Woman dies of acid attack in Esfahan, former top Iranian tourist attraction

'Moderate Rouhani hanged in his first two months as president as many as Ahmadinejad in 6 months in 2012'

Woman dies of acid attack in Esfahan, former top Iranian tourist attraction. (NCRI).

An Iranian women died on Sunday as she and two other women were target of the latest series of acid attacks in city of Isfahan, a local news website reported.

The website quoted an eyewitness saying that “one of victim died due to acid burns on her chest” and “two others with injuries in their faces and hands were taken to hospital for treatment.”

According to the report, the victims of the new wave of acid attacks which have been carried out in past few days reaches to 14 in the city of Esfahan that once was a main tourist attraction in Iran.

Meanwhile, according to the information received from Iran, the families of victims of acid attack have been warned against publishing the photos of the victims or giving interviews with news agencies. One of the victims said: “The attackers belonged to Ansar-e Hezbollah group.”

Organized gangs affiliated with the clerical regime have been splashing acid on the faces of over a dozen young women in Esfahan under the pretext of being ‘bad hejab’ or not being properly veiled.

Women had been warned in anonymous text messages that they would have acid thrown at them if they appeared in public improperly veiled.

A 27-year-old woman victim in Esfahan was target of acid attack as she had pulled over in her car so that she could take a call from her mother on her mobile phone. Two people on a motorcycle threw acid at her and then fled.

The young woman lost the sight in one eye.

Another victim was attacked while driving. “A rider threw nearly two liters of acid through the driver’s window towards me, which affected my face, hands and my body,” the victim told ISNA.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, expressed deep resentment for these appalling crimes by clerical regime’s elements and called on all human rights bodies and women's rights defenders to condemn these atrocities.

She said: International community’s silence in the face of these brutalities under the pretext of nuclear talks is tantamount to encouraging the mullahs’ regime to continue these atrocities in Iran.

She added that the clerical regime fearful of mounting popular discontent, especially that of women and the youth, is attempting to prevent the explosion of their wrath through these brutalities and intimidations. She called on the brave youth to expand their protests against this savagery under the pretext of tackling “mal-veiling”.

"Arab Spring " - ‘Project Chastity:’ Algeria launches ‘hijab’ campaign for minor girls.

"Arab Spring " - ‘Project Chastity:’ Algeria launches ‘hijab’ campaign for minor girls.(AA).An Islamic group in Algeria has mobilized an army of sociologists, psychologists and religious preachers from inside and outside the country in a campaign urging girls as young as 10-years old to wear the religious headscarf, a moved decried by rights activists as irresponsible and counterproductive.
Hisham Ben Khouda, secretary general of ‘al-Daawa’ group behind the “chastity” campaign, told Algeria’s Echorouk newspaper that his group has managed to convince 300 girls between the ages of 10 and 15 to wear the veil.
He said the campaign has been going on for five years and that this year it has taken a national dimension with the participation of many preachers from inside and outside Algeria.
Radical Kuwaiti preacher Nabil al-Awadhi is scheduled to attend the ‘chastity’ ceremony on April 12 in Algeria’s el-Boulaida where the Islamic headscarf will be introduced to little girls who are “convinced” by preachers, sociologists and psychologists to wear it.
The Kuwaiti preacher, in a recent visit to Tunisia, called on young girls to wear the hijab, raising anger among human rights activists in the once secular North African state.
Awadhi said he was in Tunisia to deliver “educational lessons,” but activists and even lawmakers in the constituent assembly urged the government to expel him.
Organizers of the ‘chastity’ campaign in Algeria say girls are asked to fill out an application answering questions regarding their understanding of Hijab. They also changed the targeted age group from 8-12 to 10-15 based “specialists’ advice.”
Yousif Hantablawi, a sociologist at Boulaida University, criticized the campaign saying it will have negative effects on little girls. He said minors cannot make such life-changing decisions and the campaigners cannot claim to have “convinced” any girl. Djaâfri Djadi Chayaa, the president of the Algerian Observatory of Women, told Echorouk that the project will hurt the girls more than it will benefit them, adding that campaign should’ve tried to educate the girls and teach them social values and proper behavior instead of encouraging them to change their looks by wearing the hijab.Hmmmm.....What's your Jihad?Read the full story here.

"Pigs Fly Moment" - Ahmadinejad slams push for Islamic life.

Iranian students before the 'revolution'

"Pigs Fly Moment" - Ahmadinejad slams push for Islamic life.(HD).Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has spoken out against the use of pressure to impose Islamic values on people, especially university candidates, media reported.
“You cannot impose things by issuing decrees and directives, a choice imposed by force has no value whatsoever,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech on Dec. 30.
“In some universities, female students are forced to wear the chador [covering the whole body, leaving only the face exposed], but the way they are forced to wear it ... it is better not worn since it becomes worthless,” he said. He also criticized criteria on the selection of university candidates, citing the case of a student denied university admittance in the 1980s because he had shaved.
Ahmadinejad also mentioned another case of a girl refused a university place because she had “talked to a boy in the street and had her headscarf back an inch,” thereby showing her hair. He said that after he intervened in both cases they were granted places.
Ahmadinejad also denounced some of the questions posed to candidates during interviews for government jobs.“We have asked people if they drank alcohol or have illicit sexual relations. This is an insult and goes against religion.”Read the full story here.

Iranian students after the 'revolution'

Video - Canada: "Culture rights vs. Legal rights."

Byline Host Brian Lilley discusses Canada's top court decision that allows Muslim women to wear a veil during court testimony.

Iranian MP: Russian female employees at nuclear plant 'immodest'.

Iranian MP: Russian female employees at nuclear plant 'immodest'.(YNet).A member of the Iranian Parliament expressed his disapproval Thursday of the immodest attire of Russian women working at the Bushehr nuclear facility.
According to the parliament member, the women were receiving extra payment to dress in accordance with Islamic modesty laws, specifically referring to the demand that women's heads be covered in a hijab.
Despite the additional pay, the Iranian official noted, the women were seen around town improperly dressed and uncovered. He could not say exactly how much was said "hijab-payment."
"We've formed a special camp for the Russians, bet recently they've been spotted in Bushehr markets, usually with their heads uncovered," said Iranian legislator Mehdi Mousavi Nezhad in an interview with a local news agency.
Nezhad stressed that the Russian employees at the Bushehr nuclear facility must follow Iranian law and be considerate of the "values of Iranian and Islamic culture."
Modesty laws in Iran are systematically enforced by police, and foreign women arriving at the Islamic Republic are also forced to uphold the laws and assume head coverings. Read the full story here.

"CHANGE" - Egypt Air stewardesses begin wearing hijab.

"CHANGE" - Egypt Air stewardesses begin wearing hijab.(HD).EgyptAir stewardesses who campaigned to wear the Muslim headscarf have begun donning the hijab for the first time since the national carrier was founded in 1932, a company official said today, AFP reported. The first flight attendants dressed in the hijab, which mainstream clerics say is mandatory, worked on flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Under president Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in an uprising in early 2011, the hijab was taboo for women in some state institutions such as state television and the national carrier. But after the election of the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in June, women in television and EgyptAir campaigned for permission to wear the hijab, like most Muslim women in Egypt. The company had agreed to allow the stewardesses to wear the hijab after a strike by cabin crews in September that also demanded better pay. An EgyptAir official said a foreign company has been contracted to design a cap and headscarf for the estimated 250 stewardesses who want to wear the hijab, out of 900 women working for EgyptAir.Read the full story here.

European Women’s Lobby slams Saudi athletes over Olympic dress.

                     The 10 symptoms of vitamin D deficiency you need to recognize.

European Women’s Lobby slams Saudi athletes over Olympic dress.(AA).European Women’s Lobby, the EU’s largest umbrella for women’s associations, has criticized the International Olympic Committee (OIC) for having allowed Saudi athletes to participate in the games with their Islamic veils, describing this as “masquerade” that was allowed by OIC for “solely political and financial reasons.”
The group that seeks to promote women’s rights and gender equality criticized “the lamentable exhibition of the Saudi judoka, who first paraded in a black abaya, then wore a sort of nightcap for the qualifying match.”
In a statement posted on its website, the group said the participation of women wearing Islamic costumes from 17 countries was “in contradiction to the sports neutrality required by the Olympic Charter.” “How could this be? Well, a new interpretation of the veil, even though claimed to be Islamic by the bearers, makes it a benign cultural sign.” The group said that stereotyping women, as those who wear bikinis at beach volley ball, explains why some Muslim women are inclined to wear the veil. It pointed out to “an Egyptian woman all dressed up in her Islamic costume” and in Beijing Rokaya al Gassra from Bahrein who “had run the 400 meter race wearing a costume covering tightly her body from head to toe.” In contrast, the women’s group praised “the splendid image of Tunisian Habiba Ghrita, (silver medallist of 3000 meter steeple race), when she won offered her medal to the Tunisian people and most of all to the Tunisian women.”Read the full story here.

London Olympics: Saudi Judo player allowed to compete wearing hijab.

London Olympics: Saudi Judo player allowed to compete wearing hijab.(AA).A female Saudi fighter will take part in the Olympic judo competition after being allowed to wear an Islamic headscarf, or hijab, of a specific design, officials said on Monday. Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani is one of only two Saudi women to travel to London after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) lobbied the conservative Islamic kingdom to end its refusal to send women to the Games. But she had said she would only compete if she was allowed to wear the hijab, and judo officials refused, saying it would be dangerous.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Shaherkani and her father attended the judo action on Monday at at London's Excel Centre. The father said his daughter does not speak English and kept his arm tightly wrapped around her shoulders. He was still not sure if she would be allowed to compete or not. “I need my daughter to play,” he told the Journal. “We are hoping to make new history for Saudi's women.” But a Saudi National Olympic Committee spokeswoman said the committee, the IOC and the International Judo Federation (IJF) had now agreed on an acceptable form for the headscarf. “They agreed on a design and she will compete wearing this design,” Razan Baker said, adding that she did not know how this design looked. IJF spokesman Nicolas Messner confirmed that Shaherkani would compete, but declined to give further details. The IJF’s regulations for the Olympic Games state that no headgear can be worn, and the federation says there could be a danger to fighters if a hijab is inadvertently used for an otherwise legal strangulation grip.Hmmm....."Religion does not require women to veil their hands, feet and faces or enjoin any special type of veil. Tribal custom must not impose itself on the free will of the individual." ~ Amanullah Khan - King of Afghanistan (1919-1929).Read the full story here.

Iranian women Use Facebook To Say 'No' To Compulsory Hijab.

                                                     Tehran university1979.

Iranian women Use Facebook To Say 'No' To Compulsory Hijab.(Rferl).Women have worn the hijab in Iran for three decades -- some voluntarily, others begrudgingly.

To not do so would be breaking the law. But now women from both camps are going online to push back.

Dozens of Iranian women, and some men, living both inside and outside the country, have posted their pictures on the Facebook page of a newly launched campaign called, “No to Mandatory Hijab” that declares that women should have the right to choose whether or not to wear the Muslim headscarf.

Among the posters, according to the campaign’s organizers, are women living inside the country who voluntarily wear the chador -- the long cloak with a head scarf -- but believe that the hijab shouldn’t be compulsory.

The activists who launched the campaign describe themselves as “liberal university students and graduates” and say it’s meant to be an expression of solidarity with Iranian women, who they say should have the freedom to decide what they wear.

Dozens of intellectuals, journalists, activists, artists, religious and secular Iranians have joined the campaign by posting their pictures on the Facebook page of the campaign and expressing their opposition to the mandatory hijab. In just a few days the page has attracted more than 10,000 fans.

Campaign leader Alireza Kiani told RFE/RL that at least half of the people who have “liked” the page live inside Iran. Kiani, who left Iran about a year ago, says he was deeply bothered by the constant harassment of Iranian women over their appearance.

“It’s an insult to women but also men,” he says about the mandatory hijab.

Iranian officials claim that women who do not properly cover up themselves lead men astray. They also maintain that the hijab -- especially the chador -- is the best protection for women.

The 27-year-old Kiani said the campaign is aimed at stirring public opinion about the compulsory hijab and forcing political figures and others to take a stand.

“We’re especially targeting the reformists and religious intellectuals who in the early days of the revolution were either supportive of the mandatory hijab or kept silent about it," Kiani said.

"We believe that if tomorrow Iran will be free, if in tomorrow’s Iran there won’t be any compulsion and mandatory hijab, those reformists, religious intellectuals, and, in general, political figures have to take a clear stance regarding it. So that if there are changes in Iran, we will have a document from them proving that they expressed their opposition to the compulsory hijab.”

The mandatory hijab -- often described as one of the pillars of the Islamic Republic -- has long been a challenge for authorities to enforce.

For the past 30 years, women in Iran have been harassed, arrested, and fined for not fully observing the Islamic hijab dress code -- which requires them to cover their hair and body and dress modestly in public. But men, also, face pressure over their appearance or hairstyles, when authorities consider them inappropriate or un-Islamic. Despite the state pressure, it’s not uncommon to see young women pushing the boundaries by wearing trendy and tight clothing, using make-up, and showing as much hair as possible. The state responds with crackdowns -- usually in summer -- and increasing the pressure on anyone who challenges the rules.

The participation of a prominent reformist cleric, U.S.-based Mohsen Kadivar, in the “No Hijab” campaign has been met with criticism by some who say his political affiliation and religious views could undermine the cause.

​​Kadivar has been quoted by an opposition website as saying that there is no religious reason to make the hijab compulsory. “We don’t have any verses in the Koran or saying by the [Prophet Muhammad] that gives anyone the right to take action against an individual that doesn’t wear the hijab,” Kadivar is quoted as saying by the opposition Jaras website.

Kiani sees Kadivar’s participation as a positive development.

“It’s natural for seculars to oppose the Islamic hijab because it is a religious issue. It is important that a cleric like Kadivar, who used to be one of the supporters of this regime, is today publicly opposing the mandatory hijab," Kiani said.Read the full story here.

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.

MFS - The Other News

              
                         Morning Posting.

• Live broadcast info from Japan directly ! Here.

• Libya Live Blog - April 11. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Middle East Live Blog April 10 here .(Al-Jazeera)

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world increased seismic activity in Japan  today between 5.0 and 7.1! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 82. On 11.04.2011 at 03:22 GMT+2

Japan plans to extend the evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant because of high radiation levels, local media reported on Monday, with engineers no closer to regaining control of six reactors hit by a giant tsunami one month ago. Concern at Japan's inability contain its nuclear crisis, caused by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, is mounting with Prime Minister Naoto Kan's ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections on Sunday and neighboring China and South Korea voicing criticism. Engineers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo said on Sunday they were no closer to restoring the plant's cooling system which is critical if overheated fuel rods are to be cooled and the six reactors brought under control. They are hoping to stop pumping radioactive water into the ocean on Monday, days later than planned. Four weeks after the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl quarter of a century ago, the government was moving to extend a 20 km (12 mile) evacuation zone due to high levels of radiation, the Asahi newspaper reported. The government has so far refused to widen the zone, despite being urged to by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)and countries like the United States and Australia advising its citizens to stay 80 kms away from the plant.

The Asahi said the government would extend the zone to 30 kms in certain areas, depending on wind direction, and residents would be given a week to prepare for evacuation. The Japan Times said authorities would soon forcibly close the 20 km zone, stopping people returning to their shattered homes to pick through the rubble for belongings. Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato criticized the evacuation policy, saying residents in a 20-30 km radius were initially told to stay indoors and then advised to evacuate voluntarily. "Residents in the 20-30 km radius were really confused about what to do." Sato told NHK television on Sunday. Media reports said that Sato would refuse to meet the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) he visits the area on Monday. It is Japan's worst crisis since World War Two after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and a huge tsunami battered its northeast coast, leaving nearly 28,000 dead or missing and rocking the world's third-largest economy. Source.

• Earthquake - Japan Prefecture of Ishikawa, [About 11 kilometres South East from Ishikawa City] Situation Update No. 2 - On 11.04.2011 at 09:29 GMT+2

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake rattled the northeastern coast of Japan Monday evening, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. Japan's Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning, predicting a potential wave of two-meters in Miyagi, Fukushima and Chiba and Ibaraki prefectures. The quake was centered about 164 kilometers (101 miles) northeast of Tokyo, according to the USGS. Residents in Tokyo felt the jolts. Workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were asked to evacuate. Source .

• Breaking News.Blast rocks Minsk subway, at least 20 injured.Rescuers, ambulances and police are heading to Oktyabrskaya metro station in the Belarus capital Minsk. At least twenty people are reportedly injured. According to RIA Novosti news agency, the explosion went off at 17:56 local time. No information has been released so far about nature of the blast. Thick fumes are visible in the vicinity, and an evacuation has been launched.Emergency services are evacuating people from underground. So far there been no panic, and traffic on the surrounding streets has not been blocked.Read and see the full story here. Updated here . Updated list of names of 54 injured victims taken to hospital in Minsk here.

• HT:SultanKnish.Palestine is Genocide.On the 11th of March, two Arab Muslim men climbed through the window of a home in the village of Ithamar, and massacred an entire family, killing both parents, stabbing a 4 year old boy twice in the chest, murdering an 11 year old while he sat up reading in bed and slitting the throat of a 3 month old baby girl. A week later, Israeli and Arab pollsters conducted a survey in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem. A third of the Arabs surveyed supported these atrocities. All the justifications for a Palestinian state fall away in the face of this simple fact. That a third of the residents of any Palestinian state favor the murder of Jewish children. Not to achieve any larger goal, but just because they are Jewish children. To call for a Palestinian state in the face of that fact is to advocate genocide.The Arab Muslims who approved of the attack gained nothing from their deaths. The dead children were not soldiers. They were not killed as collateral damage. Their deaths had no strategic value. There was no reason to kill them, but for the sake of killing them.To call for a Palestinian state is to call for genocide. There is nothing peaceful about a call for genocide. It is not possible to peacefully implement genocide. Every mention of a Two State Solution is an encouragement to further violence and murder. A reward for the butchers who have been at this business for some 1300 years. Urge the creation of a Palestinian State and you might as well call for the resurrection of the Third Reich. There are linguistic and cultural differences, but both follow the law of the beast. Let there be no more lies about good intentions and no more self-deceit about the search for peace. The road to Palestine does not lead to peace, but to the cemetery.It is time to stop the lies and tell the truth. The call to peace is the call to death. To promote the creation of a Palestinian state is a violent act. The peacemakers are collaborators in genocide. Their charges are the murderers. Palestine is genocide. It is the cultivated work of an ideology that has successfully turned millions of people into born serial killers or their accomplices. Its two political favorites are Barghouti of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Hamas leadership. Their only accomplishment is the death toll, their house of state is the cemetery and their constitution is the ravings of a bigoted murderer. To stand for them is to stand for murder. To stand against them is to stand for life.Read the full story here.

• HT:SheikYermani.The Latest Pic’s from Occupied France.Read and see the full story here.

• A picture of defiance: Two arrested for flouting burka ban as France bars wearing of veils in public.The first arrests have been made of women flouting France's burka ban as a Muslim tycoon today pledged to sell his £2million property to fund court fines.Anyone who appears veiled in public can be fined 150 euros (£130) and ordered to attend re-education classes under the new law. People who force women to wear a veil are subject to a much larger fine.Rachid Nekkaz, a property dealer, has urged women in France to engage in 'civil disobedience' by continuing to wear the veil if they so wish, and called on supporters to hold a silent prayer in protest of the ban in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris today.Early this morning, Kenza Drider - a staunch opponent of the ban on 'concealing the face in a public space' - was photographed wearing a veil at Avignon station on her way to that protest in France's capital in which two women were arrested.'It's not an act of provocation,' said Drider, a 32-year-old Muslim convert who said she would be prepared to contest the legislation at the European Court of Human Rights.'I'm only carrying out my citizens' rights, I'm not committing a crime ... If they (police) ask me for identity papers I'll show them, no problem.'While French women face the fines and ‘civic duty’ guidance if they break the law, men who force their wives or daughters to wear burkas will face up to a year in prison, and fines of up to £25,000.Posters have already gone up in town halls across France reading: ‘The Republic lives with its face uncovered.’Widely criticised by Muslims abroad as impinging on their religious freedom, the law has provoked a limited backlash in France where a strict separation of church and state is seen as central to maintaining a peaceful civil society.Hmmmm......."Religion does not require women to veil their hands, feet and faces or enjoin any special type of veil. Tribal custom must not impose itself on the free will of the individual."Amanullah Khan - King of Afghanistan (1919-1929).The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, head of Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world.“The niqab is a tradition and has nothing to do with Islam,” said Sheikh Tantawi, vowing to ban it in Al-Azhar schools.After the girl complied he insisted she should not wear it any more.“I tell you again that the niqab has nothing to do with Islam and it is only a mere custom. I understand the religion better than you and your parents.” The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar imam vowed to issue a ban against the face-veil in all schools linked to Al-Azhar.“Read the full story here.

• An Israeli Prisoner in Gaza.German Mediation in Shalit Affair Faces Failure.German efforts to negotiate the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was captured by the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas in 2006, appear to have failed. Palestinian leaders have blamed the German mediator of siding with the Israelis, a sign that Shalit's imprisonment won't likely end soon.Noam Shalit is sitting on a white plastic chair in a tent in Jerusalem, looking not unlike a Swedish tourist with his straw-blonde hair. He is wearing rimless glasses, jeans and a fleece sweater. "Unfortunately, I'm not very optimistic," he says.Shalit is referring to his son Gilad, 24, probably the best-known prisoner in the Middle East and something of a national hero in Israel. Almost five years ago, on a Sunday in June 2006, a Hamas commando attacked an Israeli army post, kidnapped Shalit and took him hostage. He is likely being hidden somewhere in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian group Hamas.For more than one-and-a-half years, an envoy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been mediating between Hamas and the Israeli government. His name is Gerhard C., and he is a senior official at the German Federal Intelligence Service, the BND. Noam Shalit respects the German envoy and has confidence in him, more confidence, in fact, than in his own government. Shalit points to a white plastic chair in the tent. A note on the chair reads: "Reserved for Gilad Shalit." The tent stands in the middle of Jerusalem, in front of the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where Shalit has been camping out since July 8. The tent has become a magnet for Israelis and tourists, a sort of temporary memorial. The father says that he will not leave until his son has been returned to him. Blinking over the edge of his glasses, he says: "The German intermediary is very professional. He is trying everything."Read the full story here.

• US blocks 350 suspected terrorists.WASHINGTON – The U.S. government has prevented more than 350 people suspected of ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups from boarding U.S.-bound commercial flights since the end of 2009, The Associated Press has learned.The tighter security rules — imposed after the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas 2009 — reveal a security threat that persisted for more than seven years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.Until then, even as commercial passengers were forced to remove their shoes, limit the amount of shampoo in their carry-on luggage and endure pat downs, hundreds of foreigners with known or suspected ties to terrorism passed through security and successfully flew to the United States each year, U.S. officials told the AP. The government said these foreigners typically told Customs officers they were flying to the U.S. for legitimate reasons such as vacations or business.After the attempted Christmas attack, the intelligence community took a closer look at the names on the terror watch list and set new standards for adding names. The watch list and no-fly list are constantly reviewed, and names are added and removed each day. There are about 30,000 people on the no-fly list and a companion list for people who must receive extra screening at airports, a counterterrorism official told the AP.The more expansive terror watch list includes about 450,000 names of people the U.S. intelligence community believes are, or could be, a threat to national security because of terrorist ties. Some of the people on the watch list are still being investigated, and there is not enough information for the government to arrest them.The new policy has not turned the 450,000-person terror watch list into the no-fly list. Simply being on the terror watch list does not mean a person won't be allowed to enter the U.S., McAleenan said. When CBP reviews passenger lists and matches someone on the terror watch list, CBP will review information available on the person before it recommends to the airline whether the person can board the plane, McAleenan said. In most cases, if CBP recommends against allowing the passenger to board, it's because the person would be turned away upon arrival inside the United States due to security concerns.Most people on the watch list are foreigners. About 6,000 are U.S. citizens. Read the full story here.

• 20 Canadians have joined Somalian terror group: official.TORONTO — About 20 Canadians have travelled to Somalia to join Al-Shabab, a federal official said two weeks after a Toronto man was arrested as he was allegedly leaving to enlist in the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group.As many as three of the Canadians may have been killed so far, the official added, although such deaths are hard to verify because of the armed conflict and the lack of a diplomatic corps in Somalia.The figures suggest the scale of Canada’s problem with Al-Shabab recruitment is comparable to that experienced by the United States and Europe, which also have sizable populations of ethnic Somalis.Ahmed Hussen, president of the Canadian Somali Congress, said he was only aware of about a dozen cases, including two Ottawa men and a Toronto youth who trained with Al-Shabab and has since returned to the city.“I haven’t run into those kinds of numbers,” Mr. Hussen said. “It seems a little high … but you know what, we’re always behind the security guys, they’re always ahead of us in terms of information. I wouldn’t rule it out, I wouldn’t put it past these guys to recruit 20 people or more.”Al-Shabab, which means The Youth in Arabic, has been using a mix of terrorism and insurgency to impose Taliban-like Islamist rule in Somalia, which has been without an effective government for more than two decades. The group’s tactics — suicide bombings, roadside bombs, political assassinations and a pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden — have landed the group of international terrorist lists, including Canada’s. Using an Internet propaganda campaign, Al-Shabab has attracted hundreds of foreigners, among them Canadians, who have flocked to Somalia to join what they claim is a global jihad against the West.“Islamist extremists are radicalizing and recruiting Somali-Canadian youths within Canada to travel to Somali for jihad training,” reads a de-classified 2010 Canadian intelligence report released under the Access to Information Act.The RCMP is concerned about the potential for violence in Canada should the Al-Shabab recruits return home with the indoctrination and the weapons training necessary to carry out terrorist attacks. A Canadian Security Intelligence Service report recently obtained by the National Post under the Access to Information Act calls foreign travel an “important part in the radicalization process” of Islamist extremists.Read the full story here.

• America’s Arab comeback.AMMAN -- Without much fanfare, the past few months have seen no anti-American demonstrations and no burning of American flags across the Arab world. Arabs seem increasingly willing to accept -- and even applaud -- the Obama administration’s policy toward the region. Of course, Arabs are still unhappy with the United States’ continued bias toward Israel. Its inability to end the 44-year military occupation of Palestinian lands has not gone unnoticed. But many Arabs nowadays prefer to give the US a break. With the exception of the Obama administration’s lack of resolve in denouncing the treatment of protesters by the US-allied regimes in Bahrain and Yemen, America’s position on the Arab revolts has been welcomed.Arabs, especially young Arabs, who comprise the majority of the region’s population, look up to America for its global power when it upholds democratic morals and values. There is high respect for the concept of rule of, by and for the people, as well as for the US constitution’s guarantee of freedom of expression. It is precisely the failure to apply these values in areas such as Palestine and Iraq that has made -- and can still make -- countless Arabs vehemently anti-American.After gaining UN Security Council support, the US, Europe and some Arab countries began doing exactly what should be expected of the international community when a government is preparing to butcher its own citizens: prevent the slaughter.Of course, America’s problems with Arabs and its challenges in the Middle East are far from over. Obama must still fulfill his promises to celebrate with Palestinians their full membership of the UN this fall and to draw down its forces in Afghanistan.But, for the moment, Arabs are not demonstrating against America. Instead, with America’s help, they are enjoying the first blush of freedom.Hmmmm....."I will stand with my Muslim brothers".Read the full story here.

• Hillary Clinton to Address U.S.-Islamic Gathering in Washington.(CNSNews.com) – At a time of dramatic change in the Arab world, senior figures from more than 30 Arab and other Muslim-majority countries will be in Washington, D.C., this week for the annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum, the first to be held in the United States.For the second consecutive year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will play a prominent role at the forum. On Tuesday evening, she will be the guest speaker at the highlight of the three-day event, an invitation-only gala dinner.Earlier in the day, the forum will be opened by Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Turk who heads the Saudi-based bloc of 56 Islamic states. An OIC statement said Ihsanoglu would use the occasion to review relations between the U.S. and the Islamic world.“This year’s discussions will focus on the rapid, turbulent change in the Middle East and implications for Muslims around the world,” the organizers said in a statement.Hmmmm....."Change"?Read the full story here.