MFS - The Other News

                      Morning Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - May 06. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today  4.8! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 103.
  Source : Here .

• Japan  : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog

• Live Blog on Qsama Bin Laden  Here (Al -Jazeera).

• Captured U.S. Soldier Bowe Bergdahl Seen on New Taliban Video.(Memri).A new Footage of American soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2009, is seen in a new Taliban video released by a jihadist website.Hmmmm....."Imagine if they would be displaying US military"YES WE CAN !Read the full story here.

• Prominent Writer on Jihad Forums Proposes Unit For Assassinating All Those Connected To Bin Laden Assassination.(Memri). Focusing Efforts on Retaliation Against U.S., Israel, Pakistan.On May 5, 2011, "Abu Al-Fadl Al-Madi," a senior writer on the Shumukh Al-Islam jihadist forum, authored a post in which he suggested that Al-Qaeda not respond impulsively to U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement of the assassination of Osama bin Laden, but that it focus its efforts on retaliatory operations.Read the full story here.

• Breaking News - Athens Mulls Plans for New Currency. (Spiegel).Greece Wants to Leave Euro Zone.The debt crisis in Greece has taken on a dramatic new twist. Sources.with information about the government's actions have informed SPIEGEL ONLINE that Athens is considering withdrawing from the euro zone. The common currency area's finance ministers and representatives of the European Commission are holding a crisis meeting in Luxembourg on Friday night.Greece's economic problems are massive, with protests against the government being held almost daily. Now Prime Minister George Papandreou apparently feels he has no other option: SPIEGEL ONLINE has obtained information from German government sources knowledgeable of the situation in Athens indicating that Papandreou's government is considering abandoning the euro and reintroducing its own currency.

Alarmed by the attempt, the European Commission has called together a crisis meeting in Luxembourg on Friday night. In addition to Greece's possible flight from the currency union, a speedy restructuring of the country's debt also features on the agenda. One year after the Greek crisis broke out, the development represents a potentially existential turning point for the European monetary union -- regardless which variant is ultimately decided upon for dealing with Greece's massive troubles.Given the tense situation, the meeting in Luxembourg has decreed as highly confidential, with only the euro zone finance ministers and senior staff members permitted to attend. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Jörg Asmussen, an influential state secretary in the Finance Ministry, are attending on Germany's behalf.

Sources told SPIEGEL ONLINE that Schäuble intends to seek, however he can, to prevent Greece from leaving the euro zone. He will carry with him to the meeting in Luxembourg an internal paper prepared by the experts at his ministry warning of the possible dire consequences if Athens were to drop the euro."It would lead to a considerable devaluation of the domestic currency against the euro," the paper states. According to German Finance Ministry estimates, the loss on exchange could be as high as 50 percent, leading to a drastic increase in Greek national debt. Schäuble's staff experts have calculated that Greece's national deficit would rise to 200 percent of gross domestic product after such a devaluation. "A debt restructuring would be inevitable," his experts warn in the paper. In other words: Greece would go bankrupt. In addition, the withdrawal of a country from the common currency union would "seriously damage faith in the functioning of the euro zone," the document continues. International investors would be forced to consider the possibility that further euro-zone members could withdraw in the future. "That would lead to contagion in the euro zone," the paper continues.

Moreover, should Athens turn its back on the common currency zone, it would have serious implications for the already wobbly banking sector, particularly in Greece itself. The change in currency "would consume the entire capital base of the banking system and the country's banks would be abruptly insolvent." Banks outside of Greece would suffer as well. "Credit institutions in Germany and elsewhere would be confronted with considerable losses on their outstanding debts," the paper reads.Hmmm.......The US holds how much debt from Greece?Read the full story here.

• Islamist Press: “It’s Israel’s Turn to Panic”. “Hizbollah Marches towards Israel!”(Memri).The radical Islamist Turkish daily Yeni Akit (formerly Vakit) had the headline “It’s Israel’s Turn to Panic” in yesterday’s issue. It wrote that millions of Palestinians were about to march into Israel from Lebanon.Columnist Ibrahim Karagul of the Islamist Yeni Safak, known to be the semi-official mouthpiece of AKP, also wrote about the pending march under the title “Hizbollah Marches to Israel!” Karagul wrote that a big plan was in the works in Lebanon, that would impact the entire region. He wrote that on May 15, the anniversary of Naqba, Hizbollah and its affiliated organizations would take the Palestinians along and walk towards the Palestinian lands occupied by Israel. “It is easy to predict how Israel will react to a huge crowd of people approaching under the umbrella of the (Palestinian) 'Return Movement'. This march from Lebanon to the occupied territories may spark a new war in the region” Karagul wrote. He attributed the plan to Iran and Hizbollah’s struggle to hold and keep the ‘Palestinian card’ in their hands, in face of new developments in the region - especially in Syria - that may lead to their losing of Hamas to the influence of the Sunni camp.Hmmmm.....War may very will start,but for sure it will be Israel who will end it!Read the full story here.

• The 'Obama Factor' !Al-Jazeera : Did Osama really die here?(Al-Jazeera).Abbotabad is a very schizophrenic town. The centre houses the seat of military learning. Its military academy teaches officers everything from warfare to dining etiquette.As a garrison town, everything is very neat and prim. The grass is cut just so, the military regalia polished and signs dot the landscape proclaiming "Pakistan is beautiful".Then around the corner Pakistan explodes in a riot of colour and mayhem. Buses that look like wheeled rainbows and smell of street food assault the senses in a very agreeable manner.Abbotabad, named after a British general in the British Indian colonial army is a unique town because of those contrasts.As I drive its streets, I can scarcely believe that this is where bin Laden met his fate.Piecing together what happened that night from eyewitness accounts has been tough.Some claim four helicopters were involved, others say trucks with US soldiers pulled up outside the house.The one thing everyone is in universal agreement on is that what happened was extraordinary.To mount an attack like this on Pakistani soil opens a very prickly subject for the Pakistanis.Some of India's most wanted live within Pakistan's borders.It's not beyond the realm that India right now is mulling over the consequences of such an action.The leader of the Afghan Taliban is rumoured to be in Quetta, southwest Pakistan. There are some in the US administration that would love to get him.Once you violate a country's borders like that, what's to stop others from doing it? That's a question that's now being uttered in private.The Pakistani army is by far its strongest institution. This attack has not only embarrassed the army but has shown it to be weak in the face of US power.That it hasn't publicly reacted to the incident is only adding to the public sense that the army is in panic mode.Its central command, according to my sources, is holding crisis meetings to formulate a public response.Its day four and the silence from the army is deafening.Add to that the US government's refusal to release a picture of the bin Laden's body and you have a boiling cauldron of doubt, disbelief, anger and frustration. A heady brew indeed. The longer that goes on, the more people will simply sigh and ask the same question in two slightly different ways.Did Osama really die, here in the heart of the Pakistan army? Or did Osama really die?Hmmm.......This is the result of Obama 'handling things'.Read the full story here.

• Developing : Tehran Friday prayer: the supreme leader is above the constitution.(BBCPersia).According to Fars News Agency, Tehran Friday Prayers today today with the slogan "Death to the Anti-Faqih" began Kazim Siddiqui, interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran said: "someone who did not obey the command of supreme leader, prayer is not acceptable". He also stated that "undermine the supreme leader is weakened people", said: "The supreme leader is beyond the constitution.Earlier, Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi Guardian Council members also stressed the necessity of obedience was the supreme leader and quoted Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic said: "If elected president by the supreme leader is not appointed, and idolatrous obedience He has forbidden. "During last week over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president was invited to obey the leadership and distancing from the "flow deviation" Read the full story here.(GoogleTranslate).

• Will Bin Laden's sea burial backfire? Radical Muslims already name location 'Martyr's Sea'.(DailyMail).Radical Muslims are already calling the site of Osama bin Laden’s ocean burial the ‘Martyr’s Sea’, according to one of Britain’s leading Islamic scholars.The US said the decision to drop bin Laden’s body into the North Arabian Sea was taken to avoid creating a shrine for the slain Al Qaeda chief.But Abdal Hakim Murad, Muslim Chaplain at Cambridge University, claimed yesterday that the move could backfire on the Americans.Speaking on Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme, he said it was ‘disappointing’ that bin Laden wasn’t taken into custody.‘By tipping him into the sea, the Americans may have created a kind of shrine. Some radicals are already calling the Arabian Sea the Martyr’s Sea,’ he said. ‘Given Muslim ideas of holiness diffusing over large areas it is possible that a pilgrimage will develop as radicals stand on beaches contemplating the virtues of their dead hero,’ he added.He said that one of America’s greatest achievements of the last century was President Truman’s insistence that Nazi war criminals should be tried at Nuremberg.But after bin Laden’s death in the US commando raid in Abbottabad, he suggested that full justice had been denied.‘Conspiracy theories in the Muslim world and beyond may now gain momentum. For too many, the dark lord is still among us or was innocent all along and that belief cannot bring the closure that America and the world rightly crave.‘Muslim scholars have been worried about the manner in which his mortal remains were consigned to the deep, he added, saying that Islam’s most respected scholars had already decreed the sea burial ‘religiously improper.’ ‘Even mass murderers deserve a religiously valid burial. We are judged on how we behave when in a position of strength,’ he said.Hmmmm......They wouldn't be upset because he wasn't burried in the clothes he wore,like it's supposed to be for a 'martir'?Read the full story here.

• An illegitimate child, an illegitimate president.(WND)By PamelaGeller.Talk about your proverbial can of worms. It is now clear that Barack Hussein Obama Sr.'s immigration file was the impetus for President Obama to release his "long form" last week. If he thought that release would put the matter to rest, it has had the opposite effect. It has all raised more questions than it answered, as does the release of shocking revelations in his father's immigration file. The release of Barack Hussein Obama I's immigration file is stunning in what it reveals and the questions it poses. BHO I's visa expired Aug. 8, 1961 (Barack Junior was born Aug. 4, 1961) – is that why he married Obama's mother? Stanley Ann Dunham was a white girl in a family way with a mixed-race child, desperate for legitimacy in a culture that condemned such behavior as abject immorality, and Barack Obama Sr. was a con man from Kenya desperate to stay in the USA. Was the marriage merely a business arrangement (she was 17 when she got pregnant)? Is that why it was so important to place the ads in the Hawaiian papers announcing the birth of the future president – because his father was about to be deported? Stanley Ann Dunham could not have been so savvy as to know that BHO I was a Muslim polygamist. Yet clearly, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., was never divorced from his first wife in Kenya. The Immigration and Naturalization Service suspected that the elder Obama's marriage to Dunham was a sham, arranged strictly to secure immigration status for him. Despite the fact that BHO I had married Dunham, the government wasn't buying it: An INS official wrote in 1961 that the agency should "make sure an investigation is conducted as to the bona-fide of the marriage."And it bears mentioning that BHO I did not marry a different high-school minor whom he impregnated, according to these documents; most probably she went to London for an abortion. But he married Stanley Ann Dunham – why? Immigration status. Obama Sr. was a Kenyan citizen. Kenya was still under English law at this time. But if Barack Sr. was a Muslim polygamist, his "marriage" to Stanley Ann Dunham was invalid.All this means that President Barack Hussein Obama is not natural born. His father was not a U.S. citizen; he is, by that very fact, disqualified to serve as president of the United States. Those who believe that the "natural born" requirement is no longer relevant in our modern age are wrong. The Founding Fathers added this to the requirements for someone serving as president to make it difficult for a spy or traitor to attain the highest office in the land. Clearly, from Obama's performance, this is a considerable cause for concern.Read the full story here.

• Transparancy the 'unicorn' of the Obama administration.(Washington Examiner).Many people take the promises of politicians with a grain of salt, and no wonder, since so many pledges are made solely to attract votes on Election Day, then swiftly forgotten. Still, government credibility ultimately rests on how faithfully our leaders do what they say they will do, especially on issues that go to fundamental democratic values like transparency and accountability. This is an area in which President Obama made some particularly ambitious and welcome promises during his 2008 campaign, most notably that his administration would practice an unprecedented level of transparency and that lobbyists would not be welcome in his policymaking councils.Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, held a hearing Wednesday to examine how well Obama has fulfilled those promises. Unfortunately, there is abundant evidence suggesting Obama's promises of transparency and accountability were made with little if any intention of actually keeping them. Take the matter of who is visiting the White House, a key indicator of special-interest lobbyists' influence. Although Obama made much ado about releasing White House visitor logs in 2009, Stearns pointed to a Center for Public Integrity investigation showing that Obama fought their release tooth and nail:

» The new policy was adopted only after settlement of four protracted lawsuits against the government seeking such records. A federal judge repeatedly ruled that, contrary to Obama's claims, White House visitor logs are subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act.» Even after the much-ballyhooed posting of logs on the White House website, only 1 percent of the more than 500,000 meetings held with visitors during the president's first eight months in office have been made public.Fitton pointed to reports that White House officials routinely skirt disclosure requirements by meeting with lobbyists at a nearby Caribou Coffee shop, and he noted that The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney has uncovered at least 40 Obama administration "ethics waivers" that allow former lobbyists to take key policymaking jobs. In other words, Obama's transparency and accountability might just as well be translated as "smoke and mirrors."Hmmmm......Dictatorship or democracy.Read the full story here.

• An open letter to the Rt Hon David Cameron MP.(Spectator)Melanie Phillips.Dear Prime Minister,I was interested to read that, when you met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, you said:

‘Britain is a good friend of Israel and our support for Israel and Israel's security is something I have described in the past, and will do so again, as unshakeable.’I wonder, therefore, if you make a habit of threatening your friends? For you also said that unless Israel ‘engages seriously in a meaningful peace process’ with the Palestinian Authority, the more likely it is that Britain will endorse the ‘State of Palestine’ for which the PA is expected to seek recognition at the UN in September.This is not the behaviour of a friend so much as the kind of intimidation that is more reminiscent of a Mafia protection racket.

First of all, you have incomprehensibly decided to pressurise the victim in this conflict to make peace with her aggressor, even though the victim is the one party that constantly tries to make peace while the aggressor does not. It is the PA which has refused to negotiate with Israel, not the other way round, on the spurious grounds that Israeli expansion of Jewish homes beyond the ‘Green Line’ is a bar to negotiations.

I wonder whether you might explain to both Britain and the Jewish people why you do not insist as a non-negotiable precondition that Mr Abbas ‘engages seriously in a meaningful peace process’ by unambiguously renouncing – in both English and Arabic – his repeated assertions that his people will never accept Israel as a Jewish state, the casus belli of the entire conflict?

I wonder also if you might explain to both Britain and the Jewish people why you implicitly endorse the racist ethnic cleansing inherent in the putative ‘State of Palestine’ which the PA says it will declare – a state in which Mr Abbas has repeatedly declared that not one Jew will be allowed to live -- but which you have now threatened to support? I’m sure the British people in particular would be interested to know when you decided that racism and ethnic cleansing were part of your modernising programme for the Conservative Party.Read the full story here.

• Watchdog Group Prepared to Sue Obama Admin For Bin Laden Photos.(The Hill) — A watchdog group says it is prepared to file a lawsuit to obtain photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse.Judicial Watch, which has sued the government multiple times for documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), has already filed requests under that law to obtain photos of the al Qaeda leader’s dead body.Tom Fitton, the group’s president, said he doesn’t believe President Obama’s objections to releasing the photos outweigh the public’s right to know.“We are prepared to sue if they don’t respond as they are supposed to under the law,” Fitton told The Hill. “I have not heard anything from the president that would provide a lawful basis for not providing the photos. Not wanting to be seen as ‘spiking the football’ is not a lawful reason to withhold documents under FOIA.”On Tuesday, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request with the Defense Department for photos and videos of bin Laden on the day of the U.S. military raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The group also filed a request for the bin Laden photos Wednesday with the CIA.Under the law, the Obama administration has 20 days to respond to those requests. If those requests are denied, the watchdog group can file an appeal and eventually a lawsuit to secure the release of the photos.“This is arguably the most important military operation in our lifetimes. This is basic information,” Fitton said.Read the full story here.

• Obama: The Dark Passenger.(NoDhimmitude).Obama recently sent in a team of professional killers to wipe out Osama and his entourage in their home. Many of the Muslims were shot to death, unarmed and unresisting. Nice work, and I thank Obama for it. He didn't pull the triggers and shed the blood himself, but he's the mind that did the work. I like it. Obama is openly becoming a genuine killer. I look forward to the time we can all get the dvd of Obama's Greatest Hits.That sissy Bush had people captured and imprisoned and so on. Not so with Obama, whom I am starting to like. He just issues order to have them splattered like bugs on the windscreen, smeared like rotten jelly in the dust and the rocks of far away places while he and his colleagues monitor it all on video.Hmmmm....When was that legislation supposed to be passed for the use of drones on US territory?Read the full story here.

• Police block protests in Maldives.(Al-Jazeera).Government calls demonstrations "politically motivated" as island braces for a seventh night of protests.Police have blocked protesters in the Maldives from rallying in a central plaza, arresting several people, the Associated Press news agency reports.The gathering was called to protest against rising prices in the Indian Ocean island, blamed by the opposition on the government's planned policy overhaul.Several hundred demonstrators turned up in Republican Square in the capital, Male, after Friday prayers, saying restructuring proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had sent commodity prices high.Police quickly pushed the protesters out of the square, where authorities had banned entry saying it is a high security area, AP reported.The protesters moved briefly to another location and vowed to regroup later on Friday evening for a seventh night of demonstrations.Officials earlier warned the demonstration could turn "nasty" and vowed to break it up.Protesters have taken to the streets over rising prices and alleged mismanagement by the government, demanding that Mohamed Nasheed, the president, step down.More than 300 people have been arrested and scores injured since demonstrations on the main island - led by Gayoom's opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) - started on Saturday, the Reuters news agency reported.The Maldivian government said opposition protests cannot bring down the government, and vowed to maintain order.Ahmed Naseem, Maldives foreign minister, said in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, that the opposition is harming the economy."Police have taken appropriate action to prevent any damage to public property, damage to people and to keep order in the country," he said.In an attempt to mimic popular protests in the Middle East and North Africa, the opposition has vowed not to quit until Nasheed steps down over rising prices and a managed float of the rufiyaa currency.The US has urged the opposition to present its own plan to plug a widening budget deficit and shake off global price shocks if it does not agree with the government's IMF-backed plans.Naseem said the protests are "politically motivated" and blamed the opposition for failing to put forward anyone to negotiate with to end the unrest.Read the full story here.

• Monstrosity on it's way to Berlin?The Art of Turkish-Armenian Relations.(Spiegel).Controversial Kars Monument Could Come to Berlin.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently called the "Statue of Humanity," a monument to Turkish-Armenian relations in Kars, a "monstrosity." It has now been dismantled. But Berlin restaurant owner Adnan Oral wants to bring it to the German capital and re-erect it. He told SPIEGEL why.Artist Aksoy, comparing the destruction of his artwork to the 2001 destruction of two giant Buddha statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan, vowed to re-construct the statue. But where? Adnan Oral, a restaurant owner in Berlin, thinks he has a solution. Why not rebuild the statue in the heart of Berlin? SPIEGEL spoke with Oral about his plan.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Oral, you want to bring the "Statue of Humanity," a monument to Turkish-Armenian friendship by Turkish artist Mehmet Aksoy, to Berlin. Why?

Oral: The work is being dismantled because Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not like it. I find it intolerable that a work of art is being torn down at the whim of a head of government and without any legitimate basis. That has not happened in recent years in Europe.

SPIEGEL: How do you imagine transporting the statue? It is 35 meters tall and weighs 300 tons.

Oral: Ach, when you compare this problem to the fate of the Armenian people, it is not so difficult. Read the full story here.

• US and Syrian Youths Created Disabled Superhero, "The Silver Scorpion".(comicbookresources).Liquid Comics and the Open Hands Initiative, a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to public diplomacy efforts, announced today the launch of a new comic book that will introduce children around the world to the Silver Scorpion, an Arab teenager who loses his legs in a tragic accident, but whose powers- his creators hope- include the ability to help build bridges between the youth of America and the Arab world, starting with Syria.The first issue of the Silver Scorpion will be given away free across comic book retailers in the United States this Saturday May 7th as part of "Free Comic Book Day." In addition, a digital edition of Silver Scorpion is also now available for free on the home page of Scribd.com where it can be read online and through iPad devices, as well as shared with friends through Facebook and Twitter. A larger, magazine-sized collector version of the first issue is also available for order via HP's Magcloud print on demand service.Silver Scorpion is more than just a new superhero; it represents a unique breakthrough in U.S. public diplomacy efforts at a crucial juncture in the relationship between America and the Arab world. As President Bill Clinton highlighted at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative, the Silver Scorpion "will help to establish trust and understanding between cultures, to empower young people with disabilities.""As the Arab world is undergoing historic and transformative changes, the American people can, and should, play an important role in strengthening and deepening the relationships between the people of our two cultures," said Jay T Snyder, American businessman and Co-Founder and Chairman of the Open Hands Initiative. "This comic book is an act of public diplomacy, a gift from the young people of America and Syria to the world."The Silver Scorpion tells the story of an Arabic teenager, Bashir Bari, who loses his legs in a tragic accident. Consumed with anger and grief, Bashir retreats into a world of isolation, resentful of the pitiful looks and whispers of strangers. When he accidentally witnesses the murder of Tarek, a mysterious local metalsmith, Bashir is unwittingly chosen as the new guardian of an ancient power that has remained hidden for centuries. With new abilities allowing him to manipulate the metal around him, Bashir must rise above his personal grief and use this newfound gift to protect the world, while learning firsthand to embrace the values of tolerance and cooperation to achieve great heights. Liquid Comics worked with leading comic book talents Ron Marz and Mukesh Singh to help take the ideas of the youth participants and turn them into an exciting comic book story.Liquid Comics Co-Founder & CEO Sharad Devarajan says the Silver Scorpion's superpowers go even further. "Our hope is that the Silver Scorpion will also be a positive role model to increase a dialogue and tear down some of the divisive political and social rhetoric between the West and the Arab region. Great superheroes have always been allegories to larger societal issues in the world. The bigger story of our generation is the story of globalization and our ability to overcome our regional and cultural differences to find our common humanity. While I hope people enjoy the adventures of Bashir and his transformation into the Silver Scorpion, for me, the more exciting story is how this comic book was created- from the minds of two very different groups of extraordinary youths who speak to the very best of globalization in the years ahead."In addition to the US release, 50,000 copies of the Silver Scorpion in Arabic will also be distributed for free to schools and youth centers within Syria, as well as in various countries throughout the region. The comic series will feature additional issues and superheroes in the coming months, including female and western heroes, who will interact and engage with the Silver Scorpion as he seeks to defeat a mysterious evil.Hmmmm....As long as he's not based on Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin....or is he?Read the full story here.

• Requiem held For Bin Laden In Sudan.(Memri).A requiem for Osama bin Laden was held yesterday in Khartoum, the Sudan capital, by three organizations, One of the organizations is headed by the extremist Islamist Al-Tayeb Mustafa, leader of the Just Peace Forum and uncle of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. During the prayers, the worshipers called bin Laden a "martyr" and shouted "Khabar, Khabar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return (referring to the battle of Khabar, in which Muhammad killed 100 local Jews). The demonstrators also demanded that the street on which the U.S. Embassy is located be renamed after bin Laden. In his sermon during the event, Abu Zaid Muhammad Hamza, leader of the Salafi organization Ansar Al-Sunna Al-Muhammadiyya, expressed hope that all the Muslim leaders would be like bin Laden. Islamist oppositionist Hassan Al-Turabi said that he was saddened by the death of his "friend" bin Laden even though he disagreed with his path.Hmmmm...."expressed hope that all the Muslim leaders would be like bin Laden"The religion of peace. Read the full story here.

• All air travel within and from Israel suspended due to fuel contamination…… UPDATE — Back in business.(Israelsurvivalupdates).

UPDATE — It’s not just jet fuel and it’s not localized.

UPDATE 2 — Emergency jet fuel supply to be released.

UPDATE 3 — Flights to resume at midnight local time (6pm Eastern US)

UPDATE 4 — Back in business.

I’m STILL sure there’s a reasonable technical glitch that caused this, because it’s completely out of the question that anyone anywhere would want to do anything untoward against Israel.Hmmm.....Is the Israeli airforce also 'contaminated'?Read the full story here.More here.

• Ahmadinejad allies charged with sorcery.(Guardian).Close allies of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Several people said to be close to the president and his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and charged with being "magicians" and invoking djinns (spirits).Ayandeh, an Iranian news website, described one of the arrested men, Abbas Ghaffari, as "a man with special skills in metaphysics and connections with the unknown worlds".The arrests come amid a growing rift between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei which has prompted several MPs to call for the president to be impeached.On Sunday, Ahmadinejad returned to his office after an 11-day walkout in an apparent protest over Khamenei's reinstatement of the intelligence minister, who the president had initiallyasked to resign.Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, a hardline cleric close to Khamenei, warned that disobeying the supreme leader – who has the ultimate power in Iran – is equivalent to "apostasy from God".Ahmadinejad has so far declined to officially back Khamenei's ruling over Heydar Moslehi, the minister at the centre of the row. In the first cabinet meeting since the president returned, Moslehi was absent.Khamenei's supporters believe that the top-level confrontation stems from the increasing influence of Mashaei, an opponent of greater involvement of clerics in politics, who is being groomed by Ahmadinejad as a possible successor.But the feud has taken a metaphysical turn following the release of an Iranian documentary alleging the imminent return of the Hidden Imam Mahdi – the revered saviour of Shia Islam, whose reappearance is anticipated by believers in a manner comparable to that with which Christian fundamentalists anticipate the second coming of Jesus.Conservative clerics, who say that the Mahdi's return cannot be predicted, have accused a "deviant current" within the president's inner circle, including Mashaei, of being responsible for the film.Ahmadinejad's obsession with the hidden imam is well known. He often refers to him in his speeches and in 2009 said that he had documentary evidence that the US was trying to prevent Mahdi's return.Since Ahmadinejad's return this week, at least 25 people, who are believed to be close to Mashaei, have been arrested. Among them is Abbas Amirifar, head of the government's cultural committee and some journalists of Mashaei's recently launched newspaper, Haft-e-Sobh.On Saturday, Mojtaba Zolnour, Khamenei's deputy representative in the powerful Revolutionary Guard, said: "Today Mashaei is the actual president. Mr Ahmadinejad has held on to a decaying rope by relying on Mashaei."Hmmmm......Next time just call 'Ghostbusters'?Read the full story here.

• Reactions to Killing of Osama Bin Laden: Arab Criticism of Osama Bin Laden's Assassination.(Memri).It is noteworthy that Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Al-'Arabi said the Egyptian government had "no official response to the event," adding that Egypt opposed all forms of violence in international relations. In contrast, there were also responses condemning the assassination, threatening revenge, and expressing skepticism that bin Laden had, in fact, been killed. This report will focus on these reactions.

The Killing of Bin Laden – An American Act of Terrorism .

Isma'il Haniya, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, was the first, and so far the only, Arab leader to condemn the operation. He said: "We believe that this continues an American policy that is based on oppression and on the shedding of Arab and Muslim blood. Regardless of the different views in Arab and Islamic circles, we, of course, condemn the assassination or killing of a Muslim mujahid and an Arab. We pray for Allah to cover him with His mercy, next to the prophets, the righteous, and the martyrs."

Isma'il Al-Ashkar of Hamas, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, characterized the killing of bin Laden as "state terrorism that has been perpetrated against Muslims by America, which could have apprehended [bin Laden] and brought him to a just trial. With this crime, [America] has harmed itself and provoked Islam and the Muslims." He added that though Hamas and bin Laden had not seen eye to eye on all issues, Hamas nevertheless regarded him as "an ascetic and a mujahid who, though he was a billionaire, preferred to fight the Russians alongside his Afghan brothers..."

Ibrahim Al-Amin, board chairman of the pro-Syrian Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to Syria and Hizbullah, harshly condemned bin Laden's killing and the Arab reactions that welcomed it. He wrote: "...I cannot stand the criminals in the palaces and military bases in the West gloating over the man's death, or their counterparts across the world... I consider this man, with his mistakes and severity, to be the rival who gave these murderers insomnia – [these murderers] who were brought to power by stupid, hostile, and oppressing peoples. These peoples deserve to be harmed, because of the leaders, commanders, and spokesmen they elected. There is no place and no need right now for logic as long as we are dealing with the madness of those who continue to kill us anytime, anywhere. As far as they are concerned, no one deserves to live except for their own families, which are as filthy as they are, and except for anyone who agrees to be a wretched servant in their palaces…

"I feel revulsion at the American president's smiling face... The Americans fire weapons outside their territory only to kill innocents... They were overcome by fear when they attacked, shot at, and killed [bin Laden], and [then] examined him to verify their crime. They didn't want him to have [a grave] that would become a shrine... [so] they threw him into the sea... Don't these fools know that killing only causes [more] killing?..."

Bin Laden Was Not Buried in Accordance with the Shari'a

Much criticism was voiced regarding the manner of bin Laden's burial. Senior clerics, such as Egyptian Mufti Dr. 'Ali Gum'a and Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, claimed that Islam forbids burial at sea and requires that bodies be buried in the earth. The vice president of Al-Azhar University, Dr. Taha Abu Kuraisha, said that the casting of bin Laden's body into the sea was tantamount to mutilating his corpse.

In his column in the London-based daily Al-Hayat, Daoud Al-Shiryan, editor of the Alarabiya.net website, questioned the U.S. claim that bin Laden had been given a proper Islamic burial: "Sources from the Pentagon said that [the Americans had] adhered to all the rules of Islam in performing the prayers over bin Laden's body, but did not mention any details regarding the ritual cleansing of the body. Was the body washed by a Muslim?... It would seem that it was not, since the body was torn to shreds or burned, or because there was not enough [fresh] water, as the washing took place aboard a ship... The statement discussed the details of the prayers [said over bin Laden's body], and said that an officer had recited the prayers [in English], which were [then] translated to Arabic. We do not know why the translator himself did not recite the prayers himself, if he is fluent in Arabic. Perhaps the officer was a Muslim and the translator was not! If this were the case, how did they permit the translator to attend the prayers, and how many people recited the prayers over body?"

Bin Laden's Killing Exposes the U.S. as Unjust

Many writers asked why the Americans had not brought bin Laden to trial, arguing that this was further proof of America's unjust behavior. 'Abd Al-Bari 'Atwan, editor of the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote: "Civilized countries that adhere to the law and to the principle of a fair and independent trial do not kill all of their enemies, and even if they do kill them, they do not cast their bodies into the sea. It was infuriating after the assassination to hear the American president declare that justice had been done."

In another article, 'Atwan wrote: "That U.S. President Barack Obama allowed an unarmed man to be killed is evidence that he is not the president of a democratic country that respects human rights and is committed to law and justice. [Rather], the man is the leader of a gang that specializes in killing, kidnapping, and terrorism. In a country of law and order, criminals or terrorists, and all those who break the law, are arrested and brought to justice in court... That is what the Allies did in the Nuremberg Trials against the Nazis, who killed more than 40 million people during the Second World War. I do not think that Sheikh Osama bin Laden is more dangerous than they [were]. Was his barbaric treatment the result of being an Arab and a Muslim?... Al-Qaeda's leader was assassinated to prevent him from being brought to trial, and this was done for the same reason that the U.S. refuses to release Tareq 'Aziz, Iraq's former deputy prime minister and foreign minister... It is afraid that during the trial, secrets will be exposed about the U.S. and its invasion of Afghanistan, and even about its clandestine role in 9/11..."

Saudi academic and journalist Dr. Malik Al-Ahmad also discussed what he called the American double standard: "The killing of bin Laden – if it proves to be true... indicates the moral, ideological, and judicial bankruptcy of the U.S. – which [claims to] adhere to human rights, justice, and respect. The scenario [presented by the U.S.], if it is accurate, is the height of contempt for Muslims, their values, and all they deem sacred... This screenplay, if accurate, is the best possible proof of America's barbarism..."

Syrian columnist Ziad Abu Shawish wrote in the daily Al-Watan, under the heading "The U.S. Celebrates The Murder And Proves Its 'Humaneness'": "On a daily basis, the U.S. incites to killing everywhere, which has created a culture that brought thousands of Americans into the streets to celebrate the killing of Sheikh bin Laden and others – in spite of everything that can be said about the vengeance that their Christian religion opposes..."

Bin Laden's Killing Will Only Increase the Violence

Alongside the condemnations, there were also threats about possible retaliation against the U.S. and the West by terrorist organizations. A senior member of the Egyptian organization Al-Jama'a Al-Islamiyya, Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasser, known as Sheikh Abu 'Omar Al-Masri, said that, by assassinating bin Laden the U.S. had "dug its own grave," because the act would open the gates of Hell and expose it to the revenge of the Muslims.

The Root of Terrorism Is U.S. Policy, Not Bin Laden

Another recurring claim was that the U.S. and Israel were the cause and the root of terrorism, so bin Laden's death would not stop this phenomenon. Al-Azhar Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayeb wrote that terrorism would not end because it stemmed from Israel's acts of oppression. Hafez Al-Barghouti, editor-in-chief of the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, wrote: "...The future of the Arab world is greater extremism, rather than moderateness, because Arab moderateness is greeted by the West with contempt. Bin Laden's killing will not lead to Al-Qaeda's dissolution, because he has become an emblem for the [terrorist] organizations. Al-Qaeda cells are dispersed throughout the world, and he has not been their [actual] leader for years. Al-Qaeda and [organizations] like it can be routed out only by eliminating the root causes [for their existence], which are still there and are in fact proliferating. As long as imperialist terrorism continues, Al-Qaeda will find excuses to be present... Bin Laden is not the only terrorist; he is part of an array with many components, which includes states, parties and [even] regimes that claim to be democratic..."

The U.S. Has Not Presented Evidence of Bin Laden's Death

Some writers cast doubt on the veracity of the report of bin Laden's death, claiming that the U.S. was lying regarding the unfolding of the operation and its results. Al-Quds Al-Arabi editor 'Abd Al-Bari 'Atwan wrote: "There is increasing doubt over the credibility of the official American account of the assassination of Al-Qaeda commander Sheikh Osama bin Laden... As of this writing, the American administration has yet to produce a single reliable piece of evidence that the Al-Qaeda commander has been killed. The doubts peaked when it was claimed that the body was 'buried' at sea, on the pretext that neither his native Saudi Arabia nor any other Islamic country had agreed to bury him on its soil.

"This administration is lying. I have not heard a single Islamic country confirm that the American administration phoned to propose that the body be buried on its soil. There are some 60 Islamic countries in the world; contacting them [all] on this issue would have taken several days. The burial – or, more accurately, throwing the body to the sharks – took place within hours of [Bin Laden's] assassination. Why the rush? Why not wait a few days or even weeks?... It is very difficult to believe a single detail of the American story – it is full of contradictions and – I don't hesitate to say it – lies. Is it conceivable that a man who fought the Soviets for 10 years and the Americans for more than 15 years, and who emphasized on more than one occasion that he aspired to die a martyr, and who more than once stressed that he strove for martyrdom, would use his wife as a human shield to protect himself?...

Syrian columnist 'Issa Al-Ayyoubi likewise doubted the American account: "Perhaps bin Laden died or was killed some time ago, and the U.S. discovered it... It was [the U.S.] that created him and made him a hero, and now it is 'creating' his death and making a big deal of it. But the official American account convinces no one, except for those who applaud American stories and films..."

Columnist Hazem Al-Hadidi wrote in the Egyptian Al-Akhbar: "There is no convincing proof that the U.S. killed bin Laden and buried him in the depths of the sea. The only thing we can be sure of is that bin Laden is in America's hands, and perhaps it is now interrogating him, trying to extract secrets about Al-Qaeda. The story that he was killed and buried at sea is a lowly and dubious propaganda film... [America] is concerned about what his supporters might do if they knew he was alive, and that is why it invented the media story about killing him and burying him at sea..."Hmmmmm.......And this latter might be the worst...just imagine that they believe that the US is holding their beloved 'hero' Osama Bin Laden alive as a captive?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different!Femen : Kiev's Topless Protestors:'The Entire Ukraine Is a Brothel'.(Spiegel).Facebook used to block their pages and Ukraine's secret service has threatened them with violence: With a mix of political protest and eye-catching eroticism, the women's rights group Femen has inspired fear in Ukrainian authorities with its fight against prostitution and sex tourism.The Rock is New Zealand's most beloved radio station, although not necessarily the country's most sophisticated. "Music is the ONLY thing we take seriously," is the station's fitting motto. Recently, The Rock offered its male listeners the chance to win a trip to an exotic vacation spot in eastern Ukraine. In addition to 12 paid nights, the prize includes 2,000 New Zealand dollars (€1,000) in pocket money. The grand prize, however, has to be chosen on location by the winner himself: a wife. "Win a trip to beautiful Ukraine," announces the contest title, "And Meet Eastern European Hot Lady Who Maybe One Day You Marry."

The contest logo shows the pixelated face of a bleach-blonde beauty. Her hair is adorned by a red headband, with a gift tag hanging from it as if she were a Christmas present.Some travel agencies offer "Romantic Tours," in German and English, of eastern Ukraine. In Kiev, meanwhile, pimps will call the hotel rooms of foreign guests and offer to sell them "a good time with a girl." According to a survey, 70 percent of students in the capital have been approached at least one time by a foreigner offering them money for sex.

Inna gets dolled up to greet Greg, the bachelor from New Zealand. The blonde slips into her crocodile-skin high heels and shiny leather pants, and places a crown of flowers in her hair. Waiting in the arrival hall at Donetsk airport, she has a sign in hand with "Greg, come here" scrawled across it. But it's unlikely Greg would be able to overlook her: Her breasts are bare.Inna Shevchenko, 20, a student from Kiev, is a "Topless Fighter," as activists with the women's rights group Femen call themselves. For two years, the organization has been fighting against sex tourism and prostitution in Ukraine, a country that even Google automatically associates with "dating agencies" and "women." The advertisements to the right of a Google search for "Ukraine" are for "Single Ukrainian Ladies," "Women From Ukraine," or "Partner Search Ukraine." Although the group has only a few dozen activists like Inna and around 300 supporters, the topless protests have established a global reputation for Femen.

One year ago, half-naked activists warning against the "Rape of Democracy" stormed the polling station where presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich was casting his vote. After winning, Yanukovich curbed freedom of speech and the press, and even imprisoned members of his opposition. Since Yanukovich came to office, the SBU, Ukraine's top secret service, has attempted to intimidate the Femen activists. They claim that SBU officials even threatened to "break the legs" of the group's leader if she didn't cease her attacks on the government. "The state fears Femen because they are increasingly targeting Yanukovich's government," said Taras Chornovil, an independent member of the Ukrainian national parliament. Old school feminists find the topless troops strange. "They dress like prostitutes," criticizes gender researcher Maria Dmitrieva wrote of Femen in a Russian magazine. "The display of bare breasts, with or without cause, is certainly not conducive to social discourse.""Yes," sighs Anna Hutsol im Café Cupidon. "We're different from classic feminists. In order to gain a voice, they had to become like men. But we want a real women's revolution. Our naked protests are part of the fight for women's liberation. We have the right to use our bodies as weapons. It was men who made breasts into a secret."

"I think men like women's breasts," says activist Inna Shevchenko, "but they don't like it when a woman has something to say as well." It's not just other feminists who have expressed concerns about Femen's exhibitionism. Facebook blocked the Femen page because officials there suspected it was pornographic. Inna's mother no longer wants to have anything to do with her -- she recently told her not to call her ever again. On the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in late April, a photographer snapped a shot of the Femen activists, wearing only boots, underwear and gas masks, in the Chernobyl Dead Zone. The photos are supposed to appear in the Italian edition of Gentlemen's Quarterly, a men's magazine that, at least in Italy, likes to splash its pages with naked photos and confessions from female celebrities. For Femen, it's not an issue: "We want to show the entire world our neo-feminism," says Anna, as she makes travel plans on her PC. In the coming months, she wants to travel to Switzerland and Italy to establish contacts. She raises her mug in a toast: "To the Femen in all countries," she says ceremonially. "To our plans to conquer the entire world."Hmmmm......"Oppressed boobs of the world unite together to conquer the world?....Neeeeh.Read and see the full story here.