /><br />David Cameron, the prime minister, met with the Pope before his departure from Birmingham Airport, and stated: "Faith is part of the fabric of our country. It always has been and it always will be."<br /><br />Cameron added that the visit had made the UK "sit up and think."<br /><br />Earlier in the day, Benedict had beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman, a 19th century Catholic priest, in front of 55,000 pilgrims in Birmingham, central England.<br /><br />He said that Newman, a intellectual convert to Catholicism, had "outstanding holiness," and that his teachings are as relevant today as they were more than a century ago.<br /><br />The Pope renewed his criticism of the abuse of children by Catholic priests, stating at a meeting of Bishops that it "seriously undermines the moral credibility of Church leaders."<br /><br />As he met five victims, he apologised for the uncovered sex-abuse of children in the Catholic Church on Saturday, saying that the crimes had caused "immense suffering."<br /><br />On the same day the Pope held a prayer vigil in London in front of a crowd of 80,000, however, a significant opposition to the visit manifested itself beforehand. About ten thousand people took to the streets to express their opposition to the Pope.<br /><br />The visit was also said to have brought Catholics and Anglicans closer together.<br /><br />Benedict on Friday met with Rowan Williams, the worldwide Anglican leader and Archbishop of Canterbury.<br /><br />It was the first papal visit to the UK since John Paul II in 1982 and the first ever state trip.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-36517965811922180982010-09-19T21:32:00.000-07:002010-09-19T21:36:25.034-07:00BP declares deep-sea well 'sealed'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/8/13/2010813224740573734_20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/8/13/2010813224740573734_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">US officials have declared that BP, the British oil giant, has finally sealed the deep-sea well that gushed millions of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since April.<br /><br />"We can finally announce that the Macondo 252 well is effectively dead," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who oversees the US government response to the disaster, said in a statement on Sunday.<br /><br />Last Thursday, a relief well bored into the bottom of the Macondo well to pump in cement and seal the reservoir for good. BP pumped cement for seven hours on Friday, and finished a pressure test early on Sunday that showed the well was "effectively dead," Allen said.<br /><br />BP had pumped cement into the well from the top on August 5. That attempt provided the first cement plug. The second round into the bottom through the relief well was considered the final assurance that the well was plugged for good.<br /><br />Rich Robson, the offshore installation manager on the Development Driller III vessel, said that while the declaration will be a significant milestone, it would be difficult to celebrate too much given the tragedy of the oil spill.<br /><br />"It's kind of bittersweet because we lost 11 men out here," he said.<br /><br />"There isn't going to be any real celebration. To a lot of people, the water out here is a cemetery."<br /><br />Barack Obama, the US president whose approval ratings were hurt by public discontent over government's initial response to the spill, welcomed the long-awaited development as an "important milestone".<br /><br />Obama said his administration was now focused on making sure the Gulf Coast "recovers fully from this disaster".<br /><br />"This road will not be easy, but we will continue to work closely with the people of the Gulf to rebuild their livelihoods and restore the environment that supports them," Obama said in a statement.<br /><br />Worst oil spill<br /><br />The catastrophe began on April 20, when an explosion killed 11 workers, sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in the US history.<br /><br />The Gulf well spewed 206 million gallons (780 million litres) of oil before the gusher was first stopped in mid-July with a temporary cap.<br /><br />Mud and cement were later pushed down through the top of the well, allowing the cap to be removed.<br /><br />BP is a majority owner of the well and was leasing the rig from owner Transocean Ltd.<br /><br />The spill posed major environmental challenges and has been an economic nightmare for people along the Gulf Coast.<br /><br />With oil still in the water - some of it still washing ashore - fishermen are still fighting the perception that their catch is tainted.<br /><br />The oil spill, which has brought increased governmental scrutiny of the oil and gas industry, also wiped about $70bn from BP's market value and spurred BP to replace its gaffe-prone Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, with an American, Bob Dudley, effective October 1. It also triggered civil and criminal investigations.<br /><br />A costly moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling is still in place as a result of the spill.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-67633789868677549742010-09-17T20:40:00.001-07:002010-09-17T20:45:59.923-07:00Turkey votes for new constitution to redefine country’s future<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://muslimvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Turks-vote-yes-to-reforming-their-constitution.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://muslimvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Turks-vote-yes-to-reforming-their-constitution.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Turks have approved constitutional changes that are set to reshape the judiciary and curb the powers of the military, in a referendum seen as a tussle between an Islamist-influenced government and its secular opponents.<br /><br />A provisional count, after polls closed at 14:00 GMT on Sunday, showed 58 per cent of voters approving the amendments, with 99 per cent of ballot boxes counted, according to NTV, a Turkish broadcaster.<br /><br />“According to provisional results, the changes were approved by about 58 per cent … The turnout was between 77 and 78 per cent,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said.<br /><br />Earlier opinion polls had suggested up to 56 per cent of Turks could approve the 26 constitutional amendments or that it might be too close to call.<br /><br />“We have passed a historic threshold on the way to advanced democracy and the supremacy of law,” Erdogan told cheering supporters of a vote that was seen as a crucial test for his governing Justice and Development Party (AKP).<br /><br />‘Good for the government’<br /><br />Al Jazeera’s Anita McNaught reporting from Ankara, the capital, said the results are “probably better than what the government had hoped for … a slim win for the government would have been destabilising”.<br /><br />Semih Idiz, a columnist for Milliyet newspaper, agreed that preliminary results were “a good margin for the government”.<br /><br />“It’s better than expected, and it’s a good endorsement ahead of next year’s elections … I think the prime minister must be feeling pretty comfortable,” Idiz told the Reuters news agency.<br /><br />Defeat could have damaged the AKP’s morale before a parliamentary election due by July 2011.<br /><br />Erdogan has said changes are needed to strengthen democracy and bring Turkey closer to European norms, as the country continues its bid to join the European Union.<br /><br />Critics of the overhaul from the “no” camp, said some of the changes would allow Erdogan’s party to take over the courts, undermining the secular nature of the Turkish state.<br /><br />Some 50 million people were eligible to vote in the referendum that fell on the 30th anniversary of the 1980 military coup, which produced the current constitution, which critics say gives too much power to the military and court officials.<br /><br />Kurdish activists in Turkey’s southeast, who have waged an armed campaign against the government, had called for a boycott of the vote.<br /><br />EU position<br /><br />The EU’s executive European Commission has backed Ankara’s attempt to reorganise the judiciary, but accused the government on Tuesday of stifling public debate over the proposals.<br /><br />The AKP evolved from a series of Islamist parties banned by the courts, but denies having any aims to roll back the republic’s traditional secularism.<br /><br />Polarisation over the referendum reflects Turkey’s fractured political landscape, in which a rising middle class of observant Muslims who form the backbone of the AKP have challenged a secular elite which has traditionally held power since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey in 1923.<br /><br />“The battle is really not between Islamists and secularists; the battle is between reformists and those who defend the status quo,” Ibrahim Kalin, a senior adviser to Erdogan, told Al Jazeera.<br /><br />Our correspondent in Ankara said that opposition parties did not mount an effective campaign against the changes.<br /><br />“The leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) [the main opposition] could not vote because his paper work was not in order, which was symbolic of the problems in the ‘no’ campaign,” McNaught said.<br /><br />To celebrate his party’s victory, the Turkish prime minister will watch his country play the United States in the 2010 Basketball World Championship final in Istanbul, our correspondent said.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-26091684648296363462010-09-17T20:40:00.000-07:002010-09-17T20:45:05.422-07:00Pakistan floods not over yet: millions still face hunger & disease<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://muslimvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Pakistan-flood-crisis-is-not-over-yet-your-donations-are-still-needed-e1284686852543.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://muslimvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Pakistan-flood-crisis-is-not-over-yet-your-donations-are-still-needed-e1284686852543.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">Donor fatigue kicks in after a week or two of any natural disaster. It is a very natural process as things move very quickly on the world stage. People forget about a godforsaken place as a disaster unfolds in some other corner of the world. The best antidote to this lassitude is a relentless media campaign. And that’s what is missing in the Pakistan floods.<br /><br />While the coverage had been pervasive during the first two weeks, it has taken a backstage in recent days. Google News search for ‘Lady Gaga’ returned 20,200 results whereas ‘Pakistan Floods’ had a return of 12,300. True that news is still published but mostly in the back pages thus diminishing their chance of being read by people — and reducing any chances of further donations. One cannot blame the news writers and layout editors as other — and more important — news has taken center stage. Nevertheless, a little more highlighting will be good for the millions of victims.<br /><br />More coverage is needed because the floods have not subsided yet. Manchar Lake, the largest fresh water lake in South Asia, is expected to burst its banks, thus causing more damage in the already ravaged Sindh province. This will uproot hundreds of thousands of people and thus create more problems for the flood managers of Pakistan.<br /><br />There is also a perception that the devastation has not been extensive in Pakistan. People are not to blame for this. One unconsciously evaluates a disaster by looking at the death toll, which has remained rather low for Pakistan with around 1,800 deaths. Many are also not aware of the river floods that are devastating but slow moving. They are not like the tsunami that destroys everything in its path but recedes within a few hours. They affect far greater areas and work like slow poison, killing everything in their path but without making much of a noise. Lives were saved as evacuations were ordered but people lost their livestock and crops — their only livelihood in the dirt poor rural areas of Pakistan.<br /><br />Compassion is thus still needed because the first phase of flooding is not over. As for the rehabilitation, Pakistan is stretching its muscles and the IMF has already extended a helping hand. The Pakistani government is intent on accepting this loan despite the fact that they can generate their own resources for the rehabilitation process. The country has a poor taxation system and the lack of land reforms has crippled the governance. Global donors should also scale back their grants or loans for the rehab process as that’s not a right thing to do.<br /><br />It is, however, still the first stage. And it requires global attention to save lives.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-85120449330380468972010-09-16T21:51:00.003-07:002010-09-16T22:03:12.411-07:00Pope prays for a warm welcome<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.aljazeera.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/BlogsMainImage/popeprays.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://blogs.aljazeera.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/BlogsMainImage/popeprays.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">In 1982, Pope John Paul II came to Britain. The charismatic Pole drew huge crowds wherever he went. The Catholic Church was reinvigorated. People spoke of the feel good factor he left in his wake.<br /><br />Twenty eight years on, Pope Benedict will come on a short state visit which has already been plagued by discontent and threats of protest.<br /><br />There are three main reasons why events during this Papal visit might still not be sold out, why people are questioning the wisdom of a visit right now.<br /><br />First there is church dogma.<br /><br />Despite strong medical evidence that condoms help prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that can lead to Aids and that they can help with population control, particularly in poorer countries, the Catholic Church still believes their use is sinful, that they are against God's teachings. Many Catholics believe this - and the Church's position on homosexuality - are out of step with society.<br /><br />Then there is the child abuse scandal which has engulfed the church globally. <br /><br />Many victims believe the Church historically ignored the problem and even now is only taking action to protect its reputation and finance. The last scandal on Belgium detailed abuse linked to the Church over fifty years, with more than 300 victims and linked to at least 13 suicides.<br /><br />And finally personality. <br /><br />Pope Benedict simply doesn't enjoy the level of affection inspired by his predecessor. He's seen as cold, clinical and out of touch.<br /><br />In such times, it would be hard to lose sight of the good the Catholic Church does. It's support for the needy and vulnerable around the world; the good people with good hearts who use their religion to do good.<br /><br />The pope will use his UK trip to give voice to those people - to that work.<br /><br />He'll have to pray his message isn't drowned out.<br /><br />By Alan Fisher</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-1477976451213776682010-09-16T21:51:00.002-07:002010-09-16T22:00:43.327-07:00Waiting for justice<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/16/201091685437122371_20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/16/201091685437122371_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">"Amelia," a Filipina domestic worker who sought shelter at her embassy in Beirut earlier this year, had one wish: "I just want to get my money [unpaid wages] and to go back to the Philippines." Her employer had savagely beaten her with a stick - as photos taken by the forensic doctor clearly showed - and allegedly owed her $3,800 in unpaid wages. But while Amelia’s wishes were clear, her circumstances were complicated - a situation she shared with many other migrant domestic workers in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.<br /><br />Under Lebanon’s kafeel (sponsorship) system, she lost her legal residency as soon as she left her abusive employer. She was consequently confined to her embassy - which was already overcrowded with other domestic workers who had fled similar situations. It would probably take at least two years for her to seek her back wages in court. And she faced an additional hurdle: Her employer held her identity papers and had filed a theft claim against her - a claim she vehemently denied and which her embassy appointed lawyer believed her employers filed to pressure her into dropping her claims.<br /><br />I met Amelia during my research for Human Rights Watch into the recourse available to domestic workers against abusive employers in Lebanon. We interviewed abused domestic workers in shelters, as well as the lawyers and diplomats who assisted them, and reviewed 114 judicial decisions affecting domestic workers.<br /><br />For years, we had documented the abuses these workers suffered. Now we wanted to know how the stories ended for these young women who came from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Nepal, and Bangladesh, to live and work in houses of complete strangers. Many had positive experiences. But what happened to those with valid complaints against their employers? What recourse did they have if an employer did not pay the wages owed? Did Lebanon’s courts punish employers who committed crimes against these workers?<br /><br />Human Rights Watch’s report, published this week, shows a justice system with inaccessible complaint mechanisms, lengthy judicial procedures, and restrictive visa policies that dissuade many workers from filing or pursuing complaints against their employers. Daunted, many of the workers settled for a ticket home, hoping to end their nightmare.<br /><br />A labour attaché at one of the embassies said: "When we tell a worker the legal process will take years and she will have to stay here, she immediately backs away." In our sample, criminal cases by workers against employers took an average of 24 months to resolve. Complaints for unpaid wages took between 21 and 54 months. Even simplified complaints brought before labour courts took 32 months on average.<br /><br />When domestic workers did file complaints, the police and judicial authorities regularly failed to treat certain abuses as crimes. We did not find a single example among the 114 cases we reviewed in which an employer faced charges for locking a worker inside a home, confiscating the worker’s passport, or denying the person food, although we know from our fieldwork that these violations of the law are commonplace. This was disappointing, but not particularly surprising, given that police officers and prosecutors are often themselves employers of domestic workers and consider it "normal" to hold a worker’s passport or to lock her inside the house to ensure that she does not "run away".<br /><br />Even cases of physical violence against migrant domestic workers often failed to garner sufficient attention from police and prosecutors. In a 2005 case, the police waited 21 days to begin investigating a complaint that an employer was beating a domestic worker. The most severe sentence that a court has imposed on an employer for beating a domestic worker was a one-month prison term, handed down last June 26. While such a ruling shows the positive role that the judiciary can play, it remains an exception: Employers have been sentenced to prison in only a handful of beating cases.<br /><br />If the Lebanese authorities are committed to improving the treatment of domestic workers - and the Lebanese ministers of interior and labour say they are - then they need to train law enforcement officials and labour inspectors to identify and prosecute violations against domestic workers. When an employer locks a domestic worker in the house or beats the worker up, that is a crime, and the authorities need to prosecute this behaviour. To find these violations, the police and labour inspectors need to conduct home inspections - even if this displeases Lebanese employers. Finally, Lebanon’s parliament needs to reform the sponsorship system so that a worker’s legal residency is no longer tied to the will of an individual employer.<br /><br />These reforms may not be popular, given widely held views by employers that no one should interfere with what happens inside their homes. But to continue to turn a blind eye to these violations is to be complicit in the ongoing abuses. As for Amelia, she left Lebanon before her case concluded and is still waiting for her wages.</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5368019511680437706.post-74614204479097247562010-09-16T21:51:00.001-07:002010-09-16T21:59:11.255-07:00S Africans charged in 'organ trade'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/17/20109172335759580_20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 680px; height: 450px;" src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/9/17/20109172335759580_20.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: Verdana;">A prominent South African hospital chain and its chief executive have been charged in connection with trafficking human organs in a case that authorities say stretched to Israel and Brazil.<br /><br />Vish Naidoo, a police spokesman, told The Associated Press news agency on Thursday that 11 suspects were ordered to appear in court in November.<br /><br />He declined to name them, but the board of directors of the Netcare hospital chain said in a statement that the parent company, its chief executive officer, Richard Friedland, and its subsidiary in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal received subpoenas on Wednesday.<br /><br />"The board has been advised that the allegations made are unjustified and that neither Netcare nor Dr Friedland are guilty of any wrongdoing,'' the statement said.<br /><br />Illegal kidney transplants<br /><br />Five South African doctors were also charged as part of the case with performing illegal kidney transplants for rich Israelis using organs bought from poor Brazilians and Romanians, South African newspapers reported.<br /><br />The Star newspaper reported on Thursday that prosecutors claimed 109 illegal operations were conducted between 2001 and 2003.<br /><br />The Times newspaper reported that "Israeli citizens in need of kidney transplants would be brought to South Africa for transplants at St Augustine's Hospital. They paid kidney suppliers for these operations".<br /><br />The kidneys "were initially sourced from Israeli citizens, but later Romanian and Brazilian citizens were recruited as their kidneys were obtainable at much lower costs than those of the Israeli suppliers."<br /><br />Israelis were paid about $20,000 for their kidneys, while the Brazilians and Romanians were paid an average of $6,000, prosecutors said.<br /><br />J-P Du Plessis, a senior journalist with Eyewitness news in Johannesburg, said big international network was involved in the alleged organ trade.<br /><br />"They had people operating in three different countries," he told Al Jazeera.<br /><br />"People who would source kidneys from poor people, arrange payments, have organs transplanted and transport them from those countries to South Africa, which is not a small feat in its own. To get them through customs you obviously need the right documentation."<br /><br />High demand<br /><br />Five years ago, South African police tried to bring a case against Ilan Perry, an Israeli who is believed to be the head of the syndicate.<br /><br />That case was never brought forward and Perry has now turned state witness, The Times reported.<br /><br />Netcare, meanwhile, has said it will defend itself against the charges in court.<br /><br />"After several years of co-operating fully with the South African Service Police and providing the investigating officer with countless affidavits, it has come as a great surprise and disappointment that the prosecuting authority has seen it fit to bring charges" against the firm, Netcare said in a statement.<br /><br />There is a high demand and small supply of kidneys, which can be taken from a living donor.<br /><br />The black market is said to be thriving around the world. The World Health Organisation calls the shortage of organs "a universal problem".</div><br /><table style="width:100%;background-color:#EAFFEA;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:50%"><a style="color:Blue;" href="http://islami-news.blogspot.com/"><b>Daily Update</b></a></td><td style="width:50%; text-align:right;"><!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><a class="addthis_button" href="http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=wearemuslims"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" style="border: 0pt none ;" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" width="125" height="16" /></a><script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js?pub=wearemuslims" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- AddThis Button END --></td></tr></tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com