MFS - The Other News -- Monday 08 November.

                          Morning Posting.

• Barack Obama joined Muslim prayers at school, teacher says.AS a schoolboy in Jakarta, Barack Obama attended Muslim prayer sessions with his classmates against the wishes of his mother. The US President's former grade three teacher said that Mr Obama - who was known as "Barry" when he attended the Menteng One school in Jakarta - studied the Koran and went to classes on Islam, despite the objections of Anne Dunham, a Roman Catholic.Mr Obama attended classes on Islam while the Christians attended classes on Christianity, said Effendi. Barry, he said, was alone among the pupils in that he insisted on attending both."His mother did not like him learning Islam, although his father was a Muslim. Sometimes she came to the school; she was angry with the religious teacher and said 'Why did you teach him the Koran?'" said Effendi.The US President - who has cancelled a scheduled trip to Indonesia twice before - may be stymied again by air traffic disruption caused by an ash cloud emitted from Mount Merapi.The volcano has been erupting since October 26, killing at least 117 people.Mr Obama is due to arrive in Jakarta tomorrow after three days in India.A third cancellation would not be welcomed in Indonesia, where some offence has already been taken at the brevity of the visit.Read the full story here.

• Turban search for Sikhs at all American airports.America’s transportation security administration (TSA) officials have informed Sikh groups that the community should now expect turbans to always be searched at US airports, prompting angry reaction from Sikhs.The Sikh Coalition, United Sikhs, and Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund have decided to oppose it. While procedures which allow Sikhs to pat down their turbans and have their hands swabbed by a TSA screener remain in place, what changed is that turbaned Sikhs must go through an additional hand wand of the turban as an additional screening procedure 100% of the time.This is even for Sikh travellers who choose to be screened by going through the new advanced imaging technology (AIT) machines.The AIT machines (or whole body imaging machines) are being placed in airports nationwide over the coming years.“National Sikh organisations oppose this policy and question its necessity. Targeting turbans for additional scrutiny sends a message to other passengers that Sikhs and their articles of faith are to be viewed with suspicion by fellow travellers. The policy is a serious infringement on the Sikh community’s civil rights and liberties,” it said.Hmmmm.....just now that a certain someone is leaving India?Read the full story here.

• Indonesian Muslims protest Obama's planned visit.Muslims staged rallies across Indonesia on Sunday to protest U.S. President Barack Obama's planned visit to the southeast Asian nation this week.The protests -- organized by Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir -- included women and children."We don't see the differences between Obama and Bush, they both oppress Muslims, they both have blood on their hands," said Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the Muslim group in Indonesia."That's why we reject Obama and we don't believe that he's reaching out to Muslims."On Wednesday, the president will visit Istiqlal mosque. He will also address the biggest Muslim nation from an undetermined location.However, Muslims in Indonesia remain pessimistic."Obama can talk all he wants in Cairo and in Jakarta, the fact is that he still has his troops in war with Muslims," Yusanto said. "It's all lip service."Hmmm....i wonder what Iman Rauf is thinking there in Indonesia..."They're all bigots"?Read the full story here.

• Obama in India:Islam is a great religion,over a Billion people practice it!Hmmm...Promoting economy or religion on your Asia trip Mr President?Read and see the daily - hourly updates here.Live coverage here.

• Israel charges imam with incitement against Pope.Israeli authorities have charged the imam of a mosque in Nazareth with inciting violence against Pope Benedict and supporting al Qaeda and "global jihad," the justice ministry said Sunday.The indictment said Nazim Mahmoud Salim, who was arrested by police a month ago, led a group of about 2,000 worshippers, and had also preached at the flashpoint al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest shrine.Salim is charged with inciting violence against Pope Benedict during his visit last year to Nazareth, the town of Jesus' boyhood in the heartland of Israel's minority Arab population.In his sermons and on his website over the past decade, the indictment said, Salim preached "an ideological world view identical to that of global jihad" and wrote "publications that supported and identified with the terror organisation al Qaeda."At the time of Pope Benedict's visit to the Holy Land in May 2009, the indictment quotes Salim as saying in a sermon at al Aqsa: "The pope prepares himself at the gate of the Vatican and at the head of a crusade against the Islamic world ... we will expel the pope from Nazareth."Salim is being held by authorities until the end of the proceedings, a Justice Ministry spokeswoman said.Read the full story here.

• Obama talks Kashmir, Manmohan says not afraid of the K word.New Delhi: "We will be happy to engage productively (with Pakistan)," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today as he addressed a joint press conference in New Delhi with US President Barack Obama. "We are not afraid of the K-word in discussions with Pakistan," said the Indian Prime Minister."India is committed to resolving all problems with Pakistan but simultaneously Pakistan should ensure that it moves away from terror-induced coercion," he added.Reiterating India's stand on a dialogue with Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said," You cannot talk and allow a terror machine to operate all at the same time."Obama said. "When American people ask me why you are visiting India, I want to say that look India just created 50,000 jobs and so we should not be talking about protectionism".PM Manmohan Singh said, "Indians were not in the business of stealing jobs from the US". "We have helped increase the productivity of the US," Singh added.Hmm....i would say Mr President, The Indian PM is a League of it's own...strike 3.....you're out.Read the full story here.

• Full text: Obama's address to India's Parliament.Visiting American President Barack Obama addressed the Indian Parliament on Monday. He is just the second US President to address the House after former US President Bill Clinton.Read the full text here.

• More attacks on Christians in Baghdad a week after massacre.Another attack against Christians in Iraq, a week after the massacre in the Syrian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad. Two worshipers were killed yesterday, November 7: Louay Daniel Yacoub, 49, was in front of his apartment when strangers shot him dead. Another Christian was killed the same day, but his identity is not yet known. Read the full story here.

• HT:IMRA.IDF decides to store Iron Dome system at air force base - not deploy it. [Puzzle: why have it?]Why do we have the Iron Dome? Option #1. To shield Israeli civilian targets from rocket attack.Option #2. To shield Israeli policy makers from the imperative of addressing the growing rocket threat from Gaza and south Lebanon.On Sunday, top IDF officers told The Jerusalem Post that the initial operational capability would be postponed until the first quarter of 2011.The delay, the officers stressed, was not due to technical malfunctions but rather to the intricate process of training IDF officers and soldiers to use the complicated weapons system.“This system is unbelievable,” one officer said. “It is, however, sometimes a complicated process to take in such a system and to turn it operational and into a fully functioning weapons system.”Read the full story here.

• US rejects Israel's call for Iran.Robert Gates, US defence secretary, rejects Benyamin Netanyahu's call for 'credible' military threat against Iran.The US has rejected comments by Israel's prime minister calling for a military threat against Iran to ensure it does not obtain nuclear weapons."We know that they are concerned about the impact of the sanctions. The sanctions are biting more deeply than they anticipated and we are working very hard at this," Robert Gates, US defence secretary, said on Monday."So I would disagree that only a credible military threat can get Iran to take the actions it needs to end its nuclear weapons programme," he said during a visit to Australia for security talks."We are prepared to do what is necessary but at this point we continue to believe that the political-economic approach that we taking is in fact having an impact in Iran."In remarks to the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in New Orleans, Biden said: "We continue to seek a peaceful resolution and hope Iranian leaders will reconsider their current destructive and debilitating course"."But let me be very clear about this: We are also absolutely committed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons."The West believes that Iran aims to use its uranium enrichment programme to build atomic weapons, and both Israel and the United States have said all options are on the table in dealing with its nuclear ambitions.The New York Times reported last month that the Obama administration and its European allies were preparing a new, more onerous offer for Iran than the one rejected by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year.The offer would require Iran to send more than 1,995 kgs of low-enriched uranium out of the country, an increase of more than two-thirds from the amount required under a deal struck in Vienna.Hmmm.....and who's going to intermediate this deal?.......of course the "Good" Nato member Turkey.Read the full story here.

• Some freed Islamic terrorists so dangerous they will have their freedom limited upon release.Dozens of Islamic terrorists who have finished their prison sentences are so dangerous that a secret list of restrictions has been drawn up to limit their freedom, it was disclosed last night. The curbs have been introduced by ministers who are concerned about the release or impending release of a ‘significant’ number of extremists.Restrictions are understood to include a ban on using computers, visiting certain mosques, associating with imams who are not approved by the Government and not associating with known criminals.Ministers will apply the curbs to at least 20 convicted terrorists who have been freed from jail this year as well as 26 eligible for release within the next two years.The document, leaked to the Daily Telegraph, also warns probation officers not to become targets of manipulation when dealing with terrorist offenders.Read the full story here.

• Exclusive: Officials Worried President Obama May Have to Cancel Indonesia Trip Due to Indonesian Volcano.ABC News has learned that because of the dangerous clouds of ash spewing from an Indonesian volcano, 48 hours before Air Force One is due to touch down in the capital Jakarta White House officials are concerned President Obama may not be able to make the trip.Some commercial flights into Jakarta have been cancelled. Flights of government equipment and personnel to preposition in Indonesia are no longer flying during nighttime hours as a safety precaution, sources tell ABC News. That equipment and personnel are necessary for the president to be able to make his visit.This would be the first time in memory a President could be forced to cancel a stop while he is overseas, and it remains unclear when a White House decision will come and how it will affect the remainder of his Asian trip.Hmmm....does this mean Iman Rauf will be stuck in Indonesia?Read the full story here.

• How Russia sees the new NATO cooperation evolving?"Jewellery crown for bird droppings".Security analyst Eerik-Niyles Cross wrote on the eve of the NATO summit, the alliance's Secretary General, recalled Little Red Riding Hood, which is sent to the wolf with a basket, where instead of sandwiches - the new NATO members. George Smiley once said that trading in Russian - is the same as that given to decorating the crown, and in return get a bird's crap.In short, the Russian aim to see the transformation of a unipolar world with the center of the U.S. in a multipolar one, where an important pole or center of power should be Russia, all the respectable and the only dominant in its "sphere of privileged interests."This is an area of interest is made up of Russia's neighbors and part of the so-called .Eastern Europe, including even of those States that are now NATO members.This "conditional coverage" enters the final phase, although in December 2008, foreign ministers, obviously did not anticipate that conditions will begin to push Russia. But exactly what happened. More and more it seems that Russia no longer needs NATO than NATO Russia. In addition, during the reign of Obama seemed to cover the full U.S. strategic apathy, when the only interest the Americans in connection with NATO's Afghan operation. Read the full story here.

• HT:DanielGreenfield.Who is Really Distorting Islam?All of us recognize that this great religion (Islam), in the hands of a few extremists, has been distorted." Barack Hussein Obama"Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all!"Ayatollah Khomeini.While we now know that a young Obama rebelled against his mother and attended Koran classes, he clearly didn't attend nearly enough of them. Or the Harvard genius is back to playing dumb.According to Obama, and so much of the political establishment, the Koran is being distorted by a "few extremists" somewhere who are trying to convince the billion peaceful Muslims, that it actually promotes violence. But first a few obvious questions.How many exactly is a "few"? Are we talking about a few dozen, a few thousand, a few million? Naturally Obama and the Islam apologists never really address that question. Because it is a rather inconvenient question. Since Muslims are defined by religious streams and mosque attendance, it should be easy enough to come up with a realistic figure.Read the full story here.

• HT:MEMRI.Saudi Foreign Minister: Saudi Arabia Has Stopped Mediating between the Afghan Government and the Taliban.At a November 6, 2010 press conference in Riyadh, the Saudi Foreign Minister said his country has stopped mediating between the Afghan government and the Taliban, because the Taliban is still sheltering terrorists. About the Sudan crisis, he said that it would be resolved by means of an objective referendum, free of pressures, that is to be held soon in the south of the country.Source.

• Bank Holiday Rumors Swirl Amidst Currency Crisis.With the world on the verge of a currency war as the Federal Reserve follows through on its dollar-killing quantitative easing program, rumors are once again swirling of a “bank holiday,” during which US citizens will be prevented from withdrawing money or at least limited in the amount of the withdrawal they can make.The bank holiday is rumored to be set for next week, with Thursday November 11 pinpointed as the likeliest date.According to radio host Steve Quayle, a pastor was told by one of the managers of a prominent east coast bank that banks would close for an undetermined amount of time, and that when they reopened, “all withdrawals by checks would be limited to $500 per week – no matter what the balance in the account is.”Limiting the amount of money customers can withdraw or blocking the facility altogether reminds us of a Citigroup advisory that was sent to customers at the start of the year which stated that the bank reserved “the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts.” The story stoked fears that financial institutions were preparing for bank runs.On his website, Quayle asks, “When in U.S. History has a sitting President taken off on an overseas trip for an extended period of time, with 65 airplanes, 34 warships reportedly 3,000 people including his friends and cohorts, at the pinnacle of an economic and political upheaval?”Fears of a bank holiday first arose in June of last year, when it was rumored that banks would close their doors in early September. Concern was fueled by reports that US embassies in foreign countries were purchasing large quantities of local currency.With Brazil and other countries now threatening to take drastic currency measures to protect themselves against a dollar crisis, a similar financial environment is stoking identical fears.Read the full story here.

• BP blamed for toxification.Fishermen, cleanup workers and residents of Gulf Coast believe they are being sickened by toxic chemicals from BP spill.James Miller, a commercial shrimper, lifelong fisherman in Mississippi and former BP oil response worker, is horribly sick."I've been vomiting, my head feels like it's going to explode, diarrhoea, and I keep passing out," Miller, who worked in BP's so-called Vessels of Opportunity (VOO) oil response programme, said from his bed at Biloxi Regional Hospital on November 5.Four days earlier, Miller, his wife and dog were boating on the Gulf of Mexico near one of Mississippi's barrier islands when all three of them fell ill."My wife and I felt the chemicals immediately and my dog even started hacking like he was trying to cough up a bone," Miller explained.Later that day he began vomiting and experiencing a severe headache and diarrhoea. Then on November 4 he passed out in the shower. Concerned by his uncontrollable nausea and bleeding in his esophagus, his wife took him to the emergency room."The doctor just told me I have acid reflux," Miller, who has been experiencing many of his symptoms since joining the VOO programme, said. "They don't even know what this is. I told him I needed to be tested for toxic chemicals. I'm in a major hospital and they are telling me they don't know what this is."Hmmm.....CNN ..all cleanup workers of Exon Valdez are dead!Read the full story here.

• Swedish police arrest suspect in hunt for anti-immigrant gunman behind wave of shootings.Swedish police hunting for a lone gunman who has waged a campaign against immigrants in the city of Malmo for more than a year have arrested a suspect.The 38-year-old man, who has not been named, was arrested on Saturday night on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.He is thought to be behind 15 unsolved shootings in the southern Swedish city, in which one person was killed and eight wounded.Police spokesman Borje Sjoholm said: 'We became interested in this man because of tip-offs we received from the public.'We called him at his home and asked him to step outside. He did not resist arrest.'Two firearms were also seized from the man's house.Bejzat Becirov, head of the Islamic centre that runs Malmo's mosque, said: 'There is a lot of fear. People are afraid to go out at night, in the morning and even during the day.Have Christians -Jews - Copts not been saying this for Centuries in the Midle East?Read the full story here.

• HT:IMRA.Hamas leader Zahar: Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine.The Islamic Jihad leader said that “Palestine is all ours and we won’t give up one inch of it. We won’t participate in or accept any settlement that limits our rights only to the 1967 borders.”Al Qassam website- Gaza- Senior leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" Dr-Mahmoud Al-Zahar says Jews were kicked out by France, Britain,Russia and Germany “because they betrayed, stole and corrupted these countries."The Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine that same way they were kicked out by France, Britain, Belgium, Russia and Germany, Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar said over the weekend.“The only nation that received the Jews after they were expelled was the Islamic nation, which protected them and looked after them,” Zahar said in a speech in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip over the weekend.Zahar confirmed that Jews were expelled in the past “because they betrayed,stole and corrupted these countries.”Zahar called for unity with Fatah as representatives of the two parties prepare to hold another round of reconciliation talks in the Syrian capital of Damascus this week.“Let’s join ranks and speak in one voice,” Zahar said in his appeal to Fatah. “Together, with blood, we could liberate our lands and holy sites.You have tasted the bitterness of arbitrary negotiations.” He said that Hamas was making “big efforts” to ensure the success of reconciliation talks with Fatah.“The negotiations [with Israel] have ended and there’s no alternative to jihad and resistance,” Shallah said. “The present leadership of the Palestinian Authority is not authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians. If Mahmoud Abbas can’t adopt the option of Yasser Arafat resistance, we recommend another option which is more honorable: to quit and sit at home.”The Islamic Jihad leader said that “Palestine is all ours and we won’t give up one inch of it. We won’t participate in or accept any settlement that limits our rights only to the 1967 borders.”Hmmm....that peaceplan and outreach to the Islamic world is working great Mr.President?Read the full story here.

• HT:StrategyPage.Israel Braces For The Iranian Rain Of Fire.The head of Israeli military intelligence warned his political superiors that the next major war Israel encountered would likely result in much higher Israeli casualties, especially to civilians. There is also growing concern about Russia selling advanced anti-aircraft systems to Syria, which could pass them on to Iran. All this could be traced back to preparations Iran has been making for over a decade. Using their oil wealth, and weapons smuggling network, Iran has armed Syria, Hezbollah (the Shia militia in southern Lebanon) and Hamas (the Palestinian terrorist group that runs Gaza) with over 50,000 rockets, plus numerous other weapons. Most of the rockets are short range (about 10 kilometers), but several thousand have a much longer reach, and can hit targets throughout Israel. The Iranian master plan is for Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran to simultaneously fire as many missiles and rockets into Israel as they can. Even if there are no ground forces to follow up such an attack, the casualties (civilian and military) in Israel would be seen as a great Islamic victory, and would demoralize the Israelis.Read the full story here.

• Turkey has only itself to blame if it is shunned by the EU.The vandalism and looting of Cyprus's cultural heritage that has occurred since 1974 is unworthy of any civilised nation.Martin Kettle's claim that Turkey is "held hostage by the atavistic parochialism of a Greek Cypriot statelet of fewer than one million people and with a declining GDP of $23bn" is far from the truth.Kettle concerns himself with "the big issues" facing Europe such as its shrinking population and integration as well as energy and security. But it is frequently stated that Europe is a community of values, and on this basis the Cyprus question must be seen as a principle issue.Kettle mentions that Europe and Turkey have common interests, agreements worth making and promises to keep. However, it is precisely because Turkey has reneged on its commitment in July 2005 to extend the customs union to the Republic of Cyprus that the European Council in December 2006 decided to block the opening of eight negotiating chapters.'Turkey has declared on more than one occasion that if it has to make a choice between its accession to the EU and Cyprus, it will choose Cyprus'.This is why reunification talks are getting nowhere, however hard Dimitris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot president, tries. The new Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu, unlike the former leader, Mehmet Ali Talat, is simply not interested that they should go anywhere, and takes his orders directly from Ankara. As Martin Kettle writes about the prospect of Turkey's EU membership: "the failure is predictable, disgraceful and incredibly shortsighted". And it's Turkey's fault.Read the full story here.

• Erdogan the new Saladdin for the Muslim world.Recently, the Prime Ministers of Turkey and Pakistan ‘vowed’ for joint efforts to face international and regional challenges. This is a dream that every Muslim has and nurtures. If memory serves right, the idea of Muslim unity politically was attributed to Liaquat Ali Khan, the first PM of Pakistan. Ideologically, the concept of Ummah is the basic theme in the Holy Quran, but we pay only lip service to the idea. [Few] Muslim leaders [have] tried to put the idea into practical shape. Bhutto had convened a Muslim Summit at Lahore and hopes were kindled that the Ummah may become united politically. But alas! Hopes and dreams of Muslim unity were shattered; the dream of a Muslim ‘Block’ vanished with the assassination of Liaquat Ali and hopes of Muslim unity died with the hanging of Bhutto. So, the ‘vow’ made by the PMs of Turkey and Pakistan have rekindled the old hopes. If they are able to move in this direction even one step, Muslims will move one step closer to that ideal.The modern political philosophers have divided the world in eastern and western civilisations and call the ongoing conflict a ‘clash of civilisations’; in fact it is the clash of ideologies. Now, the clash has reached to its zenith. The clash between the West and the East had started on November 25, 1095CE, when Pope Urban II rallied the First Crusade against the Muslims at the Council of Clermont. English author Karen Armstrong calls it “a crucial and formative event for the western Europe”, whose repercussions are felt even today. The mounting of crusades was the physical manifestation of ideological clash. The observation of Ms Armstrong hits one in the face, when one recalls the initial speech of Bush Jr after USA’s attack on Iraq – he had described the attack as the beginning of a new crusade.So, what should Muslims do to face this challenge? It is a collective challenge and needs a collective response. The road to the solution of all Muslim problems is long and arduous. It demands sacrifices at personal, national and community levels. The Muslims have not realised their power potential or are too meek to demonstrate it. Muslim countries sit over watching the Strait of Jabal-ut-Tariq in the West to the Melaka Straits in the East. They dominate the central region of the ‘old’ world and are contiguous. With Central Asian Muslim Republics, they have more than 75 percent of world energy sources and dominate all trade outlets and inlets. With such potential with them, they have the wherewithal to make themselves heard in the world. Three countries – Turkey, Iran and Pakistan – are so located that they dominate ‘West, Centre and East’ of the region and can play a significant role to unite this region with an international Muslim body, as their United Muslim Organisation promoting peace, trade and development in the region. This will pave way for Muslim nations United Nations making the existing UNO a redundant body for the Muslims.We cannot live honourably in the world by defying Allah’s commandment in Al-Quran V-51. Sooner or later the Muslims will have to embark on this road to glory and be ready to make the sacrifices; the sooner we unite under collective Muslim banner the better. Surah V:51 says,"O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends"Hmmm....Islam the religion of peace....Get Turkey out of NATO NOW !Read the full story here.

• Saudi gay gets 5-year jail, 500 lashes.A Saudi gay will be jailed five years and lashed 500 times with the whip for indulging in homosexual activities and publishing obscene photos of himself online, the Saudi Arabic language daily Okaz reported on Monday.The court in the western Red Sea port of Jeddah sentenced the 27-year-old man after he was convicted of practicing homosexuality and publishing his pictures online and on mobile phones showing him wearing women underwear.The man had already been tried and jailed for posing as a security man and was accused of indulging in obnoxious acts inside the prison, it said.The court found that this defendant had indulged in obscene acts that contravene Islamic teachings…the judge also decided to fine him SR50,000.”Obama :"Islam is a great religion!"Read the full story here.

• HT:NewZeal.New Brazillian President's Security File.She was once a Marxist guerilla. Here is a copy of part of her security file from that time.I don't read Portugese but the words "Terrorista", "assaltante de bancos" and "assassinato" aren't too difficult to interpret.Read and see the full story here.

• For Afghan wives, a desperate, fiery way out.Even the poorest families in Afghanistan have matches and cooking fuel. The combination usually sustains life. But it also can be the makings of a horrifying escape: from poverty, from forced marriages, from the abuse and despondency that can be the fate of Afghan women.The night before she burned herself, Gul Zada took her children to her sister's for a family party. All seemed well. Later it emerged that she had not brought a present, and a relative had chided her for it, said her son Juma Gul.This small thing apparently broke her. Ms. Zada, who was 45, the mother of six children and who earned pitiably little cleaning houses, ended up with burns on nearly 60 percent of her body at the Herat burn hospital."If you run away from home, you may be raped or put in jail and then sent home and then what will happen to you?" asked Rachel Reid, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who tracks violence against women.Returned runaways are often shot or stabbed in honor killings because the families fear they have spent time unchaperoned with a man. Women and girls are still stoned to death. Those who burn themselves but survive are often relegated to grinding Cinderella existences while their husbands marry other, untainted women."Violence in the lives of Afghanistan's women comes from everywhere: from her father or brother, from her husband, from her father-in-law, from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law,"Two weeks after his mother set herself on fire, he stood by her bed as she stopped breathing.Read the full human tragedy here.

• Outrage as cellar monster Fritzl wins permission to build houses while behind bars.Josef Fritzl has won planning permission for a major building project from his prison cell.The 75-year-old Austrian, who kept his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and repeatedly raped her, wants to build 13 townhouses, an office building and a subterranean garage in his home town of Amstetten.He had built an impressive property portfolio before his daughter Elisabeth escaped after giving birth to seven children by him.The proposed development is only 500 yards from the family home where he built a dungeon to imprison Elisabeth in 1984 when she was 18.Fritzl applied for the planning permission in 2006 – two years before his secret family was discovered. He was declared bankrupt shortly before he was sentenced to life for the rapes, and for the negligent homicide of one of the seven children Elisabeth gave birth to in the darkness. But Fritzl pursued the building scheme through his insolvency solicitor Dr Walter Anzboeck.Permission was received on Thursday, much to the distress of locals who fear any such project will inevitably be known as ‘Fritzl Towers.’Read the full scandal story here.

• Pamela Anderson covers up for once as she takes anti-fur drive to Israel.Pamela Anderson built her career on showing her curves, but it seems that even she knows when to cover up.The former Baywatch star respectfully donned a pashmina to cover her hair, and blazer to cover her curves, as she visited Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall of Jerusalem.The committed animal lover and Peta representative is in Israel to further her campaign against fur, while acting as a guest judge in the country's version of Strictly Come Dancing.While there she escaped injury when her limousine was involved in a minor collision.An anti-fur bill has been put on hold in Israel over concerns by ultra-Orthodox leaders that it could have an impact on the production of the characteristic fur hats worn by some men from Hassidic sects on holidays and other festive occasions.To combat growing secularization of Jews to European society in the 18th century, Hassidic Jews decided that their way of dress should remain intact and not be influenced by fashion.Read the full story here.

• Large Hadron Collider (LHC) generates a 'mini-Big Bang'.The Large Hadron Collider has successfully created a "mini-Big Bang" by smashing together lead ions instead of protons. The scientists working at the enormous machine on Franco-Swiss border achieved the unique conditions on 7 November.The experiment created temperatures a million times hotter than the centre of the Sun."At these temperatures even protons and neutrons, which make up the nuclei of atoms, melt resulting in a hot dense soup of quarks and gluons known as a quark-gluon plasma."He explained that by studying the plasma, physicists hoped to learn more about the so-called strong force - the force that binds the nuclei of atoms together and that is responsible for 98% of their mass. The LHC is housed in a 27km-long circular tunnel under the French-Swiss border near Geneva.Read the full story here.