MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation New Zealand 6.0 - 5.8 - 5.6 - 5.5 - 5.3 ; Philipines 5.4 - 5.3 ; Pakistan 5.1 !More info here.

• Cuban and Chinese Bloggers Speak on Havel’s Greatness, Kim’s Tyranny.(Heritage).The reaction of bloggers in two remaining communist dictatorships to the recent deaths of pro-freedom crusader Vaclav Havel and his polar opposite, North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Il, tells you all you need to know about why communists can’t hold elections. In the restricted cyberspace afforded to Chinese and Cubans Havel is being hailed as a hero while Kim is derided for the evil he represented.In a roundup on Chinese cyber reactions to the two deaths, the BBC observed that contrary to China’s official stance, comments by Chinese microbloggers have been generally pro-Havel, the former dissident and writer who went on to become the leader of a free Czechoslovakia, and anti-Kim Jong-il, the paunchy dictator who inherited power from his father, another despot named Kim Jong-Il.“When Havel died yesterday, we were very sad. But after Kim Jong-il died, we are celebrating. It’s not because we don’t value life or don’t think life is equal, but that we know better the true value of life. Some people bring nothing but shame to life!” the BBC quoted well-known blogger Yang Hengjun as writing on the blog Sina Weibo.Liu Chun, vice-president of Chinese internet giant Sohu, wrote, “between the two people who have just passed away, Havel and Kim Jong-il, I cannot possibly like Kim no matter how hard I try, and I cannot dislike Havel no matter how hard I try.”A third blogger, Zhu Youke, culture editor of the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekend newspaper, was quoted by the Beeb as saying: “Compared with Havel’s death, the death of Kim Jong-il was nothing but a senseless epilogue of a farcical performance.”In Cuba, which has accorded the Orwellian Kim three days of official mourning and which is, like China, another communist dictatorship that remained silent on Havel’s passing, bloggers have also drawn similar contrasts.The poor Cubans have only a fraction of the cyber freedom than even the Chinese have, but the country’s most famous blogger, Yoani Sanchez, wrote: The government of Raul Castro has still not made the most minor public mention of the death of the Czech democrat but has decreed three days of official mourning for the death of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. Of the latter, the official media of his country says he wrote more than 1,500 books in his life, but none of these is read by any of us today. However, the author of The Feast and The Temptation (Havel) is everyday better known and admired by us. Like missionaries of a peculiar relition, many today distribute and propagate his writings throughout the island.Many other Cuban bloggers echoed these sentiments.These reactions from Cuban and Chinese dissidents are a far cry from the opinion of Kim voiced by Wendy Sherman, the Obama Administration’s undersecretary of state for political affairs, who called Kim “witty and humorous” and “a quick problem-solver.” Kim, of course, ran a country which Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal referred to this week as “a vast modern-day Auschwitz.”Mr. Obama, unlike this peers in France, Britain and Germany, has decided to skip Havel’s funeral.Hmmmm.......You know a Communist by his speeches?Read the full story here.

• Obama Looking To Renew Nuke Scientist Exchange With China That Led To One of Worst Cases of Nuclear Weapons Espionage In U.S. History.(WT).Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman is working on a major Obama administration initiative that would renew scientist exchanges between U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories and Chinese nuclear facilities.The idea is aimed at promoting openness and transparency by China’s military about its secret, large-scale buildup of nuclear weapons, according to U.S. officials.Critics say the plan is similar to an exchange program in the 1990s that sent U.S. nuclear scientists to China and produced one of the worst cases of nuclear espionage. Secrets about every deployed warhead in the U.S. arsenal were compromised, including the W-88 small nuclear warhead deployed on submarine-launched missiles.“We’ve seen this movie before, and it has a bad ending,” one official said.Officials familiar with the plan told Inside the Ring that the initiative was discussed during a recent policy committee meeting of senior national security officials at the White House. The initiative is part of the administration’s arms-control-centered security policies. According to the officials, the administration hopes to coax the reluctant Chinese communist leadership and its military into engaging the United States in strategic nuclear talks, something China so far has refused.Hmmmm......I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes. ~ Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776.Read the full story here.

• RIA Novosti to cover Dec. 24 protest rally in Moscow in 7 languages – Special Media Advisory - Coverage plan for Moscow demonstration.(RN).RIA Novosti’s International News Service will cover Saturday’s protest rally in Moscow in English, Chinese, German, French, Spanish, Arabic and Persian languages. The coverage of the rally over alleged fraud at the December 4 legislative elections will include video reports in these languages from the site of the rally.English-language coverage on Saturday will include breaking news, a general news story updated periodically throughout the day, an analysis (shortly after the demonstration concludes), and many details from the venue.RIA Novosti’s Russian-language RIA.ru website will start online reporting from the site at 1:00 pm local time (09:00 GMT), one hour before the scheduled rally. The rally was authorized by the Moscow City Hall.Up to 50,000 people have signed up in social networks as of Friday to participate in the rally, the second of this kind in a month.The first such protest rally was held in central Moscow on December 10 and gathered 25,000 people, according to the Moscow police. Organizers of the rally claimed that at least 40,000 people showed up.Read the full story here.

• Iraq Plunges into Chaos as Obama Administration Celebrates End of U.S. Military Presence.(Heritage).The Obama Administration’s risky decision to seek the quickest possible exit from Iraq has contributed to a mushrooming political crisis there that is rapidly unraveling the hard-won gains of U.S. troops and threatens to plunge the country into a civil war that will greatly benefit Iran.Shortly after the December 15 end-of-mission ceremony for U.S. troops, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki purged many senior Sunni Arab political leaders from his fractious governing coalition. Maliki’s government, dominated by Shiite political parties of various stripes, also announced that it will prosecute Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a leader of the predominantly Sunni Arab Iraqiyah party, on terrorism charges. Hashemi, who denounced the allegations as propaganda cover for a political coup, has fled to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.Iraq’s fragile unity is now dissolving in growing political tensions between the leaders of the Shiite majority and Sunni minority and between the Shiite-dominated central government and the non-Arab Kurdish minority. But the Obama Administration, blindsided by simmering tensions that it had downplayed in its rush for the exit, appears to be on auto-pilot.The Administration gave a higher priority to domestic political considerations than to Iraq’s long-term security needs when it neglected to negotiate an extension of the U.S. troop presence past the end-of-year deadline set by the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement. Although the Bush Administration had envisioned a follow-on agreement to extend the military presence, and the Obama Administration had initially planned for a smaller residual force of military trainers and advisers, in the end politics trumped security in the White House’s deliberations.President Obama, who won office campaigning as an opponent of the Iraq war, treated Iraq as an inconvenient commitment that should be ended as soon as possible, not a war to be won. He made it clear that his Administration was eager to “turn the page” and leave Iraq as soon as possible.The Heritage Foundation warned repeatedly about the damaging consequences of an abrupt U.S. pullout from Iraq. We have stressed the need for strong American leadership to consolidate a stable peace in Iraq.But the Administration chose to disregard these and other warnings and pressed ahead to terminate the U.S. military presence. This removed a safety net below the Iraqi coalition government that now is disintegrating as rival leaders fall back on their own ethnic or sectarian camps to provide for their security. Iran, which has backed radical Shiite parties and fanned suspicions of the Sunni political leaders, is likely to emerge as the big winner.Hmmmm........A 'Community organiser' as commander in Chief, expect much, much worse in Afghanistan.Read the full story here.

• "Paging Dr.Dolittle" - Once Bitten, Twice Shy: Jerusalem City Can't Help Arabs With Dog Plague.(INN).Arabs in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat complained Thursday that they were experiencing a plague of wild dogs roaming the area, but a spokesperson for the municipality said that catching the dogs was complicated – because of the threat to the physical security of dog catchers who would normally be sent in to catch the animals. At least 150 wild dogs, many running in feral packs, have for months been roaming the streets of the Ras Hamis neighborhood, at the edge of Shuafat, itself a village within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. The city has a full staff of dog catchers, but because of security concerns, a municipal spokesperson told reporters, they could only be sent in to do their jobs with an IDF or police crew to protect them, because of the strong likelihood that they will be pelted with stones or beaten with metal pipes – or worse – as has occurred on numerous occasions in the past.As a result, residents of the neighborhood say they have taken to arming themselves with bricks and pipes to fight off the dog menace. The dogs, say the residents, are particularly vicious, and have chased and attacked many people, especially the elderly and children, who have a hard time outrunning them.Attorney Nasrian Alian from the Israel Civil Rights Association said that the problem was present in all Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. “In 2010 over 1,000 dogs were caught in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. The city's Veterinary Service does not provide sufficient services for the neighborhood and does not even operate in some of them – and they fail to do the job properly in areas where they do operate,” she told reporters.In response, the municipality said that the IDF no longer permits municipal workers to enter some Arab neighborhoods without a security detail to protect them. Shuafat is one of those neighborhoods, the city said.Attacks on Israeli workers in Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods are not uncommon, and numerous workers have been badly injured when Arabs converged on them as they tried to undertake maintenance work in Arab areas.Hmmmm......Another bunch of 'Mossad trained Dogs' at work?Read the full story here.

• No Jail Time for Antisemitic Muslim Blogger.(Vinienco).A London blogger who wrote that Jews must be attacked wherever you see them on the Scotsman newspaper's website has escaped jail, after pleading guilty to posting the comments.Mohammed Sandia from Wembley said Jews were a genetically mutated inbred tribe. Jews are not fit to breathe our air and should be attacked wherever we see them. Throw rocks at their ugly, hooked-nosed women and mentally ill children, and light up the real ovens.He changed his plea to guilty after initially denying the charges in November 2010. Sheriff Gordon Liddell expressed regret he could not impose a longer custodial sentence, suggesting a short sentence would only have the effect of turning you, in your own eyes, and in the eyes of your supporters, into a martyr. I choose not to do that.Sheriff Liddell opted to defer sentencing for 12 months. Last week, Sandia appeared again in court, and was admonished leaving him with a criminal record but no substantive penalty.The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities director Ephraim Borowski welcomed the sentence as an outspoken condemnation of Sandia's outrageous and abhorrent postings on the Scotsman website, and a clear signal that the law will not tolerate the abuse of freedom of speech to spread hatred.Mr Borowski's deputy director, Leah Granat, said:The police and prosecutors have been fantastic this case breaks new ground in establishing that the distributed nature of the internet does not offer protection from prosecution. The Scotsman is in Edinburgh, complaints were made in Glasgow, and Sandia was posting in London.This required cross-border co-operation to track down the computer [of the poster] and who it was used by. The Scotsmans digital editor, Stephen Emerson, said that Sandia's posts had been removed five minutes after being posted.We make every effort to ensure offensive comments are removed promptly from the site, and co-operated fully with police throughout this investigation.Read the full story here.

• BREAKING: UNESCO stops funding children's Palestinian teen magazine following SWC protest.(SWC).A day after a protest from the Simon Wiesenthal Center to UNESCO's Director-General over a Palestinian youth magazine which published materials exalting Hitler, UNESCO has agreed that it "will not provide any further support to the publication in question."Zayzafouna, a magazine which supposedly promotes democracy and tolerance, published an article by a ten-year-old Palestinian girl who said that in her dreams, Hitler told her, “Yes. I killed them [the Jews] so you would all know that they are a nation who spreads destruction all over the world.” The article was brought to the public's attention by Palestinian Media Watch.A letter from the office of UNESCO's Director-General read:

"UNESCO’s attention has been drawn to the February 2011 issue of the Palestinian children’s magazine Zayzafouna. This magazine is published by an NGO of the same name under the patronage of the Palestinian National Commission for UNESCO, which is the national body set up by the Palestinian Authority to facilitate its work with the Organization. The February issue features a story written by a 10-year-old girl in which Hitler is quoted by her as stating that he “killed [the Jews] so you would all know that they are a nation who wreak havoc on Earth”. While UNESCO upholds freedom of expression as an integral part of its mandate, the inclusion in this publication of a statement that may be interpreted as an apology of the holocaust is contrary to UNESCO’s constitutional mandate and values. It is totally unacceptable. UNESCO supported the publication of three issues of the Zayzafouna Magazine six months after the February 2011 issue. The support was provided for these issues following agreement with the editorial board that they would focus on building greater appreciation amongst Palestinians for their heritage and culture. They were to open the way for positive dialogue aimed at overcoming the consequences of the Middle East conflict, and to fight against stereotypes that may be conducive to violence. It was UNESCO’s intention to foster a positive view ofPalestinian heritage based on the values of tolerance and UNESCO’s mandate of building peace in the minds of men and women. This vision guides all of UNESCO’s activities, and we urge all partners to work in this direction. UNESCO is shocked and dismayed by the content of the February issue, and has requested more detailed information and clarification from the editors of the magazine and to Palestinian Authority. UNESCO strongly deplores and condemns the reproduction of such inflammatory statements in a magazine associated with UNESCO’s name and mission and will not provide any further support to the publication in question.The Organization, which is deeply committed to the development and promotion of education about the Holocaust, disassociates itself from any statement that is counter to its founding principles and goals of building tolerance in the full respect for human rights and human dignity."Read the full story here.

• Israel cancels defense deal with Turkey.(TodaysZaman).Israel has canceled a $141 million defense deal with Turkey, a reflection of the steep deterioration in relations between the former allies.Israeli officials said Thursday they are concerned that Turkey could deliver the state-of-the-art airborne intelligence units to third parties hostile to Israel. They said the deal was signed in 2008. Officials in Israel's Defense Ministry and Elbit Systems, the manufacturer of the system, confirmed the deal was called off. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the matter. There was no immediate comment from Ankara.Read the full story here, more here.

• Syria blames al-Qaeda for twin suicide attacks in Damascus; at least 40 dead.(AlArabiya).Suicide bombers blew up vehicles at two security service bases in the Syrian capital on Friday, state television reported while pointing the finger of blame at al-Qaeda.At least 40 people were killed and 100 others wounded in the twin bomb attacks, Reuters reported, adding that most of those killed were civilians.“Two attacks carried out by suicide bombers in vehicles packed with explosives targeted bases of state security and another branch of the security services,” the television said, after AFP correspondents heard two large explosions.“Initial inquiries hold al-Qaeda responsible,” it added.State television said that “several soldiers and a large number of civilians were killed in the two attacks carried out by suicide bombers in vehicles packed with explosives against bases of state security and another branch of the security services.A delegation of Arab League officials visited the sites of two explosions in Damascus on Friday to inspect damage, Syrian state television said.A member of the Arab League team, contacted by telephone by Reuters, did not give details of the group’s movements but did say members were holding meetings.Witnesses said the bombers struck in the Kfar Suseh neighborhood of the city. A car tried to ram its way into a state security compound, while another car exploded in front of a security service building in the same area.Syria’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has said Lebanon warned Damascus two days ago that al-Qaeda had infiltrated into Syria from its territory.“The Lebanese authorities warned us two days ago that al-Qaeda group infiltrated to Syria from (north Lebanon’s town of) Ersal,” spokesman Jihad Makdesi told Reuters in an email.“And today’s suicide bombers caused the death of around 40 and more than 150 injuries, all are civilians and military personnel. Freedom seekers should know that this is not the way to achieve democracy.”The blasts came as an advance team was in Damascus to prepare the logistics for an Arab League observer mission to oversee a plan to end nine months of unrest that has killed more than 5,000 people, according to the United Nations.Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said he expects the observers to vindicate his government's contention that the unrest is the work of “armed terrorists,” not overwhelmingly peaceful protesters as maintained by Western governments and human rights watchdogs.A Britain-based rights group also reported Friday’s blasts.“Two blasts just rocked the Syrian capital Damascus, followed by the sound of heavy shooting in the vicinity of the general intelligence headquarters,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia.The bombings in Damascus were the first of their kind since the 1980s when then president Hafez al-Assad, father of incumbent Bashar al-Assad, fought an armed uprising by the since banned Muslim Brotherhood.Meanwhile, the Syrian Revolution Council said 14 people were killed as security forces continue with its crackdown against protesters and dissents in the country.Read the full story here.

• Syria fires new Russian Yakhont missiles in exercise as ‘warning to Turkey and NATO’.(Stratrisk).NICOSIA — The regime of President Bashar Assad has displayed its new Russian-origin weapons during a military exercise.Western diplomats said Assad’s military fired new missiles and otherweapons acquired from Moscow in late 2011 during an exercise that took placeon Dec. 20. They said the new weapons included the P-800 Yakhont cruisemissile, which arrived in November.“This was a warning to Turkey and NATO to keep out of Syria,” a diplomat said.This marked the second major military exercise by Syria in less than a month. But the diplomats said the latest exercise was much larger than the first interservice maneuvers.“The demonstration was aimed at testing the combat capability and readiness of the air force and air defense to confront any possible aggression that might target Syria’s land and air space,” the official Syrian news agency, Sana, said.Sana said the exercise demonstrated a high level of interoperability in missile and other attacks. Sana, which did not identify the weapons, said the military’s special forces also conducted paratroop operations.Yakhont has been part of the Bastion coastal defense system supplied byMoscow. Diplomats said Syria received at least two Bastion systems, or more than 60 supersonic land-attack missiles.Syria has also received the Iskander-E long-range surface-to-surfacerocket from Russia. It was not clear whether Syria fired the Iskander duringthe latest exercise.“Marine and coastal missiles participated in the maneuver underconditions similar to a real battle, hitting the assumed hostile targetswith accuracy that reflected the high level of combat training the marinepersonnel had and their efficiency in using modern maritime weapons,” Sana said.Read the full story here.

• FIFA signalling compromise on hijab ban.(HurriyetDaily).FIFA has endorsed a proposal to lift a controversial ban on the hijab in a move that offers a resolution to demands of female football players who wear the religious headscarf.At its executive committee meeting in Tokyo, the world football body submitted the proposal brought forth by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Vice President and Jordanian Prince Ali bin al-Hussein to the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which governs the rules of association football. IFAB is expected to discuss the proposal that calls for the sanctioning of a safe, Velcro-opening headscarf for players and officials at its next scheduled meeting March 3.FIFA’s endorsement follows an earlier approval of the AFC proposal in a workshop convened in October in Amman by al-Hussein.The dispute over the hijab led to the disqualification of the Iranian women’s national team in June after they all appeared wearing hijab for a 2012 London Olympics qualifier against Jordan. Three Jordanian players wearing hijab were also barred.The Iranian team’s insistence on wearing hijab contradicted an agreement reached last year in Singapore between FIFA and the Iranian Football Federation (IFF), under which the Iranians agreed to wear a cap that covered hair but not the neck.The measures were taken on the grounds that FIFA bans all religious and political symbols on the pitch on the basis of IFAB’s Law 4, which only lists jerseys, shorts, socks, shin-guards and footwear as the sanctioned basic equipment for a player. Applying Law 4 is complicated because interpretation of the IFAB rule is left to referees, which has led to differing interpretations on the pitch. “This issue impacts millions of women worldwide and it is crucial to address, in the best possible way, the issue that ensures the safety of the players, respects culture and promotes football for all women without discrimination. This is a crucial step forward. Our goal at the end of the day is to ensure that all women are able to play football at all levels without any barriers,” al-Hussein said.A decision by the Amman workshop to view the hijab as a cultural rather than a religious symbol helped pave the way for the AFC and FIFA endorsement.“The hijab issue has taken center stage in football circles in recent years due to the increasing popularity of women’s football worldwide. It is a cultural issue that not only affects the game, but also impacts society and sports in general. It is not limited to Asia, but extends to other continents as well,” the executives and players said in a statement issued at the end of their meeting.By defining the hijab as a cultural symbol, the group, meeting under the auspices of the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), an NGO founded by al-Hussein to advance grassroots, youth and women’s football, laid the groundwork for a compromise that acknowledges observant Muslim women’s cultural requirements and meets FIFA’s health and safety standards.IFAB’s adopting the FIFA endorsement would indeed solve the problem for Muslim women who want to play association football in a way that allows them to adhere to their interpretation of Islam, but it does not fully end Iran’s problem with FIFA. In Iran, the hijab is compulsory for female Iranian players and the country imposes wearing the hijab on foreign female teams playing in the Islamic republic. Iranian football officials have acknowledged that this was likely to remain an issue even if IFAB adopts the resolution. Iran is the only country that has made the hijab compulsory for its female players and for visiting female foreign teams.FIFA’s endorsement is based on the group’s suggestion the world football body should weigh lower safety risks against the greater health benefit of women playing football and that allowing the hijab or an equivalent would persuade more women to become players and empower them across cultures.Prominent football executives, female players and coaches, including the head of FIFA’s medical committee Michel D’Hooghe, AFC Vice President Moya Dodd, members of FIFA’s women’s committee and football body representatives from Jordan, Bahrain, Iran and England all attended the workshop earlier in October.England, alongside FIFA, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, form IFAB.Hmmm.....Make up your minds 'Cultural' or 'Religious'?Read the full story here.

• Only in West Java! Christians Wait Patiently for 'Permission' to Celebrate Christmas.(RRA).The Jakarta Post this week had a headline touting West Java as the ‘most intolerant’ province of Indonesia. Given its competitors for that scurvy title, like Banten, where the three Ahmadis were martyred by a mob of Islamist savages, and Aceh, infamous for its shariah floggings, that’s quite something.But tonight, it’s a hard act to follow, for a small Protestant congregation is waiting patiently and peacefully to see if the local Chief of Police will give them permission to celebrate the Birth of Jesus. Yes, of course, I’m talking about the Yasmin Church in Bogor, persecuted for years by evil Islamists, who have to ask the cops there if they’ll be ‘allowed’ to observe Christmas in their own building, sealed by a bigot mayor, and un-opened by those same cops who repeatedly refuse to enforce the Supreme Court ruling in the Protestant’ favour.As we type this, the decision on freedom of religion sits on the desk of the Head of West Java Police, Irjen Pol Putut Eko Bayuseno.I know, I’m accused of being repetitious on this, of banging on and on, and you’re darned right I do, and will, because this case is the most blatant affront to both common decency and Indonesia’s own laws that it’s possible to construct.Liputan6.com reported a few hours ago that their parent body, the Union of Christian Churches of Indonesia, has expressed its support for their beleaguered brethren..“We hope our Yasmin people won’t face obstruction in celebrating Christmas, and that GKI Yasmin, after two years, can celebrate Christmas with well-being and security,” said Secretary of PGI’s Gomar Gultom. He spoke to Liputan on the sidelines of a press conference on Freedom of Religion for Christians Worshipping in Indonesia, in the Office of PGI, Jakarta, Wednesday (21/12).Therefore, Gultom asserted, PGI is also asking the government to take firm charge in the decision. “Because the Supreme Court’s decision is final. In our conversation with the President on Friday last, the President made ​​clear that the Supreme Court decision is final and should not be overlooked,” he said.“And certainly the President can guarantee religious freedom in Indonesia because it is the duty of a president who has been authorised by the constitution to guarantee religious freedom, as mandated in the constitution,” he said. Okay, it’s over to Chief Putut Eko Bayuseno. What is he waiting for? Let them pray and sing carols on their church!Hmmmm.....Obama :"Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance."....yeah seems pretty obvious?Read the full story here.

• Flashpoint Falklands: Britain dusts off war plans amid calls to send a nuclear submarine after Argentina joins forces with Brazil and Uruguay to blockade islands.(Dailymail).Military chiefs are dusting off their plans for the defence of the Falklands after South American countries banned ships from the islands docking in their ports.Sources fear Prince William’s six-month deployment to the South Atlantic as an air-sea rescue pilot next year could provoke more sabre-rattling.Yesterday Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claimed Britain was ready to use its military to steal natural resources ‘anywhere, anyhow’.She said: ‘They’re currently taking our oil reserves and fish stocks from the Falklands but when they need more natural resources they will come and use force to steal them wherever and however they can.Mercosur, the South American trading block which also includes Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay have agreed to ban boats sailing under the Falklands flag from docking at their ports – even though Paraguay does not even have a coastline.British diplomats in South America yesterday demanded urgent meetings with their host countries to assess 'what they think their action means'.Intelligence chiefs have told Mr Hammond and the National Security Council that there is currently 'no credible military threat' to the islands from the Argentine Navy or Air Force.But a senior official said: 'If there is a threat preparations would be made very quickly.'We are confident that the Argentinians could not land even a fishing boat on the islands.'But it's important to show we are serious about our obligations.'Read the full story here.

• Muslim body issues fatwa on Veena Malik.(IT).BHOPAL: The All India Muslim Tyohar (Festivals) Committee on Wednesday issued a `fatwa' against Pakistani actor Veena Malik and ex-communicated her for ``objectionable'' photographs on websites and degrading the sacred institution of ``Nikah'' by signing a contract to choose a groom at a TV reality show.After item girl Rakhi Sawant, former BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's son Rahul and TV serial actor Ratan Rajput, it will now be Veena Malik's turn to have her Swayamvar catch eyeballs on the idiot box next year. Veena has signed a contract with a television channel as the main protagonist for the fourth season of the reality show. Sources said complaints over this were accumulating with the Majlis-e-Shura - the 70-member supreme body of the All India Muslim Teohar Committee, in Bhopal.``We were getting complaints from concerned community members who said that the activities of this Pakistani female actor was sending a wrong message to our teenagers, especially girls' said Ausaf Shahmiri Khurram, chairman of the Majlis-e-Shura. ``The complaints said that there were offensive photographs of this woman all over the internet and that she was going to have a `swayamvar' on television. Islam has a certain procedure for a `nikaah'. We do not have `swayamvar'.'' He maintained.A two day meeting that started on Tuesday discussed the issue and the entire Majlis-e-Shura including ulemas, clerics and heads of the community unanimously ex-communicated Veena Malik on Wednesday and issued a `fatwa' ordering a social boycott of the Pakistani actor. ``She has been ex-communicated and no member of the community will entertain her from now onwards,'' Khurram explained.``The extreme step has been taken because the woman has openly revolted against the tenets of Islam and Prophet Mohammad. You are a Muslim only if you follow the rules of the religion. She has made a laughing stock of the community. The social boycott became necessary to stop our community girls from following her example,'' Khurram added.Read the full story here.

• Saudi books: Death to Jews.(DocsTalk).Report: Saudi textbooks teach annihilation of Jews - State-funded books in Saudi Arabia continue to teach kids that ‘hour (of judgment) won’t come until Muslims fight Jews and kill them,’ Fox News reports. Despite promises to clean up violent and xenophobic content from textbooks, recent editions in Saudi Arabia continue teach school children barbaric practices, Fox News reported.The news network, which was able to obtain translated copies of the recently-printed books from the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, DC, said that the books teaches ninth graders that the annihilation of Jews is imperative “The hour (of judgment) will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them,” one part reads. “There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”The reviewed editions were printed for the 2010-2011 academic year. Another book teaches 10th graders how to cut off the hands and feet of a thief.“This is where terrorism starts, in the education system.” Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, said, noting that the books were financed by the Saudi government.In addition to coaching kids to kill Jews and amputate body parts, the text books depict women as weak and irresponsible. Moreover, al-Ahmed said the textbooks call for homosexuals to be put to death “because they pose a danger at society, as the Saudi school books teach.”Suicide bomber education?Al-Ahmed, as Saudi national, predicted that the extremist education within the kingdom could have devastation implications on the world at large.“If you teach six million children in these important years of their lives, if you install that in their brain, no wonder we have so many Saudi suicide bombers.”Read the full story here.