Just in time for the World Cup, the 'Islamic' Slavery Museum opens in Doha, Qatar.

Just in time for the World Cup, the 'Islamic' Slavery Museum opens in Doha, Qatar.(TN).

Newly planted trees stand solemnly over the whitewashed courtyard of a traditional mansion in old Doha that less than a hundred years ago was often filled with shackled men, women and children from east Africa — the main commodities in a booming Gulf slave trade.

The large home once belonged to Doha’s most prominent slave trader, a man his neighbours called “jelmood", or “rock" — an allusion to his hard heart.

Today, in the old house, this story and the larger history of slavery in the Indian Ocean world that brought, by some estimates, hundreds of thousands of enslaved people to the Arabian Gulf is being explored for the first time in a museum confronting the past and, its curators hope, helping Qataris shape their future.

“These settings reveal the circumstances of the enslaved people whose lives form part of the story of this country," reads one of the museum’s displays — a history that has largely been forgotten and avoided in both official narratives and the public conscience, even by the descendants of slaves now integrated into Gulf societies.

The first exhibit in the museum features an ancient slave sales contract inscribed in Aramaic on a clay tablet, Greek paintings of slaves working an olive plantation and other examples of slavery throughout history. The artefacts are intended to create historical context and describe the various forms of slavery, stretching from ancient Mesopotamia to serfdom in Middle Ages Europe and the most brutal form of human bondage, the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The historical frame then shifts to the system of which the Gulf was a part, the Indian Ocean slave trade. Short video lectures by scholars and archival photographs describe the “maritime silk road" that connected the islands of South-east Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, the Arab Gulf and east Africa as a distinct region. One of the threads linking these far-flung cultures and empires was slavery. Read the full story here.

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Just in time for the World Cup, the Slavery Museum opens in #Doha, #Qatarhttps://t.co/0XSfPwpI9X pic.twitter.com/DynTdyXXnu

— маяковский (@moscow_ghost) May 24, 2016

Related: Modern-day slavery in focus: Qatar

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• 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.

MFS - The Other News

                       Morning Posting.

• Syria Live Blog - June 21. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Libya Live Blog - June 21. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Yemen Live Blog - June 21. Here. (Al-Jazeera).

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in Japan  today 4.9. More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 134.On 20.06.2011 at 08:40 GMT+2
  
  The Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced plans to open a main door at Unit 2 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Sunday's plan is aimed at ventilating contaminated air, and allowing workers inside to set up equipment. They plan to establish a cooling system, and reduce the risk of hydrogen explosions. The March 11th earthquake and tsunami knocked out power to the Fukushima Nuclear Plant, incapacitating its crucial cooling systems, and causing three reactor cores to melt. To allow work to resume inside Unit 2, TEPCO is set to open the main double-door. and ventilate the contaminated air with nearly 100 percent humidity. Junichi Matsumoto, TEPCO Spokesman, said, "We have decided to open the double-door, starting today at 8 PM. From today at 8 PM, until 4 AM tomorrow, we will open the door partially, to control the dust in the reactor building. Then, at 4 AM, we will open the door fully, if we don't see any problems." The reactor suffered a torus rupture, but its outer containment building has survived, and contains moisture and radioactivity. TEPCO wants to quickly inject nitrogen into the reactor, to prevent hydrogen explosions like those that already blew off several roofs and walls at other units. The operator will leave the door partially open overnight, before fully opening on Monday morning. Officials claim the amount of radiation released into the air will be small enough to not pose any danger to human health. Meanwhile, more radioactive water is pooling in the tsunami-stricken nuclear plant, as workers scramble to restart a key clean-up system. It was shut down on Saturday, because a component reached its radioactivity limit faster than expected. TEPCO aims to move the reactors to a stable cold shutdown state by early January. Japan has 54 nuclear reactors. More than 30, including six at Fukushima Dai-ichi, and several others that stopped running due to the quake, are out of operation.Source : Here .

                                                                      

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

• Obama To Jewish Donors: I’ve Done More For Israel’s Security Than Any Administration In 25 Years.(Reuters).President Barack Obama reassured Jewish donors on Monday he strongly supports Israel, stressing close ties between the United States and the Jewish state, but also emphasizing that changes in the Middle East will require a fresh look at the region.“Both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes. It’s not going to be sufficient for us just to keep on doing the same things,” Obama said at the first of two big-ticket fund-raisers where he was speaking on Monday evening.He addressed the crowd of about 80 people a month after a speech on the Middle East that exposed a rift between the United States and Israel. At Monday’s dinner, hosted by Americans in Support of a Strong U.S.-Israel Relationship, he said his administration had done more than any for 25 years to support Israel’s security.Hmmmm........Better Lay off the magic Mushrooms?Read the full Fairytale story here.

• White House loosens border rules for 2012.(DailyCaller).President Barack Obama’s administration is quietly offering a quasi-amnesty for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, while aiming to win reelection by mobilizing a wave of new Hispanic voters, say supporters of stronger immigration law enforcement.The new rules were quietly announced Friday with a new memo from top officials at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. The “prosecutorial discretion” memo says officials need not enforce immigration laws if illegal immigrants are enrolled in an education center or if their relatives have volunteered for the US military.“They’re pushing the [immigration] agents to be even more lax, to go further in not enforcing the law,” said Kris Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of state. “At a time when millions of Americans are unemployed and looking for work, this is more bad news coming from the Obama administration… [if the administration] really cared about putting Americans back to work, it would be vigorously enforcing the law,” said Kobach, who has helped legislators in several states draft local immigration-related laws.The Hispanic vote could be crucial in the 2012 election, because the Obama campaign hopes to offset its declining poll ratings by registering new Hispanic voters in crucial swing states, such as Virginia and North Carolina.To boost the Hispanic vote, the administration has enlisted support from Hispanic media figures, appointed an experienced Hispanic political operative to run the political side of the Obama reelection campaign, and has maintained close ties to Hispanic advocacy groups, including La Raza. For example, La Raza’s former senior vice president and lobbyist, Cecilia Munoz, was hired by the Obama administration as director of intergovernmental affairs in 2009.On Friday, officials at ICE announced several new administrative changes to immigration enforcement.The primary document was the six-page “prosecutorial discretion” memo, which provided new reasons for officials to not deport illegal immigrants.“When weighing whether an exercise of prosecutorial discretion may be warranted for a given alien, ICE officials, agents and attorneys should consider all relevant factors, including, but not limited to – the circumstances of the person’s arrival in the United States … particularly if the alien came to the United States as a young child; the Person’s pursuit of education… .. whether the person, or the person’s immediate relative, has served in the U.S. military,” said the memo.“The factors are extremely broad and very troubling … [it] look like a stealth DREAM Act enforcement through non-enforcement,” said Kobach.The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act has been repeatedly rejected by Congress from 2001 to 2010. “The deliberate non-enforcement of our immigration laws in this administration certainly seems politically motivated,” said Kobach, adding “how exactly they expect to win votes by doing this is beyond me.”Immigrant advocacy groups said they want to get more from the administration. “We’re continuing to work with the administration for them to show strong leadership and advancing immigration reform,” said Vasquez. “We think there are further steps the administration can take.” For example, the administration should allow people to stay in the United States while their immigration cases are settled, she said.The administration should end the “Secure Communities” program, which allows state and local police to detain illegals for subsequent deportation by federal authorities, said Loewe. “Secure Communities is an experiment they unleashed on the public without any safeguards or regulations… local law-enforcement of immigration laws is a bad idea,” he said.But the overall goal of the new memos is victory in the 2012 election, not law enforcement, said Vaughan. It is “kabuki theater… designed [by the administration] to send a signal to these groups that they are taking their concerns very seriously.”“Latino voters are very engaged and watching carefully what is happening with immigration policies,” said Vasquez, “because they’re deeply effected by it, either because they know someone impacted by it, or themselves are impacted by it.”Hmmmm......"We don't want to upset potential Democrat voters",to hell with the Constitution, Congress and the American taxpayer?Read the full story here.

• Obama Campaign to Unveil Adorable, Fuzzy Mascot to Distract Voters From President's Unblemished Record of Economic, Foreign Policy Failures.(DougRoss).Washington (DRNS) - Citing concerns over its disastrous poll numbers, the Obama 2012 Reelection Campaign today unveiled Failosaurus, its new mascot designed to appeal to liberals and children."Our hope is that we can really pump up turnout with 'Failie'," said Obama Senior Campaign Adviser David Axelrod, "that's what our focus groups told us: everyone has failures in their past, and this president is no different.""Look at that insurance company's duck. It's a f***ing duck! It increased sales like a gazillion percent for them. And how about those cavemen? You're telling me a cute, fuzzy mascot won't swing voters to Democrats, no matter how f***ed up the economy is?"The Democrat National Committee and George Soros helped fund the mascot design effort, along with laundered taxpayer dollars through the SEIU. The Senate majority leader also played a key role in the focus groups that approved the new mascot."Harry Reid, who is a true creative genius, really helped us craft the approach," said Axelrod, "We could tell when 'Failie' danced into the room that we had a winner. Harry was clapping and laughing and squealing like a little girl as the mascot launched into a series of Party anthems including F*** the Constitution, the Soviet National Anthem (Гимн Советского Союза) and Democrats über alles.""Look, anyone with an ounce of sense knows that we've f***ed America up beyond recognition. We had a Stimulus program that destroyed our balance sheet... we passed a 'health care reform' bill that stole half-a-trillion from Medicare and bankrupted Medicaid... and we passed a 'financial reform' bill that didn't address Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Plus, as an added bonus, we started a 'war of choice' in Libya. Best of all, we did everything against the direct will of the people! So we thought: hey, it's time for a mascot!"Axelrod explained that, given the infantile thought processes of the left, Democrat pollsters were predicting that turnout among progressives would increase roughly 3.9% with a marketing campaign heavy on 'Failie' and light on the facts.Hmmmm......."To appeal to liberals and children"kindred spirits....Yup that covers it.Read the full story here.

• President Obama Rejected DOJ and DOD Advice, and Sided with Harold Koh, on War Powers Resolution.(Lawfare)by Jack Goldsmith.Charlie Savage has the amazing story that President Obama “rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization.” The Acting head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Caroline Krass, and the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Jeh Johnson, advised the President that military activities in Libya constituted “hostilities” under the War Powers Resolution and thus Section 5(b) of the WPR required him to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20. The President – himself a lawyer – rejected this advice and instead sided with the White House Counsel, Robert Bauer, and the State Department Legal Advisor, Harold Koh, who argued that the actions in Libya fell short of “hostilities” and thus did not implicate Section 5(b)’s termination provisions.There are many things to say about this.This episode makes me wonder how all of this is being taken by the U.S. military. It must be strange to many involved in Operation Odyssey Dawn to be told that not only are they not involved in “war,” they are not even involved in “hostilities.” A midshipman at the Naval Academy wrote to Tom Ricks to say, in light of the original unilateral resort to force in Libya, that he wondered whether the soldiers fighting in Libya “are breaking their oath to obey only legal orders.” I think this is a large overreaction to the initial use of force. And despite my views of the WPR here, I do not think that disobedience would be a proper reaction to the President’s decision under the WPR. The President gets to make the call and his decision is not so far out of bounds to warrant disobedience. But it cannot be pleasant for the men and women involved in this “kinetic military action” to know that the Defense Department General Counsel and the head of OLC think the intervention in Libya as currently executed is unlawful.Read the full story here.

• "Obama Advisor" Fareed Zakaria: Today's Conservative Movement Like 'the Old Marxists'.(NewsBusters).CNN's Fareed Zakaria regurgitated his conservative-bashing Time magazine piece on his Sunday show Fareed Zakaria GPS. He opened up his program with the same barrage against conservatives that he launched in Time on Friday, namely that today's conservatism is woefully divorced from reality like the Marxists of the 19th century.Ironically, Zakaria claims that "market-friendly, conservative reforms" are needed, but only ones that are "rooted in reality." This is from a man who in 2008 took time on-air to explain why he was voting for Obama, and has had face-to-face conversations with the president recently on foreign affairs.And yet Zakaria fails to credit, or at least critique, the role of President Reagan's economic policies in the two decades of growth, as he demands evidence for the theory that "massive tax cuts are the single best path to revive the U.S. economy". He argues that the United States has some of the lowest tax rates of any industrial powerhouse and is still trying to jumpstart its economy.Zakaria points to China for direction as the "world's fastest-growing economy." He touts that they have "managed to use government involvement to create growth and jobs for three decades."

A transcript of the segment, which aired on June 19 at , is as follows:

FAREED ZAKARIA: Now, here's my take. I've been watching the Republicans on the campaign trail and what strikes me so far is that conservatives in America have gone through a strange transformation. It used to be that conservatism was a hard-headed set of ideas rooted in reality. Unlike the abstract theories of Marxism and socialism, it started not from an imagined society, but from the world as it actually exists. This is the way things work, conservatives would patiently explain to wooly-headed liberal professors. Whatever you may want it to look like, this is what it really looks like.But consider the debates over the economy these days. The Republican prescription is cut taxes, slash government spending, then things will always bounce back. Now, I would like to see lower tax rates in the context of simplification and reform, but what is the actual evidence that massive tax cuts are the single best path to revive the U.S. economy? Taxes as a percentage of GDP are at their lowest levels since 1950. The U.S. is among the lowest taxed of the big industrial economies. So the case that America is grinding to a halt because of high taxations is not based on facts, either past or present, but is simply a theoretical assertion. The rich countries after all that are in the best shape right now, with strong growth and low unemployment, are ones like Germany and Denmark and Canada, none characterized by low taxes.Many Republican businessmen have told me that the Obama administration is the most hostile to business in 50 years. Really? More than that of Richard Nixon, for example, who presided over tax rates that reached 70 percent, regulations that spanned whole industries like airlines and telecommunication, and who actually instituted price and wage controls? In fact, right now, any discussion of any government involvement in the economy, even to build vital infrastructure, is impossible because it is a cardinal tenet of the new conservatism that such involvement is always and forever bad.That's the theory. Meanwhile, in practice across the globe, the world's fastest growing economy, China, has managed to use government involvement to create growth and jobs for three decades. From Singapore to South Korea to Germany, evidence abounds that some strategic actions by governments can act as catalysts for free market growth.But conservatives now resemble the old Marxists who refuse to look at actual experience. I know it works in practice, the old saw goes, but does it work in theory? Republicans often praise businessmen. Well, one of the first steps any business now takes when confronting a problem is to ask how are other companies around the world handling this? Is there a best practice we can learn from? But in any area, from infrastructure to health care to education, that is heresy on the right.Hmmmmm......The 'One man obama think tank'.Read the full story here.

• Fareed Zakaria: Let’s use Facebook and Twitter to create a 21st century Constitution.(DailyCaller).One of President Barack Obama’s most scrutinized statements prior to the 2008 election was one in which he concluded that the U.S. Constitution was a flawed document since it was “a charter of negative liberties.” But according to CNN host and Time magazine’s Fareed Zakaria, the president might have been on to something.On his Sunday “Fareed Zakaria GPS” program, Zakaria explained how the island nation of Iceland is scrapping its entire longstanding constitution and is starting from scratch, even accepting suggestions from its citizens via social media.“We all know how Americans revere the Constitution,” Zakaria said. “So I was struck by the news that tiny little Iceland is actually junking its own constitution and starting anew and using an unusual, some would say, innovative mechanism. The nation decided it needed a new constitution and it’s soliciting ideas from all of Iceland’s 320,000 citizens with the help of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and this social media method has worked. Ideas have been flowing in. Many have asked for guaranteed good health care. Others want campaign finance systems that make corporate donations illegal. And some just want the country to make shark finning illegal.”But he said the Icelandic process is also significant because it highlights how different their process is from what America’s founding fathers did.“By contrast, any talk of revising or revisiting the American Constitution is, of course, seen as heresy. The United States Constitution was, as you know, drafted in a cramped room in Philadelphia in 1787, with shades drawn over the windows,” he said. “It was signed by 39 people. America at the time consisted of 13 states. Congress had 26 senators and 65 representatives. The entire population was about one percent of today’s number, about 4 million people. America was an agricultural society, with no industry, not even cotton gins. The flush toilet had just been invented.”And Zakaria has his problems with the Constitution, as it is interpreted in its current form.“These were the circumstances under which this document was written,” he continued. “And let me be very clear here, the U.S. Constitution is an extraordinary work, one of the greatest expressions of liberty and law in human history,” he said. “One amazing testament to it is the mere fact that it has survived as the law of the land for 222 years. But our Constitution has been revised 27 times, some of these revisions being enormous and important, such as the abolition of slavery. Then there are areas that have evolved. For example, the power of the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, is barely mentioned in the document. This grew as a fact over history.”One solution to these flaws: Mimic Iceland and use social networking to revise how the U.S. government operates.“So we could use the ideas of social media that were actually invented in this country to suggest a set of amendments to modernize the Constitution for the 21st century,” he continued. “Such a plan is not unheard of in American history. After all, the delegates in Philadelphia in 1787 initially meant not to create the Constitution as we now know it, but instead to revise the existing document, the Articles of Confederation. But the delegates saw a disconnect between the document that currently governed them and the needs of the nation, so their solution was to start anew. I’m just suggesting we talk about a few revisions.”Hmmmmm.....Who died and made him Emperor of the United States of America?.......The Muslim Brotherhood?Read the full story here.

• Iran Scam to Evade Terror Sanctions Busted, NYC Official Says.(ABC).Eleven companies, including Iran's state-sponsored shipping line, were indicted in New York City today for allegedly conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran by duping major U.S. banks in order to funnel more than $60 million through the Manhattan banks. "The defendants falsified the records of banks," said Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, who filed the indictment, in a conference call, "and in so doing the defendants deceived the Manhattan banks." The conspiracy indictment seeks to enforce a U.S. ban on trading with Iran that was imposed because, according to the federal government, the country harbors terrorists and participates in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Iran's national shipping company is alleged to play a key logistical role in that nation's ballistic missile program as well as to serve as a conduit for supplying weapons to terrorist organizations. The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), its regional offices and affiliates as well as five individuals were charged in the 319 count indictment with using corporate shells and aliases to "exploit the services of financial institutions located in Manhattan," said Vance."As the private sector around the world increasingly turns its back on Iran's national shipping line, IRISL's efforts to evade international sanctions and increased scrutiny have grown more and more desperate," Szubin said. Szubin also announced today the sanctioning of ten additional shipping companies and three individuals. The sanctions prohibit trade and authorize the freezing of assets of companies doing business with companies that harbor terrorists or proliferate weapons of mass destruction. Still, Vance acknowledged the difficulty officials face in attempting to extradite the newly indicted individuals. "Will anyone ever face judgment in New York courts? Possibly," he said.Read the full story here.

• Muslims to abandon Scottish education system,want more 'Islamic' schools.(Express).Muslim leaders are planning to break away from the Scottish education system and create their own schools because the current curriculum does not include enough about Islam.The Sunday Express has learned parents are angry their children are not being given schooling according to their religious beliefs and claim teachers are even promoting “unIslamic principles and behaviours”.Some have even threatened legal action to force councils to open state-funded faith schools at taxpayers’ expense.Others want the “relatively affluent” Muslim community to take matters into its own hands, starting with Scotland’s first Islamic high school. Parents and supporters are being rallied on an Internet chat room called glasgowmuslims.com. One father explains the plan is to “form a steering group of individuals who wish to contribute towards the creation of an Islamic Secondary School for Girls in Glasgow”.The anonymous man – TariqM – adds: “I have spoken to a number of Imams representing the primary Masjids (mosques) in Glasgow and in principle everybody agrees the ideal solution to education for Muslims would be within an environment that has at its core an Islamic ethos.”Another member proposes legal action over the city council’s refusal to fund an Islamic state school, stating: “There is a case to be made by the Muslim community against Glasgow Council claiming religious bigotry and discrimination.”Sajid Quayum, president of the Glasgow branch of the Islamic Society of Britain (ISB), said he was aware of the group and its plans.“Education is something close to the heart of all parents,” he said. “They are venting their frustration over not being able to ‘play the system’ as other religious groups have in the past.“There is a lot of disagreement in the wider community whether having an Islamic state school is what we want. Some say it would be a good thing but others say there is enough separation from the main community as there is. Mr Quayum, a TV producer, also claimed children of all religions and backgrounds are not learning enough about Islam in school.He said: “A lot of teachers are a little bit worried about trying to cover Islam because it has so many social and political issues. “We have set up a teacher training programme called Islam Information Scotland. When we have approached RE teachers, they say they will often focus on a particular religion for a year, such as Hinduism, but it will rarely be Islam because they are worried about offending Muslims. “There is a perception that we are consistently getting offended, but there are only a few groups out there who do that. Unfortunately, it is them who always appear in the news.“This is not about pushing our religion into schools, just a feeling that there is not enough understanding of the issues.”Scotland currently has one Islamic primary school, the private Qalam Academy in Glasgow.Two other private primaries, in Glasgow and Dundee, closed after damning inspection reports.Hmmmm.....One wonders why they might be closed down?Read the full story here.

• Syrians call Assad 'liar' following speech.(Ynet).Protesters take to streets immediately after presidential address, chant, 'No to dialogue with murderers'.Protesters took to the streets across Syria on Monday to denounce a speech by President Bashar Assad they said did not meet popular demands for sweeping political change, activists and witnesses said. "No to dialogue with murderers," chanted 300 protesters in the Damascus suburb of Irbin, a witness told Reuters by telephone, with the slogans echoing in the background. In a speech at Damascus University dominated by security concerns, Assad accused "saboteurs" among protesters demanding and end to his 11-year rule of serving a foreign conspiracy to sow chaos. Under mounting international pressure and facing wider street protests despite a military crackdown that has killed more than 1,300 people, Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, said political reforms he had launched since the 3-month uprising would stabilize the country and diffuse grievances.  "What is happening today has nothing to do with reform, it has to do with vandalism," Assad told a crowd of supporters. "There can be no development without stability, and no reform through vandalism. ... We have to isolate the saboteurs." But in the Sunni Sleibeh and Raml al-Filistini districts of the mixed coastal city of Latakia, where several Sunni neighborhoods have been surrounded by troops and armor for weeks, protesters chanted "liar, liar". "People were still hoping he would say something meaningful that would result in tanks and troops leaving the streets. They were disappointed and started going out as soon as Assad finished talking," one activist in Latakia said. In the city of Hama, scene of a 1982 attack to crush an uprising led by the Muslim Brotherhood that killed thousands of civilians during the rule of Assad's father, Hafez Assad, protesters chanted "damn your soul, Hafez". Demonstrations also took place in the eastern city of Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq, the southern city of Deraa and other towns in the Hauran Plain, cradle of the uprising, now in its fourth month, and at the campus of Aleppo University, activists said.Meanwhile Defense Minister Ehud Barak predicted Monday Assad will reach his "demise" within six months because he has lost his legitimacy."It's my personal judgment that Bashar Assad crossed the point of no return towards his demise," Ehud Barack said in an interview with The Associated Press."(Assad) ended up using too much brutal force, too many graves have been dug and he lost practically his legitimacy in the eyes of the Syrian people," Barak told the AP. "He probably will stay around for another quarter or two but that will not change his fate."Also Monday, the European Union said it was preparing to expand its sanctions on Syria in response to worsening violence by its regime."The EU is actively preparing to expand its restrictive measures by additional designations with a view to achieving a fundamental change of policy by the Syrian leadership without delay," a statement agreed by EU foreign ministers said.Hmmmmm........Toooo many 'reforms'.Read and see the full story here.

• Women and free fashion ...you can't stop them,no matter which faith.Neqabi Woman in Her Underware.(Faithfreedom).A woman in her underwear and scarf worn as a niqab, queues outside a Desigual fashion store for the ‘Arrive Half-Naked, Leave Fully Dressed’ offer, in central London, on June 16, 2011. Desigual gave away a free outfit to the first hundred individuals who arrived at their Regent street store in London, dressed in just their underwear. Hmmmm......Lord forgive them ....for they are women?Read and see the full story here.

• Turkey: After 'Halal' Internet now 'Halal' universities?Critics charge Turkey's government infringing on academic, artistic freedoms.(WorldTribune). ANKARA — Turkey has launched a crackdown on university projects that do not meet Islamic standards.University professors have accused the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan of blocking academic freedom at the nation's institutions of higher education. They said Erdogan, re-elected on June 12, has ordered the Interior Ministry and security forces to raid universities suspected of un-Islamic behavior. "Erdogan is turning out the light — not all at once, but very slowly," Bedri Baykam, a leading Turkish artist, said. "He is dimming it until one day it will be completely dark."In January, Turkish security forces raided Istanbul's Bilgi University amid reports that a student had produced a pornographic film for his dissertation. At least three university lecturers were dismissed amid pressure by Turkish prosecutors. Critics said Erdogan has launched a crackdown on university freedom as well as the arts. In a recent visit to the Armenian border, the prime minister called for the destruction of a monument that depicted friendship between Ankara and Yerevan. So far, authorities have not released any evidence that the student film was pornographic. The 53-year-old Baykam said this marked the latest evidence of official harassment of non-Islamic university professors and students. "Our government is trying, step by step, to turn our community inside out," Baykam told the German weekly Der Spiegel. "Professors are being intimidated, and university rectors are being brought into line ideologically. Things that ostensibly do not fit with Islam are being eradicated." The government this year also moved to restrict alcohol sales and consumption. Erdogan has maintained that the new regulations were meant to protect youngsters from alcohol. "I might have a certain attitude against alcohol in my personal life and within my family," Erdogan told a business group on Jan. 20."But as we are democratic, in addition to conservative, we are very sensitive about not imposing our personal judgments on society."Hmmmmm......Given enough time the whole of Turkey will become "Halal",welcome to the New Turkey ....iranian style..Read the full story here.

• Canada - Montreal : Soccer referee sidelined for wearing hijab.(CTV).A former Lac St. Louis soccer referee is blowing the whistle on rules she said prevent her from practising her religion.Sarah Benkirane, 15, was told after two years of refereeing for the soccer association that she was out of a job, after a complaint surfaced over her wearing her hijab while calling games."For me it's not really an option to take it off," she explained of her traditional Muslim head scarf. "It's part of my religion. It's part of who i am. It's the way I express myself, so I think I should be allowed to wear it as long as I'm not causing any harm to anybody else and I'm not."Under Rule 4 of the FIFA guidelines, which govern the Lac St. Louis Soccer Association, players must not only avoid wearing any item which threatens to cause choking or injury, but also "must not have any political, religious or personal statements."All rules for players also pertain to referees under FIFA rules.Edouard St. Lo, executive director of the Lac St. Louis Soccer Association said he agrees with the regulations."It's not just safety, because it does talk about political, religious and any kind of personal feeling that the person wants to display on the field. That's why they're all wearing the same thing," he said.Some soccer parents agree with the call."I think that we made these rules and we can't break them… we break it for this what are we going to break it for next?" said one mother. "For instance, she cannot play with her earrings. She has to wear some Scotch tape (over them) because she had her ears pierced and everybody respects the rules simply. They are safety rules," said another.FIFA's refusal to overturn its position on hijabs is having an international impact. The Iranian womens' soccer team was disqualified from Olympic tryouts because players wore hijbas and not the approved caps.Read the full story here.

• Bahrain king’s son to wed Saudi king’s daughter.(GulfNews).Shaikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the son of King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa, on Thursday got engaged to the daughter of Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported.The ceremony, in Riyadh, was attended by Prince Mutab Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the head of the National Guard, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, the royal court minister.Shaikh Khalid, the fifth son of King Hamad, is the First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sport and President of Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation.Source.

• Saudi Arabia - Child overcomes serial rapist with Quran.(Emirates247).Man fails to rape little girl after she stayed awake all night reading Quran.Like the legendary vampire Count Dracula who backs off his victim when shown a cross in movies, a Saudi serial child rapist who managed to overpower 15 little girls was overpowered by his 16th victim. Her only weapon was the Quran.Maha, 9, was the last victim of the 42-year-old school teacher who had raped 15 girls aged below 10 years over a period of nearly four years before he was arrested by Saudi police early this month.The man, who is married with six children, snatched Maha late night from a wedding hall in the western Red Sea port of Jeddah, bundled her in his car and took her to his apartment in the Gulf Kingdom’s second largest city.The little Saudi girl was with her family in the wedding at a public rest house when the outside door was knocked late night.She went and opened the door to find a strange man who asked her to come with him and take a bag for the bride.Scared by his looks, she refused and was about to rush back into the rest house when he grabbed her and dragged her to his car. He slapped her many times, bundled her in his car and sped away.“At his flat, he tried to take my clothes off and rape me but God the Almighty inspired me to read Quran as I have memorized many verses in class…I was surprised when I saw him jumping away from me when I started reading…he then came forward, slapped me many time sand told me to shut up,” Maha said, quoted by the Saudi Arabic language daily Burnews.“When I stopped reading, he came slowly towards me and tried again to rape me but I started to read Quran verses again……he backed off then came forward and slapped me again…I did not sleep all the night as I kept reading Quran until the morning….despite his attempts, he could not rape me.”Maha said that after sunrise, he sat away from her smoking shisha and watching television before telling her to put her shoes on and follow him to his car.Saudi police said last week they had seized the teacher following a manhunt of nearly four years after they were told my Maha about his whereabouts. Some of his victims recognized him while DNA tests confirmed his crimes.Police had earlier said the man had raped 13 little girls but newspapers on Tuesday quoted a police spokesman as saying there are 16 victims.The papers said the rapist had stalked girls near rest houses and wedding halls in Jeddah and used to give them sweets or other items to lure them into his car.He had first used a Toyota Prado to hunt for victims but later changed it into a small car with black glass so his victims will not be seen by others.“He was taking the little girls to his house and rape them….before he goes out hunting for victims, he used to take his wife and children to a rest house far from his home and leave them there for some time.”Maha, whose father is a police man, last week told police how that man snatched her from a rest house late night, slapped her many times before bundling her in his car and took her to his apartment.“Kill him…kill him when you catch him,” the school girl told the police after recounting what she had been through and how she came back home.Read the full story here.

• Saudi Groom sleeps with birds on wedding night angry bride asks for divorce.(Emirates247).A Saudi woman filed for divorce from her husband one day after their marriage because he left her on their wedding night to sleep with his birds in another room in their house, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.The unnamed wife went to court in the eastern province of Qateef and asked the judge to divorce her, saying her husband “humiliated” her by leaving her on their first night to sleep with his birds.“After strenuous efforts, the judge succeeded in persuading the woman to change her mind in return for a pledge from her husband not to repeat this act and to take the birds out of the house,” Alriyadh Arabic language daily said.“The woman had told the judge that she had been very patient with him during their engagement but had not expected him to do so on their wedding night.”Hmmmmm........It's me or the other 'birds'.Read the full story here.

• Ahmadinejad Launches "Ghostbusters"to crack down on 'occult' in Iran.(The National) — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government is seeking to divert attention from hardline rivals’ allegations that some of the Iranian president’s allies, including his chief of staff, are involved in black magic and exorcism.The government is doing so by assuming the leading role in the battle against occult practices and nonconformist ideologies.Alireza Afshar, acting interior minister in executive affairs, told Nasim Online, a news website, that the ministry had commissioned a non-governmental organisation to identify those engaged in divination and exorcism as well as “deviant schools of thought and false Gnosticism”.Under Iranian laws various kinds of occultism are punishable by fines and jail terms of up to seven years.In a later interview Mr Afshar added “devil-worshippers” as subjects of the intended crackdown. Devil-worshipper is the collective term that authorities in Iran often use to refer to underground rock bands and young people dressing unconventionally or “western-style”.A political analyst from Tehran said: “By reducing the fight against occultism to the ordinary diviners and fortune-tellers, and of course launching an attack on nonconformist youth culture, Sufi sects, [and] non-Islamic Gnostic groups such as popular Indian theosophical cults, the government can divert attention, at least for a while, from their own involvement in practice of the occult against their rivals.”Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, Mr Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, is considered the main cause of the occult brouhaha.Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, a hardline cleric who was once thought to be Mr Ahmadinejad’s mentor, recently claimed that Mr Mashaie had cast a spell on Mr Ahmadinejad. As many as 25 men associated with Mr Mashaie were arrested last month on charges of sorcery and black magic.Hmmmm......Unleashing the 'Djinn in the bottle'?Read the full story here.

• And now for something completely different.NRK launches "The world's longest TV documentary".(NorwayPost).Public broadcaster NRK on Thursday evening launched "The World's longest TV documentary", lasting a full 135 hours, and starring the famous Norwegian costal steamers "Hurtigruten".Through a large number of cameras mounted on the ship and at key points along the coast from Bergen to Kirkenes, the documentary follows the cruise liner "NORDNORGE" every minute of the 5 1/2-day voyage, including glimpses from the life onboard and at the various stops along the way.Portions of the program has been sold to several other Nordic TV stations, and interested viewers around the world may follow the voyage on NRK's own web site However, NRK has warned viewers not to watch the whole program in one go.Beautiful documentary of Norway's fjords a must see.

• And now for something completely different.Japanese Defense Ministry unveils flying robot(Video).(HurriyetDaily).Japanese scientists have developed the world's first spherical flying robot for the country's Defense Ministry, CNNTürk reported on its website Sunday.The robot, slightly larger than a football, can travel up to speeds of 65 kilometers per hour. When on land, it can move around by rolling.The remote controlled robot can also be equipped with a camera. The cost of the flying robot is $1,000.Read and see the full story here.