MFS - The Other News

                       Afternoon  Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - June 04. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - June 04. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Yemen Live Blog - June 04 . Here. (Al-Jazeera).

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

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 128.Source : Here .

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

• Europe - Latest official Situation Update on E-Coli epidemic. Situation Update No. 33
  On 04.06.2011 at 04:10 GMT+2. So far, 18 people have died from the strain, which is the deadliest outbreak of E. coli in modern history. Source.

• US: Peace summit instead of flotilla.(Ynet).Turkish newspapers say Washington considering asking Ankara to host Israeli-Palestinian conference in exchange for stopping Gaza-bound sail, ending diplomatic crisis with Jerusalem.The American administration is considering offering the Turkish government a deal, which would see Ankara hosting a peace conference attended by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in exchange for restoring its relations with Jerusalem and stopping the Gaza-bound flotilla planned for late June, Turkish newspaper Zaman reported Friday. According to the flotilla organizers, vessels from several European countries will leave Turkey towards the end of June.Turkish daily Hurriyet quoted sources as saying that the United States would officially ask Turkey to host an Israeli-Palestinian peace summit in exchange for stopping the flotilla and ending the diplomatic crisis with Israel. According to the offer, the summit will continue previous gathering held in the past, including the 1991 Madrid Conference and the secret Oslo negotiations in 1993. A US State Department spokesperson said Wednesday that his country had raised its concerns with the Turkish government regarding any flotilla sailing towards the Gaza Strip. According to the US, any flotilla would be considered an act of provocation since there is already an effective protocol to transfer humanitarian aid into Gaza.State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner raised the issue during a daily press briefing in Washington, saying that in recent conversations with the Turkish government the US warned against organizations planning to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza. "We’ve raised our concerns with the Turkish Government as well, and we’ve also met and said publicly as well as privately, meeting with some of these NGOs, about the risk for attempting to break this blockade," said Toner. "We have made clear through the past year that groups and individuals who seek to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza are taking irresponsible and provocative actions that entail a risk to their safety. I think I’ve talked about this specifically."Toner reiterated that "there are established and efficient mechanisms for getting humanitarian assistance through to Gaza, and that’s been our message consistently".Hmmmm.....IF this is true, then why allow the US ship "Audacity of Hope " to leave for Gaza?Nice try Hussein!Read the full story here.

• Was the Faith of Jerusalem discussed in Rome, between the Pope , Biden and Abbas?Was Vice -President Biden in Rome meeting with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also?(CNSnews).U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, a pro-abortion rights Roman Catholic, met with Pope Benedict XVI in an unannounced visit at the Vatican on Friday.Vatican officials said the meeting was strictly private and U.S. officials declined to give details.Biden, who was in Rome to mark Italy's 150th anniversary as a unified nation, is an observant Catholic who nevertheless supports abortion rights. Benedict has long insisted that Catholic politicians follow church teaching on such "nonnegotiable" issues as abortion, which the Vatican strongly opposes.The Vatican did not release a photo of Biden and the pope. The media only learned of the meeting when journalists at the Vatican to cover Benedict's meeting with the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas spotted Biden's car in the Vatican courtyard.Hmmmmm........Someone hiding big secrets?Read the full story here.

• Woman handing out the Koran and talking religion outside Outside Bloomington Library Stabs two people.(CBS).Two people were stabbed in a seemingly random attack at a Twin Cities library.After the incident Wednesday night at the Oxboro Library in Bloomington, 35-year-old Samira Abdalla Salim was arrested.Salim was no stranger to the Oxboro Library. She had a reputation for handing out the Koran and talking religion outside the building.“They had some issues with her harassing other patrons,” said Bloomington Police Commander Mark Stehlik.But it’s what investigators say she did on Wednesday night that surprised everyone. “I never thought she would do that. She was very nice,” said Anisa Ahmed, Salim’s neighbor. Salim is accused of stabbing two people. The first victim was a woman who was walking into the library.“The next thing she knew, she felt a sharp pain in the middle of her back and realized she had been stabbed,” said Stehlik.The second was a security guard who heard the victim’s cry for help. He went to talk to Salim in the parking lot.“Spoke to her briefly and then she actually stabbed him as well. Stabbed him in the abdomen,” said StehlikBecause Salim lived next door to the library, witnesses identified her right away and she was arrested in minutes.“Nobody was worried about her committing a violent act,” said Stehlik.Fourteen-year-old Ahmed lives next door to Salim and only knows a friendly lady whose kids were friends with her sisters.“She’d greet us every morning … and she’d get to know us,” said Ahmed.Now the question everyone wants answered is why a woman who was not seen as a threat suddenly became violent.“It’s unusual. Somebody minding their own business, walking into library, it doesn’t happen too often where they become victim of assault like this,” said Stehlik.The victims had minor injuries. Police say they weren’t stabbed with a knife but a sharp, pointy object.Hmmmm....."The Djinnis made me do it"?Read the full story here.

• Proof that S.F.’s circumcision ban Is anti-Semitic.(InfidelBloggers).As you may have heard by now, San Francisco will be voting this November on whether or not to ban circumcision in the city.Defenders of the measure say it’s all about “human rights” and “protecting babies” from unnecessary procedures.But critics suspected there was something vaguely anti-Semitic about the whole proposal, since among Jews (and Muslims, as well) circumcising male babies is a religious duty, not just a mistaken medical procedure.Ban proponents insisted their proposal had nothing to do with Jews — really, it’s all about the rights of children.Well, any doubt that they were lying have now been dispelled, with the publication of new campaign literature for the upcoming circumcision ban. The campaign comic book, called “Foreskin Man,” after its baby-saving superhero, features a litany of evil Jews doing battle with blond Nordic saviors.Anyway here's the team of the 'cartoon':

Written and Edited by Matthew Hess

 Pencilled and Inked by Gledson Barreto

Colored and Lettered by Ian Sokoliwski

Gledson Barreto is a28 years old, I am natural of the city of Jaguaribe-Ce. It concludes the university in History in the year of 2006, for University of Philosophy Dom Aureliano Matos. Now I am municipal public employee, more specifically of the City councils of Lemon tree of the North, city where I live. In the spare times I work as designer, being that one of my passions. I adore to draw!!! In that area, now drawing for Ed Benes Studio.Ed Benes of DC Comics, the US publishing giant, will publish the first of six special crossover issues in which The 99 will be fighting crime alongside the Justice League of America, the fictional superhero team that includes Superman and Batman.Gledson is also A get watchers member.

The Acceptance criteria and submission rules:

NO pornographic content

NO extreme violence and/or gore/horror

NO racism.Hmmmm......I don't know if the comic will stay below  the 'racism' threshold?Just strange not to use an American artist ,but an Brazilian .......unless DC comics proposed to use him.Read the full story here .

• Sobibor museum shuts on fund shortage.(Ynet). Lack of funds forces exhibition hall at former Nazi death camp in Poland to close, drawing protests from Jewish groups.A lack of funds has forced a museum housing the former Nazi death camp of Sobibor to close, drawing protests from Jewish groups over the fate of a site where up to 350,000 Jews perished. Poland's culture ministry said on Friday it would take charge of the museum, located in the southeast of the country, from next year, but it was not clear who would care for the 25-acre site in the interim period.The closure comes less than a month after a German court convicted former Nazi prison guard John Demjanjuk for his role in the killing of 28,000 Jews at Sobibor during World War II. Demjanjuk, 91, is appealing against the court verdict. "We have ceased all activity at the site. We cannot afford to keep the place orderly and tidy, it's been completely abandoned. It's hard to accept this," said Marek Bem, spokesman for the museum he co-founded in 1994. Until now, funds from the local municipality and private donors have financed the museum. "It is immoral in a way that the site is largely supported by a very dynamic group of victims' families, while the heirs of the perpetrators are nowhere to be seen," said Bem. The museum needs up to 3 million zlotys ($1.10 million) annually to function and to conduct research, he added.The American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants issued a statement deploring the closure."The demands of history and our obligation to the education of future generations must be respected so that this solemn place remain open. Whatever the price of memory, the cost of forgetfulness is so much greater," it said, noting the timing of the move shortly after Demjanjuk's conviction. The group later issued a separate statement welcoming the Polish culture ministry's intervention Poland was home to the largest Jewish population in Europe and the second largest in the world before the Nazi German invasion of 1939. Most of its Jews perished in the Nazi camps including Sobibor and nearby Belzec, Treblinka and Majdanek. Set in a swampy forest, Sobibor became the final destination for many Jews not only from Poland but from a number of other European countries. Bem said 13 survivors of the Sobibor camp were still alive.Two years ago, Poland appealed for international financial help to maintain the Auschwitz site. Germany and Britain are among countries that have made donations.Read the full story here.

• Kate and Wills enjoy a day at the races... and the Queen keeps smiling even though her horse finished third at the Derby.(DailyMail).Newlyweds the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were all smiles today as they enjoyed a day at the races, accompanied by royal jester Prince Harry. The trio were clearly enjoying a chuckle as they made their way into the royal enclosure at today's Investec Derby at Epsom.Even the Queen managed to keep a smile on her face, in spite of the fact her horse lost its race.Despite being a favourite to win the Derby in today's race tournament, colt Carlton House - the 5-2 favourite - finished third of the 13 runners.Hmmmm.....Is it me or has Prince William forgotten to slip on his wedding ring?Read the full story here.

• 'No calm in Mideast as long as Israel exists'.(Ynet).Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterates call against Jewish State, says 'as long as Zionist regime exists, if only on a small piece of land in Palestine, the region will not see tranquility'.Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday repeated his assertion that there will be no tranquility in the Middle East as long as Tehran's archenemy, Israel, continues to exist."As long as the Zionist regime exists, if only on a small piece of land in Palestine, the region will not see tranquility" he said to a crowd gathered at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on the eve of the 22nd anniversary of the revolutionary leader's death."So all the people of the region shall move towards the disappearance of American domination in the region and the disappearance of the Zionist regime," Ahmadinejad said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state radio.Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also made comments, saying that Iran backs "the undivided country of Palestine which belongs to the Palestinians.""Palestine will return to the arms of Islam, without any doubt," he added. Iran has not recognized Israel since the 1979 Islamic revolution and backs Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups fighting against it.in late May reacted to President Barack Obama's landmark speech on the Middle East, dubbing the idea of the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel as a "satanic plan" doomed to "fail."Obama said in the speech in mid-May that the borders of Israel and Palestine "should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states."Hmmmm.....Honestly Mahmoud you're become a bit of a bore ,always the same tune.Read the full story here.

• Saudi Teen wife killed by 62-year-old husband’s gun.(Emirates247).An 18-year-old Saudi woman died after she was shot by a gun owned by her 62-year-old husband and police are investigating whether it was suicide, a newspaper reported on Saturday.Police rushed the unnamed women to hospital but she died on arrival, Almadina said in a report from the southern province of Jazan.“Police found that the gun belongs to the victim’s husband…they are investigating whether it was suicide or she was shot by some one else.”Hmmmm......Read the full story here.

• Egypt reopens Rafah crossing after Palestinian breach.(JPost).Video -After bus loads of passengers left waiting at the shut Rafah border, angry Palestinians force gate open; tensions grow between Hamas and Egypt.Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza Saturday afternoon, after dozens of Palestinian protesters in Gaza stormed the crossing's iron gate. According to Israel Radio, Egypt had delayed the border's opening Saturday morning by nearly three hours. Palestinian border officials said three buses filled with 180 passengers had waited several hours to cross the border at Rafah, the Hamas-ruled gateway to Egypt, and some of those waiting responded by forcing the gate open."We have not been notified of any reason for the closure, passengers are angry," one of the officials told Reuters.Palestinian news channel Ma'an reported that Egyptian authorities said the border was closed due to "works" in progress. The unexpected closure came only days after Egypt announced that the number of travelers allowed to cross into Rafah would be limited to between 350 and 400 people a day.The new restrictions strained relations between Hamas and Egypt less than a week after the border crossing was reopened.Salameh Baraka, director of Hamas’s border crossing police in the Gaza Strip, denounced the restrictions as unreasonable, said they were a setback and called on Cairo to reconsider its move.He added that the Egyptians justified the restrictions by arguing that they were unable to accommodate more than 400 people per day.The Egyptian envoy to the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Othman, denied that the restrictions were the result of external pressure on the Egyptian authorities. He said there was no change in Egypt’s decision to reopen the border crossing and blamed technicalities and logistics for the delays and limits.Read the full story here.

• Sudanese Christian Woman Arrested for Evangelizing; Another is Attacked.(OpendoorUSA).In Darfur Region in northwestern Sudan, Hawa Abdalla Muhammad Saleh was arrested on May 9 in the Abu Shouk camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur state, sources told Compass News. Abdalla has yet to be officially charged, but authorities have accused her of possessing and distributing Bibles to others in the camp, including children. Sources said she could also be tried for apostasy, which carries the death sentence in Sudan. Abdalla has been transferred to an unknown location in Khartoum, sources said, adding that they fear she could be tortured, as she was previously detained and tortured for six days in 2009. The arrest comes as northern Christians become more vulnerable to official and societal pressure with South Sudan set to split from the predominantly Muslim north on July 9.At the same time, in Khartoum, a Christian mother of a 2-month-old baby was wounded because she and her husband left Islam for Christianity. On May 4, knife-wielding, masked assailants attacked Omar Hassan and Amouna Ahamdi, both 27. Hassan told Compass News that his wife was injured while trying to protect him.This recent attack was not the first for Ahamdi. Earlier, before she met and married Hassan, her brother had stabbed her three times in the stomach, seriously injuring her spleen after she told him she had become a Christian. In the violent outburst, her brother also broke her left leg. She was rushed to a local hospital where she met Hassan, also a convert who had also suffered for his faith. Hassan had heard about her suffering and had gone to visit her while she healed from the injuries. After a partial recovery, Ahamdi was discharged back to the hostile home where she had been attacked. “You don’t deserve to be a member of my family,” her angry father shouted at her, she said. Her family locked her in a room, shackled to a wooden chair, and severely beat her for a month. “They shaved all my hair and my father whipped my head,” Ahamdi said. “But neighbors used to sneak in secretly, and provided me food and water.”“I found a chance to escape to the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS), where I got married to Hassan,” she said. Her health however continued to deteriorate, and the doctors recommended she be transferred to Khartoum for specialized treatment. “With a small amount of money, we managed to reach Khartoum by train, where my uncle hosted us, not knowing that we were Christians,” she said. Hassan had also suffered greatly for his faith. Born the son of an imam belonging to the Ansar Al-Sunna, a sect of Sunni Muslims, he started questioning the Quran while accompanying his father on a preaching mission. A high-profile Muslim from Europe happened to be in the area, and young Hassan asked him questions about Muhammad and Jesus. He found no immediate answers and decided to be without faith. His father became so angry that he denied Hassan all basic needs. Hassan began comparing Christianity and Islam with a workmate. His friend invited him to visit a church, and Hassan also began attending a Bible study. Hassan said he began having dreams and visions and heard a voice saying, “This is the way.” He told this to a church pastor, who said that it referred to Jesus saying it of Himself in John 14:6. “A desire for attending church grew in me, and thereafter I got baptized,” Hassan said. “One morning, when I was on my knees praying, my father entered into the room and found me. He closed the door and invited seven relatives plus my elder brother, who started beating me with sticks and broke my shoulder. I almost lost my sight. My elder brother helped me escape to the pastor’s house.” When his father realized that he remained a Christian, he ordered him to leave and never return. This was in 2007. Over the next several years Hassan moved several times. The ESC congregation sent him to Shokaya Bible Institute for six months where upon completion he returned where he met and married Ahamdi in June 2010. Now living in Khartom, Hassan and Ahamdi depend on friends to provide them occasional food. They sometimes go without eating for days. In addition, they have been given notice to vacate Ahamdi’s uncle house after he discovered that they had converted. “Life is becoming unbearable for us here in Khartoum,” said Hassan. “We cannot deny Christ – this is a big challenge to us, because we do not have a place to go,” said Ahamdi, through tears. “We have no food, and we are jobless. I am still in pain, besides having a 2-month-old baby boy to care for.” Sudan (North) is number 35 on the Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 countries of the world where persecution of Christians is most severe. The U.S. Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report 2010 notes that while Sudan’s Interim National Constitution provides for freedom of religion throughout the country, it establishes sharia (Islamic law) as a source of legislation in the north. Concern is growing as the July 9 date approaches when the referendum will be complete dividing the North and South into two separate states. Hmmmm........Where's the so called Christian President defender of the oppressed?Ah gone golfing ......again. His 13th outing this year and the 71st of his presidency.Read the full story here.

• Driver kills 3 Egyptian soldiers at checkpoint in the northern Sinai.(Emirates247).Egyptian security officials say a truck driver drove through a checkpoint in this northern Sinai city, killing three soldiers and badly injuring a fourth as they slept in their tent.The officials said Saturday that the man drove through a checkpoint while exiting the city of el-Arish, chasing away the soldiers manning it.The truck then swerved toward a roadside tent, killing three sleeping soldiers and badly injuring a fourth.The officials said the driver is in custody. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.They said it was not clear why the driver stormed the checkpoint.Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely Different.Armchair astronaut discovers Mars 'space station' using Google earth.We have all heard of little green men from Mars.But now an American 'armchair astronaut' claims to have discovered a mysterious structure on the surface of the red planet - by looking on Google earth.David Martines, whose YouTube video of the 'station' has racked up over 200,000 hits so far, claims to have randomly uncovered the picture while scanning the surface of the planet one day.Describing the 'structure' as a living quarters with red and blue stripes on it, to the untrained eye it looks nothing more than a white splodge on an otherwise unblemished red landscape.He even lists the co-ordinates 49'19.73"N 29 33'06.53"W so others can go see the anomaly for themselves.In a pre recorded 'fly by' video of the object, Mr Martines describes what he thinks the station might be.He said: 'This is a video of something I discovered on Google Mars quite by accident. 'I call it Bio-station Alpha, because I'm just assuming that something lives in it or has lived in it.'It's very unusual in that it's quite large, it's over 700 feet long and 150 feet wide, it looks like it's a cylinder or made up of cylinders.'It could be a power station or it could be a biological containment or it could be a glorified garage - hope it's not a weapon. 'Whoever put it up there had a purpose I'm sure. I couldn't imagine what the purpose was. I couldn't imagine why anybody would want to live on Mars. 'It could be a way station for weary space travellers. It could also belong to NASA, I don't know that they would admit that. 'I don't know if they could pull off such a project without all the people seeing all the material going up there. I sort of doubt NASA has anything to do with this. 'I don't know if NASA even knows about this.'The 'discovery' is similar to that of the infamous 'face on Mars'Uncovered by the Viking 1 probe in 1976, a quirk of geography threw shadows over a small hill on the Cydonia region of Mars, making the inanimate rock look like a carved face.The picture was heralded as proof of an alien civilisation by some but was dismissed as a mere trick of the light by scientists at NASA.MailOnline has tried to contact both NASA and Goggle for a response to the image, but neither has replied.Read and see the full story here.