MFS - The Other News

                       Afternoon  Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - May 25. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - May 23. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Yemen Live Blog - May 27 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

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

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 122.Source : Here .

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

• Muslim convert ex -Guantanamo guard, was fired from army: "what is happening in that prison is really inhuman and violates the minimum principles of human rights,”(Emirates247).When US soldier Terry Brooks was sent to join military guards at the infamous Guantanamo prison that houses Moslem militants from Taliban and Al-Qaeda, he had not thought he would embrace the religion of those prisoners. After a few chats with a Moroccan inmate, he converted to Islam in 2003.Brooks was caught by local reporters this week praying in the western Saudi town of Madina before heading for nearby Makkah to perform his first pilgrimage (Umra), which he said had been his dream over the past years.The Saudi Arabic language daily Okaz said it waited for Brooks to finish his prayers and talked to him about his conversion to Islam. He credited “prisoner number 590” named Ahmed Al Rashdi of Morocco for his “landmark” decision. After converting, he was expelled from the army.Brooks told the paper he was sent to Guantanamo long before 2003 and later started to mingle with some prisoners there.“I still remember that great moment….the time was around 12:49 am in December 2003 when I embraced Islam…at that night, I took this landmark decision after numerous chat sessions with Al Rashdi,” he said.“It was a memorable moment in my life…….many prisoners sat around me when I converted and decided to call me Mustafa as their new friend…later I added the name Abdullah so I am now called Mustafa Abdullah.”Brooks said he had been delighted when the US army decided to send him to Guantanamo as it was an adventure for him since had not seen a prison before.“When I arrived there, it was a big shock for me… even before I entered the prison buildings, I could see that it was horrible and could suit only cactus and poisonous reptiles….I then asked myself ‘are those people behind the bars really so dangerous that they are worth these costly security measures.”Brooks said he started to be interested in Islam after his talks to Al Rashdi and other prisoners about Islam, Palestine, Afghanistan and the Middle East.“I used to sit just outside their cells at night listening to them…by time, a sort of mutual respect developed between us …I had never believed in God before I went to Guantanamo.…now that I embraced Islam, I can feel the sweetness of religion…Islam is a pure religion and the ultimate right.”Brooks said he had first concealed his decision to convert to Islam from other US guards at Guantanamo, adding that when the officer learned about it, he and the other soldiers began to treat him cruelly and accused him of betraying America. Around two years before the end of his contract, he was fired from the army.“I am now working on a book about my experience to embrace Islam.…I have just quit my job in the US to devote my time to helping the prisoners in Guantanamo..…what is happening in that prison is really inhuman and violates the minimum principles of human rights,” he said.Hmmmm....what would be the odds that Obama might reinstate him?Read the full story here.

• 'I would do it all again': The last surviving 'righteous gentile' who hid Jews in Nazi Austria.(DailyMail).Edeltrud Becher shuddered as she heard a knock on the door from unannounced visitors.It was 1942 in Hitler's Austria, and there was no way of knowing who could have been paying her an unannounced visit. But as she opned the door, rather than the terrifying sight of Gestapo officers, her Jewish fiance and his two brothers were on the doorstep, looking nervously over their shoulders.The three had fled to Prague after the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. But by 1942, that city too was in the hands of Hitler's henchmen.They were told to pack essentials for deportation to a concentration camp.They wrote suicide notes to make authorities think they were dead, and then did what no one thought any Jew would do - they took a night train straight to Vienna, back into the heartland of the Nazi Reich.In deciding to protect them from the Nazis that night, Becher - now Edeltrud Posiles - embarked on a dangerous game of hide-and-seek that included some truly hairy moments: on one occasion the three jumped from a balcony to escape detection, and Walter, her future husband, pretended to be a waiter as the Gestapo stormed a cafe.Walter Posiles as well as his brother Ludwig survived. Hans, the oldest brother, beat the odds of being found by the Nazis only to be killed by a Russian bomb during the dying days of the war.Hiding Jews was punishable by death. But the feisty 94-year old says 'there was never a moment's doubt in my mind', when asked if she hesitated as she was asked by the brothers for sanctuary.And - even though the marriage ended in divorce - 'I would do it again,' declares Posiles, the last one of 88 Austrians known to have saved Jews from the Holocaust who is still alive.'Even though I'm a coward,' the former librarian adds after a pause, moving gingerly from her walker to stand proudly before banner letters prominently spelling out her name on Vienna's bustling Ring Avenue along with Austria's 87 other known 'Righteous Gentiles.'The title is reserved for those in Austria and elsewhere who saved Jews during the Holocaust and whose names are engraved by Israel on a Wall of Honor in Jerusalem's Garden of the Righteous.German industrialist Oskar Schindler and Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenberg are well known for rescuing thousands, but others who saved more modest numbers of Jews remain anonymous - unless profiled by exhibits such as the Vienna show, put on by a Holocaust remembrance group.While many Austrians embraced Hitler and his ideology, not all were enthusiastic followers. Posiles said that while some friends would not have hidden Jews out of fear for their lives, they shared in her secret - and kept silent.'They behaved admirably,' she said of the dozen or so people she said she had to confide in 'for one reason or another'.'As for me, I have a clear conscience,' she said of the war years. 'Not everyone can say the same.'Hmmmm......An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law. Martin Luther King, Jr. Read the full story here.

• Is this Bigfoot caught on video? Hiker swears she really HAS caught him this time.(DailyMail).A woman hiker got the fright of her life after she went walking with a friend in Spokane, Washington, and stumbled across what she claims is Bigfoot.Samantha, who has not revealed her surname, caught the footage in Downriver Park with her iPhone camera and posted the video on YouTube.After capturing the mysterious creature, also known as a Sasquatch, on film, her YouTube video has become a hit and has already been viewed almost 8,000 times within four days.In her post, Samantha said she didn’t realise Bigfoot was there until she replayed her video after the hike at home.She wrote an email to KXLY news website in the US, and said: ‘Someone asked me in the comments section if I believed in Bigfoot before the video.‘I have never given it much thought, but now I’m not so sure. Seem real enough to me.KXLY apparently showed the video to students and staff at Spokane Community College to ask for their opinion, seeing as their school mascot dresses as Bigfoot.Student Margaret Clarke said: ‘Looks like just a normal person to me.’While fellow pupil Ryan Constable added: ‘I think there is something big and hairy walking around out there like that.Hmmmm....."their school mascot dresses as Bigfoot"Nice try!Read the full story here.

• Kyoto deal loses four big nations.(SMH).DEAUVILLE, France: Russia, Japan and Canada told the G8 they would not join a second round of carbon cuts under the Kyoto Protocol at United Nations talks this year and the US reiterated it would remain outside the treaty, European diplomats have said.The future of the Kyoto Protocol has become central to efforts to negotiate reductions of carbon emissions under the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose annual meeting will take place in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December 9.Developed countries signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. They agreed to legally binding commitments on curbing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.Those pledges expire at the end of next year. Developing countries say a second round is essential to secure global agreements.But the leaders of Russian, Japan and Canada confirmed they would not join a new Kyoto agreement, the diplomats said.They argued that the Kyoto format did not require developing countries, including China, the world's No. 1 carbon emitter, to make targeted emission cuts.At last Thursday's G8 dinner the US President, Barack Obama, confirmed Washington would not join an updated Kyoto Protocol, the diplomats said.The US, the second-largest carbon emitter, signed the protocol in 1997 but in 2001 the then president, George W. Bush, said he would not put it to the Senate for ratification.Hmmmm......If you want to talk about an era of global warming, look no further than what happened 10,000 years ago. We're in a prolonged warm period.Read the full story here.

• Hamas treathens UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "Moon will be held responsible for any harm that comes to the next Gaza flotilla".(Memri)Hamas has condemned the call of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to refrain from sending flotillas to Gaza, stating that this call will encourage Israel "to continue the siege and its aggression against the Palestinians." The International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza said that Moon will be held responsible for any harm that comes to the next Gaza flotilla. Mushir Al-Masri, a member of the Hamas legislative council, said at a conference of the Turkish organization IHH that the blood of the Marmara activists shall be avenged. Hmmmm.....The 'Peace partners' of the Obama regime?Read the full story here.

• Dubai - Another Indian worker commits suicide,toll at 27 in the last five months.(Emirates247).In yet another case of suicide in Dubai, another Indian worker died last night when hejumped down from his accommodation.The victim has been identified as Rajesh aged 26 from Tamil Nadu in India and was working in a logistics company in Dubai.Accordingto a source from DCL Shipping, Rajesh died early this morning at around 7.30amin his accommodation.“He jumped down from his room located on the third floor of the building. It was the security guard who first discovered the incident and immediately called the police. The body has been taken to the police mortuary,” said the official.Rajesh who had earlier worked with the company for two years left the company and had rejoined just six months ago. “He was working as a welder. We are still notsure what caused him to commit suicide,” said the official.There has been an increase in the number of Indians committing suicides in the UAE. According to recent statistics at least 27 Indians have committed suicide during the last five months alone.Earlier this month another Indian died after he jumped from the 148 floor of Burj Khalifa.Hmmmmm....You think it's something in the air?Read the full story here.

• Iranian Basij Commander: The Homes of the Israeli Settlers Will House the Returned Palestinian Refugees.(Memri).Iranian Basij Commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi called on the Israelis to continue building homes the settlements, because these will be used to house the Palestinian refugees returning to their homeland. He added that the Islamic awakening in the Middle East will bring about the end of the Israeli occupation, as predicted by the Ayatollah Khomeini when he said that Palestine would one day be conquered from the Israelis.Hmmmm....Will there be room for the "hidden imam"? Read the full story here.

• Iranian Ayatollah: Open Plan Kitchens Are Un-Islamic.(Memri).Senior ayatollah Javadi-Amoli said at a conference of Iranian engineers that open plan kitchens contravene the teachings of Islam because the women of the household are exposed to the gaze of guests.Hmmmm....we don't want anything 'burned' do we?Read the full story here.

• FSB blamed as Russian Islamic Centers Close down.(MoscowTimes).An influential Islamic organization with offices across the country has been forced to close, highlighting a political struggle over the country's millions-strong Muslim population.Representatives of the Islamic Cultural Center and analysts said a Supreme Court ruling upholding the center's closure was politically charged."This is a bureaucratic order from people who want the Muslim part of society to be represented by puppets," the center's chairman and founder, Abdul-Wahid Niyazov, told The Moscow Times on Thursday.The Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed a decision from the Justice Ministry last fall to close the center for "multiple violations of financial regulations," Interfax reported.Among the objections mentioned by the court was that 21 of the center's 54 regional branches lacked proper legal documentation.But Niyazov said the evidence presented by the Justice Ministry was obtained under pressure from the Federal Security Service. "Any member of our regional staff will testify that they were threatened and pressured," he said at a Supreme Court hearing Tuesday, Interfax reported.He said many of the center's regional directors had resigned after receiving intimidating calls from the FSB.Niyazov said Thursday that he would appeal the decision in every possible way, including with a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.He said he would also appeal to the All-Russia People's Front, the political vehicle set up by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier this month. Putin is widely seen as the country's most powerful politician and in control of the security services.The Islamic Cultural Center, whose work has been suspended since last fall, held exhibitions, news conferences and readings and hosted visiting Islamic dignitaries.It describes itself as the "public arm" of the Council of Muftis, one of four organizations representing the country's Muslims.Council spokeswoman Gulnur Gaziyeva said the center's work was directed at the well-being of the country's Muslims."We believe that we can correct the legal problems and re-register the organization," she said by telephone.But the center's closure was welcomed by the All-Russia Muftiate, a rival organization set up last December, reportedly with active help from the Kremlin."This so-called public arm of the Council of Muftis was just a poor excuse for a sham," the muftiate's executive chairman, Mukhammedgali Khuzin, told Interfax. He said the center had done real harm to the Muslim community and to the country's interfaith relations. He did not elaborate.Asked to comment on Khuzin's allegations, Gaziyeva said only that it was "very sad to hear such a smear" coming from within the Muslim community.Analysts linked the struggle to authorities' desire to bring the country's Muslims under tighter control.Alexander Soldatov, a religions expert with Portal-credo.ru, said the Kremlin was frightened after the Council of Muftis organized mass prayers at Moscow's central mosque for the Eid al-Adha feast last November."After the prayers last fall they introduced the All-Russia Muftiat — which is obviously directed against the council," he said by telephone.Soldatov also said City Hall has shown extreme reluctance to Muslims' demands to build new mosques in the capital after last year's nationalist rioting on Manezh Square.Hmmmmm....."Outreach to Muslims Putin Style".Read the full story here.