MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation updated: Taiwan 5.4 ; Papua New guinea 5.3 ; Japan 5.2 and Turkey 4.9 !More info here.

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

• Gingrich Calls Arab Spring 'Anti-Christian Spring’.(NationalJournal).MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Saturday that the “grotesque failure” of current U.S. policy in the Middle East may have resulted in an “anti-Christian spring.”The former speaker of the House claimed that the number of Christians in Iraq fell from 1.2 million to 500,000 since the American invasion in 2003, and that Christianity is under assault elsewhere in the region.“This is why the current strategy in the Middle East is such a total grotesque failure,” Gingrich told about 200 people gathered at the Chesterfield Inn. “People say, ‘Oh, isn’t this great, we’re having an Arab spring.’ Well, I don’t know, I think we may in fact be having an anti-Christian spring. I think people should take this pretty soberly.”Gingrich was referring to the recent domino-effect uprisings that are challenging longtime autocratic regimes in the Middle East, which has become known as the Arab spring. As president, Gingrich said, “I would actively try to defend religious liberty across the planet, including in Egypt and Iraq.”The Arab spring began this year, long after Christians began fleeing Iraq in the wake of the U.S. invasion. And, pro-democracy activists in Egypt blame pro-military forces for inciting attacks on Coptic churches as a way of creating division between Christians and Muslims and tightening the military's grip on power by allowing it to continue emergency martial law.Hmmmm......“I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”Obama is not legally African-American as he claims but Arab-American and Islam still considers him to be a Muslim.Read the full story here.

• Credit-Default Swap Risk Bomb Is Wired to Explode.(Bloomberg).By Mark Buchanan. The European sovereign debt crisis stands as the latest in a long line of similar crises. Argentinain 2001. Russia in 1998. Mexico in 1994. The list goes back into history. Debt crises are about as natural as earthquakes, but this time there is something different -- and possibly more dangerous. The European nations are linked in a network of debts, as Bill Marsh recently illustrated in the New York Times with a beautiful piece of graphic art. Greece and Italy are prominent; Ireland, Portugal and Spain lurk ominously nearby. France and Germany seem exposed, too, as does the U.S. The image is like a complex wiring diagram for a ticking debt bomb. Yet what it shows may be less important than what it leaves out: a largely invisible network of ties among institutions around the world, which could ultimately cause global financial chaos. This hidden network has been created by institutions that buy and sell unregulated credit-default swaps. These are essentially insurance contracts on bonds; in the event of a default on the bond, the seller of the swap promises to pay the buyer the bond’s value. Credit-default swaps are mostly arranged “over-the-counter,”not traded on any exchange or recorded by any central information repository. This explains why Marsh’s map couldn’t show the links they create. But these undisclosed ties matter a lot. They were the primary reason the U.S. government needed to intervene in 2008 to prevent the collapse of insurance giant American International Group Inc. Ignoring the looming trouble with subprime mortgages, AIG had blithely sold CDS contracts insuring mortgage-backed securities to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Societe Generale SA, Deutsche Bank AG and other firms. Suddenly, AIG was potentially on the hook for almost half a trillion dollars in payments. Through CDS contracts, AIG’s failure could have spread distress throughout the global financial system. The AIG case illustrates an important paradox that looms again in today’s European debt crisis. Like regular insurance, credit-default swaps offer a way to spread risks, and standard thinking in economics holds that “risk sharing” of this kind should make individual banks safer, and the entire banking system more stable. It isn’t true, though, at least not always. In fact, too much sharing of risks can actually create bigger problems.Read the full story here. 

• US fears unilateral Israeli strike on Iran.(Ynet). The United States is working on several levels to pressure the UN's Security Council into imposing harsher sanctions on Iran, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday. A senior US State Department official said there is growing fear among Obama administration officials ahead of an IAEA report indicating considerable progress in Tehran's development of its military nuclear program which is set to be published in November.The US is concerned that the report may trigger Israeli actions against the Islamic Republic which may not necessarily be in line with US interests in the region.The official said that Washington's reevaluation of an Israeli strike in Iran is based on various maneuvers Israel has performed in the past few years. The US administration is now bent on exercising more pressure on Tehran in order to dissuade Israel from this path, the source said. Washington is therefore pressing China and Russia who are currently opposed to the publication of the IAEA report. The report may cause embarrassment to both countries who are strongly against harsher sanctions on Iran. According to the US official, it is possible that the report, coupled with the exposure of the US evaluation of Israeli potential to strike Iran, will encourage Russia and China to support the US initiative to aggravate penal measures against Tehran.US concern over an Israeli move is so great, the official said, that Washington is working on several levels to pressure the Security Council. This includes appealing to the Security Council to condemn Iran for its attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Last week, it was reported that many Israelis are concerned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided on an attack on Iran's nuclear reactors. The US is naturally also concerned over such plans which may send the entire region into a whirlwind.On Saturday, the New York Times reported that the United States plans to bolster its military presence in the Gulf after the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq. Citing unnamed officials and diplomats, the newspaper said the repositioning could include new combat forces in Kuwait able to respond to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran .Hmmmmm.......Inside Obama's Israel Bomb Sale, Reelection campaign for dummies.Read the full story here.

• 1st AMENDMENT UNDER FIRE - Yet another anti-Shariah conference threatened.Ex-Dem lawmaker leads charge, calling former Reagan, FBI officials 'racists'.(WND).By Art Moore.The venues for two events presenting the advancement of Islamic law in the U.S. and the Western world already have backed out in just the past week, and now a conference in Maryland faces cancellation if a former Democratic state lawmaker and the many Islamic advocacy groups that support him have their way. Saqib Ali, a former member of the Maryland state legislature, has published an open letter charging that the speakers for a conference to be hosted by the Maryland Conservative Action on Saturday in Annapolis, Md., include "the nation's leading Islamophobes," the Daily Caller reported. Ali's letter, which also criticized Republican lawmakers who have agreed to address the conference, has been officially endorsed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Islamic Society of Annapolis, CASA de Maryland and Equality Maryland, a group that promotes same-sex marriage. "Unfortunately, instead of inviting legitimate conservative speakers, MDCAN has instead chosen speakers who are well-known conspiracy theorists, McCarthyites, racists and anti-Muslim fanatics," Ali wrote, according to the Daily Caller.Grandy already has encountered opposition for his assertion that the U.S. is threatened by the spread of radical Islamic law at home. He claims WMAL radio in Washington, D.C., forced him and his wife to quit their morning talk show because of controversial remarks about Islam. The Daily Caller reported Ali tried to shut down a similar event hosted by the Chevy Chase, Md., Republican Women's Club at which Grandy and his wife spoke last month. The sold-out event went ahead as planned, however, and none of the promised picketers showed up. Gaffney called Ali's actions "standard operating procedure for CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood front groups." "They are trying to impose what are known as Shariah blasphemy laws, whereby anyone who says anything critical about Islam, no matter how true, is to be silenced," he told the Daily Caller. "It is actually a capital offense." Ali charged that the Maryland conference is "just exactly the same as if the Ku Klux Klan is coming to town and the Doubletree Hotel decided to host them." "To say that Muslim-Americans are trying to subvert the U.S. constitution through Sharia law is ridiculous and is just a way to set up anti-Muslim bigotry," he said. Claims that CAIR, MPAC and other Muslim groups are promoting Islamic law in America are "absolutely false," he declared. "There is no evidence of that whatsoever." Gaffney, however, insisted that there is ample evidence that the U.S. government "is acceding increasingly to such demands." "This is becoming an epidemic of Shariah blasphemy enforcement by hotel chains. It's all the more reason why this conference must go forward. It is indeed the time to call out Shariah promoters, and I hope to do it myself." CAIR founder Nihad Ahmad reportedly told a group of Muslims in Northern California in 1998 that they are in America not to assimilate, but to help assert Islam's rule over the country. "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant," a local reporter paraphrased him as saying. "The Quran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." Ahmad insists he was misquoted. However, the reporter stands by her story, and an FBI wiretap transcript quotes Ahmad agreeing with terrorist suspects gathered at the secret Philadelphia meeting to "camouflage" their true intentions. He compared it to the head fake in basketball. "This is like one who plays basketball: He makes a player believe that he is doing this, while he does something else," Ahmad said. "I agree with you. Like they say, politics is a completion of war." Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's communications director, also has expressed a desire to overturn the U.S. system of government in favor of an Islamic state. "I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future," Hooper said in a 1993 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education." Read the full story here.

• Obamaland: American Mules Must Eat Certified Weed-Free Hay.(DocsTalk).Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country and is one of the worst in foreclosures. “In my district,” Nevada Assemblyman Hansen reports, “one in seventeen houses is in foreclosure. One in eight is vacant. The people are economically desperate. Meanwhile we have an industry that would love to open up mines and create jobs with an average salary of $80,000. Unfortunately we also have a government that takes ten years to permit a mine.”No wonder 77% of Americans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction.“Couldn’t we streamline the process or eliminate some steps?” asks Nevada State Senator Settelmeyer. He points out that the high gold and silver prices present a huge opportunity but he’s afraid that if we do not strike while the iron is hot, gold prices may fall before the mining projects get approved and get into production. “We have the resources and people need the jobs.” n 1900 silver and gold were found in Tonopah, Nevada. Within weeks of the discovery, there was digging and within a year the mine was fully operational. In 1900 dollars, the mine brought in $125 million. Today, it would be multi-billions of dollars.The Comstock Lode was discovered in 1859 and during its six year run an estimated $50 million of ore was removed. The discovery was largely responsible for Nevada becoming a state and it is credited with helping the Union’s finances as it backed the paper money—assisting the Union’s ultimate victory in the civil war. If Comstock was burdened with today’s regulatory environment, the war would have been over long before an ounce of silver was legally extracted and the outcome could have been different.Mining has played an important role in the development of the western United States—providing jobs and revenues. It should be doing the same now. In Nevada’s mining towns, the unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country: 5-7%—according to Tim Crowley President of the Nevada Mining Association who says there are hundreds of mining jobs available in Nevada. Skills from the hard hit construction industry can be transferred to mining.General Moly plans to hire 450 people by the end of the year. There are major copper operations in permitting. Companies are looking at mining rare earths and lithium—both of which are essential for cell phones, batteries, computers, and wind turbines and solar panels.Imagine the jobs and new wealth that could be created if mining was encouraged. Senator Settelmeyer says, “It is hard enough for companies to get through the regulatory process and get a permit. On top of that there is frivolous environmental litigation that lengthens the process—cutting off vital resources and delaying jobs.”Last week environmental groups hailed a decision from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a law prohibiting roads on nearly 50 million acres of national forest. Lawyers for the Colorado and Wyoming Mining Associations contend that the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule violated the law. Previous conflicting federal court rulings have both upheld and overturned the road-building ban.Jane Danowitz, director of the Pew Environmental Group’s U.S. public lands program acknowledges that the roadless rule blocks “logging, drilling and industrial development.”Expressing disappointment with the decision, Stuart Sanderson, President of the Colorado Mining Association said, “The decision does not reflect a practical understanding of the impact that the rule will have upon mining jobs or access to needed minerals here in Colorado and the U.S. It is important to develop high quality coal and other mineral reserves, both to ensure our nation’s energy security and reduce our dependence on minerals produced in other countries.”How does this roadless decision impact mining and jobs?In Montana’s Finley Basin there are known tungsten deposits. An Australian company wanted to bring revenue and jobs to the state by developing the resource. While the property was successfully drilled and recognized by Union Carbide in the seventies, it is now about 200 yards inside a roadless study area. The Forest Service was willing to offer a conditional drilling permit. Among the conditions were these requirements:

1. The drill sites must be cleared using hand tools,
2. The drilling equipment and fuel must be transported to the site by a team of pack mules,
3. The mules must be fed certified weed-free hay, and
4. Drill site and trail reclamation must be done using hand tools.

The company gave up.How can America remain competitive in a global marketplace when we are required to use pick axes and mules? How does this help America’s heavy equipment manufacturers like Caterpillar?No wonder we are in trouble.We need these resources. They are salable both in the US and in a global market. The question is will we produce our assets—creating revenues, jobs, and new wealth? Or, will we allow countries, such as China, to have a monopoly and control the price?The issue goes beyond mining. If we are not utilizing our own resources, we will have to buy them from other countries who are ramping up to take advantage of the boom. They can produce them more efficiently without the layers of bureaucratic red tape. Some countries are working to control the market and raise prices—which increases America’s cost of manufactured goods, the deficit, and reliance on foreign suppliers.When America is struggling with the deficit and Americans are economically desperate, we need to be looking at more than spending cuts and tax increases. We need to eliminate redundant red tape in order to create new wealth, cheaper energy, and real jobs—all of which will contribute to a stronger America.Read the full 'story' here.

• Saadi Gaddafi 'smuggled into Niger by team of ex-special forces from Australia and New Zealand'.(TheTelegraph).By Richard Spencer. Saadi Gaddafi was smuggled into Niger by a team of ex-special forces soldiers from around the world, according to a former Australian soldier who claims to be the personal bodyguard of the son of the former Libyan dictator.Gary Peters, who is Australian but lives in Ontario, Canada, said his team of New Zealand, Australian, Russian and Iraqi ex-special forces soldiers escorted Saadi to Niger after his flight from Tripoli as it fell to rebel forces in August.He said he himself was injured as he tried to cross the border back to Libya, but was able to make it back to Canada even though he was bleeding.Saadi, who is facing demands for his extradition from Niger, was hoping to move to Canada or Mexico where he had investments, Mr Peters said."He loves Canada, that's why he keeps coming back here, every year," Mr Peters said of Saadi in an interview with the country's National Post newspaper."He's got investments here, he's got property here. He wants to [move to Canada], but I was warned by RCMP (the police) that if he comes here they'll arrest him straight away."Three of Gaddafi's children died during the uprising against his rule – Saif al-Arab, whose house was bombed by Nato, Khamis, whose car was hit by a missile as he tried to escape Tripoli, and Mutassim, who was killed with his father after both were captured in the fall of Sirte.But three children, Mohammed, Hannibal and Ayesha, escaped to Algeria with Gaddafi's wife, Safiya, and Saif al-Islam is known to be somewhere near Libya's border with Niger and Algeria.The International Criminal Court, which has issued an indictment against Saif al-Islam, has confirmed it has held negotiations for his surrender through a third party, adding that he wishes to argue his innocence of the crimes with which he is charged.Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor, said there was "substantial" evidence against him. "We have a witness who explained how Saif was involved with the planning of the attacks against civilians, including in particular the hiring of core mercenaries from different countries and the transport of them, and also the financial aspects he was covering," he said.Mr Peters said he had occasionally worked for Saif al-Islam and Hannibal Gaddafi, and met their father who was "very intimidating and very hostile", but that Saadi himself was a "very nice man, very educated, very nice guy"."However, don't ---- them off, very revengeful people," he added. Saadi is facing an international arrest warrant issued through Interpol for alleged crimes committed in Libya in connection with his time as head of the national football federation.Mr Peters said he escorted "The Boss" – Saadi – out of Tripoli. He said they were picked up by the Niger authorities while crossing the border after abandoning plans to wait for a day they knew there would be no patrols.He said he was now being investigated by the police, but that he had broken no laws and owed his loyalty to Saadi."I'm not a mercenary," he said. "I work for a person in particular, have done for years, for close protection. When we go overseas, I don't fight. That's what a mercenary does. Defend? Yes. Shoot? Yes. But for defence, for my boss, and that's what happened."He also warned that the remaining brothers had plenty of money available to continue the fight against the new Libyan government."People say, 'Oh, it's going to settle down, everyone's got to pull out'," he said. "Don't believe it's going to settle down because there are still three brothers there that are very, very angry. And three brothers that have a lot of money."And they've still got that money. We just purchased, brand-new, three Land Rovers, bullet-proof. We paid cash for it. That means there's money around."Read the full story here.

• Canada - New Al-Shabaab message urges jihad in Canada, attacks against non-Muslims.(WFP).Mogadishu, Somalia - An al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group calling for terrorist attacks in Canada and a host of other countries around the world has been "on the radar" of Canada's spy agency.Al Shabaab issued the threat in an audio tape allegedly made by a Somalia-American who blew himself up during an attack on an African Union base in Somalia's capital on Saturday, killing at least 10 people.In the tape, posted on the website Somalimemo.net, a young man identified as Abdisalan Taqabalahullaah, urged Muslims to carry out attacks against non-Muslims around the world."My brothers and sisters, do jihad in America, do jihad in Canada, do jihad in England, anywhere in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in China, in Australia," the voice said. "Anywhere you find (unbelievers), fight them and be firm against them.The Canadian government declared al-Shabaab a terrorist organization last year, following reports it was attempting to radicalize and recruit young Canadians."For the Canadian authorities al-Shabaab has been on the radar screen," said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former senior intelligence official at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. "They are very efficient at recruiting,” said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, who now heads a private corporate security company."We know that they have been among us right here in Canada, they successfully recruited some young Canadian Somalians to go back to Somalia ... to fight with them."Michel Juneau-Katsuya said although it's unlikely the group has the "intention or capability to mount an attack outside of Somalia" he suggested merely influencing people to act could pose dangers."You don’t need a lot of people to be capable to do something quite dramatic and significant," he said, noting there are many young men in the Somali-Canadian community who have never had a purpose in their life and may have filled that void by embracing al-Shabaab's beliefs.The observation is echoed in a recent CSIS report that says it believes that in 2009, several Canadians left for terrorist training camps in Somalia, demonstrating "the attraction for some of travelling abroad for training and becoming ensconced within groups co-ordinating and planning violent 'jihad' against the West."Read the full story here.

• UNESCO in crucial vote on Palestine membership.(Ynet).The UN's cultural agency faced a crucial vote Monday on whether to grant Palestine full member status, a move that would see it lose millions of dollars in US funding - more than fifth of its budget. The vote at UNESCO's general assembly comes the same day Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki has been scheduled to address the organization.UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said Friday she was very concerned about the possible withdrawal of US funding."This would have serious consequences, programs would have to be cut, our budget would have to be rebalanced," she told AFP in an interview."The US administration supports UNESCO, but (the Americans) are trapped by laws adopted 20 years ago," Bokova said, adding that she was "neutral" on the question of Palestinian membership.The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has been holding its general assembly in Paris since last Tuesday.Just like the UN General Assembly in New York, the question of Palestinian membership has been put on its agenda.But while as a permanent UN Security Council member the US has a veto that it says it will exercise at the UN General Assembly, no one has a veto at UNESCO. There, a two-thirds majority of its 193 voting members suffices.Arab states braved intense US and French diplomatic pressure to bring the motion before the UNESCO executive committee earlier this month, which passed it by 40 votes in favor to four against, with 14 abstentions.The four votes against came from the US, Germany, Romania and Latvia, while most of the abstentions were from European nations.The Palestinians currently have observer status at UNESCO.US ambassador to UNESCO David Killion has said that "granting the Palestinians full membership now in a specialized agency such as UNESCO is premature".Several European countries, including France, agree.The Europeans want to convince the Palestinians to be satisfied for now with joining three UNESCO conventions, including on World Heritage, which is possible for a non-member state.Read the full story here.

• Canada - Canadian Imam who has a PhD in chemistry Kicked and Beaten by Crowd During Haj, Jailed in Saudi Arabia.(Vinienco).The Canadian government is being urged to intervene following the arrest of an Edmonton imam in Saudi Arabia, who witnesses say was attacked by a mob and beaten while attending the hajj.It’s believed Usama Al-Atar, who has a PhD in chemistry and is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Alberta, has been charged with assault. However, Saudi police have not confirmed it.The attack, which took place at a cemetery in Medina early Sunday morning, was reportedly sparked when religious police approached an international group of pilgrims that included the imam.Witnesses said angry words were spoken, then things calmed down. That’s when a member of the religious police approached Al-Atar, offered to shake his hand and then called out to a group of men at a taxi stand.They rushed in and began beating Al-Atar, kicking him and attempting to throttle him, the witnesses said.Medina central police arrived, escorted the Canadian to a car and drove away, according to the witnesses.Several witnesses said the attack was unprovoked, CBC journalist Muhammad Lila reported on his Twitter page.Foreign Affairs aware of arrest. More than 200 people attended a session Sunday afternoon at the Islamic Shia Ithna-Asheri Association of Edmonton to pray for Al-Atar’s safe return. Many said they wanted the Canadian government to intervene.The Foreign Affairs Department issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying it was aware of Al-Atar’s arrest and would provide consular assistance.As well, the Islamic Human Rights Commission issued a statement Sunday calling for Al-Atar’s immediate release. The U.K.-based commission, which says it campaigns for justice for people of all faiths, is trying to secure a lawyer for Al-Atar and said the Canadian imam was “manhandled” by Saudi authorities.It’s not clear whether others in the group of pilgrims with Al-Atar, including Canadians and Britons, were injured.The annual Muslim pilgrimage, known as hajj, is a pillar of the Islamic faith and draws millions of participants to Saudi Arabia. The main sites are in Mecca, but some pilgrims travel to Medina as well.Hmmm.....Why do i get a bad feeling about this?Read the full story here.

• Turkey - Use of chemical weapons by Turkish army a reality.(Firat).A delegation of İHD (Human Rights Association) and BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) members are going to Geliyê Tiyarê (Kazan Vadisi, Kazan Valley, Çukurca-Hakkari) to investigate the allegations that the Turkish army have, in recent operation, used chemical weapons.Indeed it has been confirmed that as many as 35 Kurdish guerrillas have lost their life in the operation carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces between 22-24 October. Twenty-four bodies are held at Malatya Forensic Institute's morgue. Families and IHD officials who have seen the bodies have confirmed that they were torn to pieces and had burns all over, signs which indicates the use of some chemicals.The Turkish Army is not new to the use of chemical weapons. Indeed in August this year the IHD Diyarbakır branch had published a detailed report on the use of chemical weapons. According to that report 437 guerrillas have lost their lives in 39 separate operations carried out with chemical weapons by the Turkish army since 1994.The IHD "Report of Chemical Weapons” contains important information about the Turkish army operations in which chemical weapons have been used. The report reminded that the allegation concerning the use of chemical weapons has been frequently brought to the agenda since the 1990s also gave examples from the military operations where chemical weapons were used.The report states for example that 20 PKK militants, who lost their lives in the operation near the Ballıkaya (Bilika) village in Silopi district of Şırnak on May 11, 1999, were said to have been killed with chemical weapons. A chemical gas tube, claimed to have been used in the operation and found at the scene, was sent to Germany by militants for a criminal investigation. The report issued after the investigation in the criminal laboratory in Germany concluded that the material (the tube) was of a deadly chemical gas containing chemicals.8 PKK militants including two women, who lost their lives in a clash in September 2009 Cukurca district of Hakkari, were killed by chemical weapons. Upon finding some photos and materials verifying the assertion, human rights organizations sent the materials to Germany for an investigation after which the German press wrote that the Turkish army used 'chemical weapons' against PKK militants. While German human rights activists and politicians demanded an international investigation into the issue, the University of Hamburg issued a report and proved the use of chemical weapons by the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces). Separately, expert Hans Baumann who examined the photos of the event proved that the photos were real images, while Hamburg University Hospital issued a report saying that the militants were most likely killed with chemical weapons.PKK militant Bedran Kaya, who lost his life in the clash in Hakkari's Semdinli district on July 31, 2011, was as well claimed to have been killed with a chemical weapon. The assertion came up upon the notification of those seeing Kaya’s body which had no bullet marks but an intense skin eruption.Zafer Tanriş who appealed to our branch on 29 April 2009 made the following statement; ‘'My brother Gökmen Tanriş left home about 16 years ago and we have not heard from him since then. After some time we received unconfirmed information that he had joined the PKK. In addition, we did not have any information on whether he was alive or not. However, 10 days ago we learned that my brother had been killed in a clash where chemical weapons were used in Samsavat region between Erzincan and Gümüşhane provinces in 1994. We want to reclaim his body and to find out if he was killed with a chemical weapon or not. I demand you to make the necessary attempts for the identification and reclaimation of his body.’22 students, who left Malatya to join the PKK but were slaughtered in mass on May 17, 1994 at the Bezar Mountain in Adıyaman yet before reaching the guerrilla area, and six PKK militants, who came to the area to meet the students, were also claimed to have been killed with chemical weapons. While few eye-witnesses confirmed the use of chemical weapons during the operation, journalist Evrim Alataş called attention to the use of chemical weapons in a review she wrote about Fidel Töre who was among these 22 students.The bodies of 21 PKK militants, who were claimed to have been killed with chemical weapons in a clash in Çemişgezek district of Dersim on 11 April 1997, have still not been delivered to their families although their code names and birth places are already registered at the Office of Malatya Special Authority Chief Prosecutor.”Read the full story here.
• Related - Guerrilla families: Bodies are beyond recognition.(Firat).Families who went to Malatya's morgue today were only shown photos of the bodies of their children. The families said that “We are unable to identify our children’s bodies. We were shown photographs of bodies mutilated beyond recognition - they added - Indeed some of the bodies are without head.”Only four of the bodies have been identified and reclaimed by their families so far. The bodies of other 20 HPG guerrillas are still held at the morgue in Malatya and families are unable to identify them.“Two of the bodies were without head and some others were torn to pieces. I wasn’t able to find out which of the bodies belonged to my son” said grief- stricken Seyithan Çelik, father of HPG member Oktay Çelik. To add grief to pain, the families of the unidentified bodies will have to give a blood sample to enable a DNA test to be carried out. Batman-born Sezar Arslan, whose body was identified yesterday, will be buried in Muş today.Read the full story here.

• UK: Poppy-burning Muslims plan new 'hell for heroes' demonstration on Nov 11 - Armistice Day.(DailyMail). An extreme Muslim group which caused outrage by burning a poppy last Remembrance Sunday is planning further disruption on November 11, with a twisted ‘Hell for Heroes’ campaign.The demo, which mocks charity for injured soldiers Help for Heroes, is due to take place outside the Royal Albert Hall, the same location where a poppy was burned last year.The Muslims Against Crusades protestors, who have sought permission from police to hold the rally, aim to chant and disrupt the minute’s silence held in honour of the war dead.Firebrand cleric Anjem Choudary, who has links to the Muslims Against Crusades group, said: ‘It’s going to be called Hell for Heroes and it will be around the Royal Albert Hall.‘It will involve a protest and not observing the minute’s silence. We had a significant amount of support from Muslims around the world last year.‘It’s one thing to remember the dead from the First World War and subsequent wars but it’s quite another when they say we need to remember the dead from Afghanistan and Iraq.‘It’s become a political football and if they are going to use Remembrance Day for that purpose it’s only right that we have a counter protest, which we say is for Muslims.Read the full story here.

• Egypt: Coptic Christian Student Murdered By Muslim Classmates For Wearing A Cross.(Aina).  In mid-October Egyptian media published news of an altercation between Muslim and Christian students over a classroom seat at a school in Mallawi, Minya province. The altercation lead to the murder of a Christian student. The media portrayed the incident as non-sectarian. However, Copts Without Borders, a Coptic news website, refuted this version and was first to report that the Christian student was murdered because he was wearing a crucifix.“We wanted to believe the official version,” said activist Mark Ebeid, “because the Coptic version was a catastrophe, as it would take persecution of Christians also to schools.” He blamed the church in Mallawi for keeping quiet about the incident.Today the parents of the 17-year-old Christian student Ayman Nabil Labib, broke their silence, confirming that their son was murdered on October 16, in “cold blood because he refused to take off his crucifix as ordered by his Muslim teacher.” Nabil Labib, the father, said in a taped video interview with Copts United NGO, that his son had a cross tattooed on his wrist as per Coptic tradition, as well as another cross which he wore under his clothes.Both parents confirmed that Ayman’s classmates, who were present during the assault and whom they met at the hospital and during the funeral, said that while Ayman was in the classroom he was told to cover up his tattooed wrist cross. He refused and defiantly got out the second cross which he wore under his shirt. “The teacher nearly chocked my son and some Muslim students joined in the beating,” said his mother.Read the full story here.

• US retailer recalls Turkish pine nuts after salmonella outbreak that has infected more than 40 people in the U.S.(HurriyetDaily).A grocery store chain in the United States has decided to recall about 2.3 tons of pine nuts imported from Turkey over concerns of a salmonella outbreak that has infected more than 40 people in the U.S., with two victims being hospitalized.Turkish pine nuts sold in bulk at the upscale grocery store chain Wegmans have been linked to a salmonella outbreak that sent two people to hospitals and sickened 40 others in five East Coast states and Arizona, according to an Associated Press (AP) report on Oct. 28.The Turkish ministries of agriculture and foreign trade did not reply to Hürriyet Daily News questions regarding the identity of the Turkish firm that exported the nuts to the US, by the time the paper went to press on Oct.28.Inspection of exported food is generally up to the regulations and rules of the destination country that will buy the good, according to Petek Ataman, chairwoman of Turkey’s Food Engineers Chamber. Thus, only a part of Turkey’s export goods go through special controls before being sent to other countries, she added.“A product should be healthy and secure when it reaches the consumer, whether it is exported or not. Thus, should the inspection system within [Turkey] function properly and efficiently, other additional controls such incidents could be avoided. However, official inspections in Turkey remain insufficient within the country as well, thus concerns extend to exported products as well,” Ataman told the Daily News in emailed responses on Oct. 28.Wegmans said Oct.27 it had recalled 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of pine nuts imported from Turkey by Sunrise Commodities of New Jersey. They were sold between July 1 and Oct. 18 at its stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland.42 people were reported sickened after eating the nuts. The firm said the recall applies only to Turkish pine nuts purchased in bulk.Hmmmm......Reminds me of the Egyptian bean sprouts.Read the full story here.

• Pakistani Man Mohammad Riaz Confesses to Having Sex with 48 Female Corpses.(Vinienco).Mohammad Riaz stood tall at five foot five inches with a white cloth covering his face at the North Nazimabad police station. DSP Abdul Rashid Khan claims that he has confessed to having defiled the corpses of 48 women in the Paposh Nagar graveyard in the last eight years.“We had an inkling that something was not right at the graveyard but we did not know what was wrong,” he said. “We had gotten some of the gorkans [grave diggers] to work with us and keep an eye on this man for a month.” The DSP added that Riaz could not have been caught earlier as he had vanished out of the blue.While talking to the media on Saturday, Riaz said that he had heard a new grave had been dug and a woman had been buried. “I went inside the grave like I usually do and got scared,” he said. “The dead woman’s face and teeth were disgusting.There was a light in her eyes that really horrified me. I got out as fast as I could and started running.” He added that when he saw the woman’s face, he had sworn never to indulge in these sort of activities ever again.As Riaz started running away from the grave in fear, he caught the attention of grave diggers and other people. Soon there was a mob running after him with sticks and stones.Everyone, including the police thought that he was a thief or murderer. “We were conducting a snap check in the area when we found out,” said the police. “We thought the people had caught a robber or something, had no idea that it would be something so strange.”They claim that by the time they had figured out what Riaz did, the mob was ready to beat him up and tear him to pieces. They took him to the North Nazimabad police station for further investigations.Riaz claims that his family is from Sargodha but he has spent his entire life in Karachi. He joined the graveyard nearly eight years ago to water the plants and graves. “I got a job through one of the gorkans. His name was Wazir and he died two years ago,” he said. “Wazir taught me.”Riaz’s crime used to go undetected as the graves were ‘katcha’ or the earth was freshly dug.Hmmm........"Happy Halloween?"When the wife of a distinguished man dies, or any woman who happens to be beautiful or well known, her body is not given to the embalmers immediately, but only after the lapse of three or four days. This is a precautionary measure to prevent the embalmers from violating her corpse, a thing which is actually said to have happened in the case of a woman who had just died." ~ Herodotus (484 BCE -425 BC .)Read the full story here.