MFS - The Other News

                        Morning Posting.

• Libya Live Blog - May 01. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Syria Live Blog - May 01. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in philippines  today  5.1! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 101.
  Source : Here .

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

• Following unity deal, Israel suspends tax transfer to PA. (Jpost).Israel said on Sunday it has suspended tax transfers to the Palestinians in response to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's bid to forge an alliance with rival Hamas terrorist group who are opposed to peace talks.A senior Palestinian official in the West Bank condemned the move, saying Israel had no right to withhold Palestinian funds.Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said he had suspended a routine handover of NIS 300 million ($88 million) in customs and other levies that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians under interim peace deals.In an interview on Army Radio, Steinitz said that Israel feared the money would be used to fund Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group that runs the Gaza Strip and whose founding charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.Israel had threatened sanctions last week in response to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's surprise announcement of a unity deal with Hamas that envisages the formation of an interim government and elections.The tax transfer mechanism provides Abbas's Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, with $1 billion to $1.4 billion annually -- two-thirds of its budget."If the Palestinians can prove to us ... that there is not a joint fund between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas in Gaza, I believe that we will reconsider the matter," Steinitz said."We ask the entire world not to fund Hamas, so we must not do so, even indirectly," he said.Asked about Israel's decision, Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official, said: "Israel has started a war even before the formation of the government."Steinitz noted that Israel had withheld the tax revenues in the past, during the second intifada that began in 2000. Hmmmmm......."Change" but not the Obama kind.Read the full story here.

• Holocaust Remembrance,more than ever needed!Sunday night and Monday are Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel.Hmmmm......Erdogan "Muslims don't commit Genocide".From fellow blogger Amnon and Jonathan the following story here.

• Jews praise John Paul II.(Ynet).Minister Yossi Peled, who lost most of his family in Holocaust but was hidden by a Belgium family who raised him as a Christian, to attend late pope's beatification Sunday. 'We have a high respect, a unique respect for John Paul,' he says.A visit to Rome's main synagogue. Diplomatic relations with Israel. A handwritten plea asking forgiveness for Christian persecution left at Judaism's holiest site in Jerusalem. With his landmark actions, Pope John Paul II strove throughout his 27-year papacy to overcome the tortured two-millennia history of Catholic-Jewish relations.Earlier, John Paul, a Pole who survived the Nazi invasion of his country, became the first pope to visit a synagogue, where he referred to Jews as "our older brothers in faith." Peled described the tragedy of his family, which had fled from Poland to Belgium to escape the Nazis, during a meeting with a small group of correspondents at the Israeli Embassy on Friday. Shortly before the family was seized, when he was six months old, his father entrusted him to a Belgian Catholic family. "I grew up as a happy Christian boy," he said. His mother was the only member of his family to survive Auschwitz and reclaimed him when he was eight."Holocaust survivors are deeply moved by the beatification of Pope John Paul," Elan Steinberg, vice-president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, said in a statement. Still "we feel compelled, however, on this occasion to renew our plea that steps toward the sainthood of Pius XII be frozen" until relevant documents in the Vatican archives are opened and examined, he said.Read the full story here.

• The Toddler Kate Middleton lessons in the Koran.(Mailonline).KATE Middleton learned sections of the Koran when she began nursery in the Jordanian capital Amman as a toddler, it has emerged. She would repeat verses from the Muslim holy book every morning from the age of three, said the nursery’s former owner, Sahera Nabulsi Tarawneh. She would also hear stories about the prophet Mohammed as part of classes designed to encourage youngsters to speak basic Arabic at the dual language Al-Sahera Kindergarten. Hmmm......Did this include repeating the The Shahaadatayn ?Read the full story here.HT:AOW.

• The 'Carla fatwa'.Liars! White House accused of hypocrisy after 'banning newspaper reporter who used cell phone to film protesters'.(DailyMail).The White House has been accused of lying in a sensational row with a newspaper over a banned journalist.The San Francisco Chronicle has dug its heels in over the row, calling the Obama administration out for not being 'truthful'.The row began when Chronicle journalist Carla Marinucci was apparently banned from being one of the approved pool of reporters to cover presidential visits to the San Francisco Bay area.Ms Marinucci was part of the 'print pool' - that is, the journalists who have traditionally relied on the written word to tell the story. However the experienced political reporter used her video phone to shoot some footage of protesters at an Obama fundraiser at the St Regis Hotel on Thursday. The video caught Mr Obama looking on as protesters demonstrated against the White House's treatment of accused WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. The Chronicle defended Ms Marinucci, saying such phones were 'now-standard multi-media tools'.But the move that is said to have infuriated the White House, resulting in her banning - and even threats to other reporters, according to the Chronicle.The newspaper slammed the administration as 'hypocrtical', pointing out that the Obama administration has done everything possible to present itself as new media friendly.That includes a high profile appearance by the President alongside Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently, as well as exhaustive Facebook and Twitter updates from White House officials.When the Chronicle reported on the ban, the White House press office denied it had happened - sparking an angry response from Chronicle editor Ward Bushee.He wrote: 'Sadly, we expected the White House to respond in this manner based on our experiences yesterday. It is not a truthful response.'It follows a day of off-the-record exchanges with key people in the White House communications office who told us they would remove our reporter, then threatened retaliation to Chronicle and Hearst reporters if we reported on the ban, and then recanted to say our reporter might not be removed after all.'The Chronicle's report is accurate.'If the White House has indeed decided not to ban our reporter, we would like an on-the-record notice that she will remain the San Francisco print pool reporter.'Chronicle editor-at-large Phil Bronstein added on his blog: 'Messy ball now firmly in White House court''That's the world we live in and the President of the United States claims to be one of its biggest advocates.'He also voiced implied threats from the White House if the Chronicle publicised the row over Ms Marinucci, writing: 'What's worse: more than a few journalists familiar with this story are aware of some implied threats from the White House of additional and wider punishment if Carla's spanking became public.'Really? That's a heavy hand usually reserved for places other than the land of the free.'Hmmmm......"The most 'transparant Administration evah!"Dictatorship or Democracy?Read the full story here.

• Would Obama abandon Saudi Arabia to the 'winds of change'?(WSJ).It is provocative, but not entirely inaccurate, to suggest that U.S. foreign policy these past few months has been sufficiently erratic to make America's allies reconsider the degree to which we can be trusted—and our adversaries re-evaluate the degree to which we must be feared.The canary in the coal mine on such matters is Israel. None of America's allies is more sensitive to even the most subtle changes in the international environment, or more conscious of the slightest hint of diminished support from Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been so concerned that a member of his fractious coalition might give vent to some damaging public observation on this issue that he has imposed a strict "nobody talks on the subject but me" rule. That the gag has been even partially effective, given the wide-open nature of the Israeli political process, is astonishing. It is also a measure of how worried the Israelis are.The Israeli government is so concerned that America's adversaries may miscalculate U.S. intentions that it is privately urging Washington to make it clear that the U.S. would intervene in Saudi Arabia should the survival of that government be threatened. That is, after all, what President George H.W. Bush did more than 20 years ago when Saddam Hussein ordered Iraqi forces into Kuwait and moved forces in the direction of Saudi Arabia. "This," President Bush said on more than one occasion, "will not stand." And it didn't.Just as enemies such as Iran need to be cautioned, America's traditional allies need to be reassured. That's why Israeli officials are recommending a Marshall Plan for Egypt. The overthrow of Hosni Mubarak may have been no loss in the annals of democracy, but under Mr. Mubarak Egypt was a pillar of stability and a reliable if not always warm partner for Israel. Egypt's political future at this time is uncertain enough; the Israelis believe it is essential to prevent its economic collapse. The U.S. has poured billions of dollars into Egypt since Anwar Sadat made peace with Israel, and senior Israeli officials believe the economic spigot should remain wide open.Little, if anything, that has happened during the past few months has improved Israel's standing in the region. One of the most telling blows to Israel's security has gone all but unnoticed in the swirl of uprisings. For years, the most stable relationship that Israel enjoyed with any Muslim nation was with Turkey. Even under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has specialized in publicly baiting the Israelis, the relationship between the two countries' intelligence agencies remained strictly professional. "That," a high-ranking Israeli official told me, "is no longer the case."The outlook from Jerusalem these days is not encouraging. Iranian influence is growing throughout the Persian Gulf and beyond. Egypt's commitment to its peace treaty with Israel is uncertain. Syria could explode into total chaos at any moment. Jordan's stability is in question. Pakistan, a Muslim country with more than a 100 nuclear warheads, is confronting an uncertain future—made all the more unpredictable by the commencement of a U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan this summer. Whether any U.S. troops will remain in Iraq after the end of this year remains an open question. America is war-weary and facing a crushing deficit.The only glimmer of good news for the Israelis may be that, when it comes to reliable allies in the region, Washington's list also keeps getting shorter.Hmmm.......for Obama the destruction of Israel is more important than all the rest?Read the full story here.

• HT:Astutebloggers.Contempoaneous I.N.S. memo :Barack Hussein Obama senior didn't live with his 'wife' or his 'son'.Wanna know what I think?I’m thinking that a mutually beneficial deal was struck between Stanley Ann’s parents (her father, principally) and Obama Sr. — a quid pro quo, if you will.  He gave her his name, she gave him his green card. Voila! Fait accompli! He went his way, she went hers. Read the full story here.

• Video: Obama Hits Donald Trump At the WH Correspondents Dinner.(HotAirPundit).Trump could have done himself a favor by laughing along with some of the jokes tonight, Obama took a few swipes at Trump and Seth Meyers blasted him. Trump seemed bothered by the jokes (especially the ones by Seth Meyers). Hmmm...Dear leader loves making fun of others,but hates the otherway around.Something tells me the Donald will have the last laugh.Read the full story here.

• US report puts Egypt with worst religion violators.WASHINGTON (AP) — A government agency's annual report on violations of religious rights added Egypt on Thursday to the list of the world's 14 worst violators.The situation there for religious minorities, especially Coptic Christians, has deteriorated markedly, even since former President Hosni Mubarak resigned in February, the report said.China also is on the list of worst violators, compiled by the Commission on International Religious Freedom, and in his opening remarks as he released the report, commission Chairman Leonard Leo accused China of trying to hack into the commission's emails.The Egypt report said the commission was "acutely aware that the success of Egypt's current political transition depends on its full respect for the rule of law, including respect for fundamental human rights, of which religious freedom is critical."The report said the government "engaged in and tolerated religious freedom violations" before and after Mubarak's departure."In his waning months, religious freedom conditions were rapidly deteriorating, and since his departure, we've seen nothing to indicate that these conditions have improved," the report said.Because of the new designation, the report recommended that the U.S. take money from aid to Egypt earmarked for military use and use it "to enhance physical protection for Copts and other religious minorities.As it has in previous years, the commission complained that the Obama administration, as the Bush administration before it, ignores its advice.State Department spokeswoman Heidi Bronke-Fulton denied that."We certainly take the USCIRF recommendations into account when we designate our own list of Countries of Particular Concern for violations of religious freedom.Hmmmm.....Yup i can imagine Obama rushing to protect Christians.Read the full story here.

• Why Muslim Military Shootings are Inevitable.(SultanKnish).The murder of nine Americans by an Afghan veteran air force pilot comes in the same week that Palestinian Authority police opened fire on Jewish religious worshipers headed to Joseph's Tomb. Events like this don't happen that often, but they happen often enough to remind us that how many of the men wearing police or military uniforms are straining at the leashes to kill us. When that leash snaps and they see an opportunity, the bullets begin to fly.It's not just the war on terror front lines. In 2004, a Jordanian UN Peacekeeper opened fire on a group of Americans, killing two women. In 1997, on the Island of Peace, a Jordanian Corporal saw a group of Israeli schoolgirls and killed as many of the 7th and 8th graders as he could. Certainly the act of a madman? Not from the Muslim point of view. The shooter did employ an insanity defense, but it's clear that no one really thinks he was crazy. They think he was a hero.It's possible go on listing cases like this all day. There's nothing too unique about any of them. What they get at is the underlying mentality of the ordinary Muslim that is at odds with Western notions of war. Their armies may be trained by American, British and French advisers, but the troops themselves are still Muslims. You can train them in Western tactics, but not in the morality of Western armies. And when you operate alongside them, you put yourself on the wrong side of a 21st century weapon wielded by a 7th century mind.Read the full story here.

• Mexico Oil Exports Could End Within Decade, Report Warns.(NYTimes).Mexico, the third-largest supplier of foreign oil to the United States, could lose the capacity to export crude altogether within a decade without major new investments in exploration and production, warns a research group report released on Friday.The country’s shift from exporter to importer would deal a severe blow to Mexico’s federal government, which depends on oil sales for roughly a third of its budget, said the report, a two-year investigation by researchers with the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston.“A shift toward oil importer status would be a severe burden on the Mexican government and curb its ability to provide important services, both related to social programs and internal peace and security,” it states.Production by Pemex, the national oil company, has fallen 25 percent from its peak in 2004, while internal demand has climbed, sharply curtailing the amount of crude available for export. The drop in supply is largely due to steep declines at Cantarell, an aging super-giant field formerly responsible for the bulk of Mexico’s oil output.In the long term, Mexico’s best hope of maintaining its status as a major oil exporter will probably hinge on its ability to exploit deepwater reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. In a presentation in February, Pemex estimated that untapped reservoirs in Mexico’s share of the gulf hold nearly 30 billion barrels of accessible oil.But drilling at great depth is beyond Pemex’s present level of technical expertise, the Baker Institute report observes, while Mexico’s nationalistic oil laws, though relaxed somewhat in recent years, remain unwelcoming for foreign companies with the equipment and know-how to tap deep-water deposits.The push into deep water holds its own environmental hazards, of course, as BP’s catastrophic blowout and oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico clearly demonstrated last year. And Mexico has its own history of offshore disasters, most notably the Ixtoc I undersea blowout, which spewed oil uncontrollably into the gulf for nearly ten months in 1979 and 1980 — one of the worst oil spills in history.Read the full story here.

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• Annex the West Bank in response to any unilateral Palestinian steps.(Jpost).Likud minister joins calls for annexation if Palestinians declare statehood; "We'll also declare - as children say: 'you started it.'" With the clock ticking down to an anticipated unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood, a senior Likud minister joined calls over the weekend to annex the West Bank in response to any unilateral Palestinian steps.On Saturday night, Channel 2 released an audio recording of a meeting of the Likud’s young adult forum on Thursday, during which Welfare and Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon said that he supported such a move.“If they take steps, we will take steps – I think that we need to immediately annex all of the territories on that same day,” Kahlon said, to applause from his audience.“You declared statehood? No problem. We will also declare...As children say: “You started it!” An Army Radio correspondent sat in on the meeting, which was considered an internal party event, and recorded the minister’s comments.Kahlon is not, however, the first Likud minister to float the idea in recent days, following the Palestinian announcement of an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas.On Wednesday, Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein said that because “the Palestinian Authority chose a strategy of terror and unilateralism, Israel too must present an initiative: to assert Israeli authority throughout the entire Land of Israel and put an end to the idea of a Palestinian state.”It was not enough, Kahlon said, blaming Defense Minister Ehud Barak of Labor for construction delays, but adding that these problems “are being addressed daily by MKs from the correct side of Likud.”Kahlon also suggested that the government cut the flow of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority that Israel collects on its behalf. “They have 12 percent [economic] growth, which comes from us. That means that they have a lot to lose,” he said.In this, too, Kahlon repeated calls already heard within the Likud’s right-wing. Last week, MK Miri Regev responded to reports of the Hamas-Fatah alliance by calling for an urgent meeting of the Knesset’s Joint Committee for the Defense Budget, on which she sits, to end the transfer of billions of shekels of tax revenues to the PA.Read the full story here.

• Officials: Truce will not lessen pressure on Israel.(Ynet)Though Israeli officials had hoped the truce agreement between Hamas and Fatah would lessen international pressure for peace talks, many now fear world leaders – especially in Europe – will soon put the ball back in Israel's court."It seems that it has not been easy convincing the Europeans to adopt the Israeli tack regarding Hamas as a partner in the Palestinian government," one state official told Ynet Saturday evening. "The fear is that within a short while the ball will return to our court and Israel will be required to present a plan and clear goals in the field of talks." The US has so far toed the line with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's views on Hamas, but officials say this will not last until September – when the Palestinians plan to make a UN-backed statehood declaration. "The Palestinians will claim that now that there is unity within the authority the declaration of statehood is more appropriate than ever before, because Abbas will need help ahead of the February elections in the (Palestinian) Authority – from the international community as well as from Israel," one state official said. "Whoever thought there will now be a few months of calm will be disproven; because the European inclination is to give the truce and unity government a chance – and this will certainly not make life easy for Israel." Read the full story here.

• Iran Urges UN Action against Spread of Islamophobia in West.(Farsnews).Iran's Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Eshaq Ale-Habib called on the UN and its Committee on Information to take practical steps to promote "religious tolerance" and to counter the growing Islamophobic trend in the West, and to stop the desecration of Islam. Ale-Habib also condemned the recent act of burning Islam's holy book, the Quran, by an extremist US pastor, and said the incident runs counter to the UN's efforts to promote "religious tolerance and mutual respect between religions and cultures." He further slammed Western media for their bias against developing countries as well as their monopolistic control over global information and communications technology. "This is unfortunate that, by using their modern and exclusive communications technology, some developed countries are constantly distorting the realities and fabricating events… especially with regard to developing countries," Ale-Habib told the UN's Committee on Information on Thursday. "Developing countries have been hindered by the unfair… duplicitous and exclusive approach of the [Western] media," he added.Hmmm....Yes...It's not like they're hanging people every day in Iran..nothing to fear..move along.Read the full story here.

• Iran: Reformist MPs demand Ahmadinejad's impeachment. Teheran, 28 April - (AKI) - Twelve reformist Iranian MPs have presented a request to the parliament's speaker demanding the impeachment of hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, their website, Parlemannews reports.The deputies accuse Ahmadinejad of failing to carry out his mandate, neglecting economic reform and concentrating power in his own hands.Ahmadinejad's administration is also accused of losing billions of dollars of Iran's oil revenues in recent years.The reformist lawmakers have asked speaker Ali Larijani to consult the entire 290-member parliament, according to the procedures set by current law.Under the law, the parliament is obliged to consider any impeachment request if it is made by more than 10 MPs.The impeachment request comes amid a mounting power struggle between Iran's Supreme Leader, 71-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad and their respective supporters.Khamenei's reinstatement of a cabinet member Ahmadinejad had asked to resign earlier this month, intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, is said to have triggered the growing rift between Iran's president and Supreme Leader. In retaliation, Ahmadinejad has for a week refused to visit Khamenei's offices and on Wednesday declined for the second time to chair a cabinet meeting, according to opposition websites.On Thursday, two websites close to Ahmadinejad, 'Digarban' and 'Ainnews', urged supporters of the Supreme Leader to tone down their anti-Ahmadinejad rhetoric and refrain for interfering in Iran's government.Iran's opposition has speculated that Khamenei is worried about the increasing power of Ahmadinejad and especially his chief-of-staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, who is being groomed by Ahmadinejad as his possible successor.Mashaei, a nationalist whose daughter married Ahmadinejad's son, has become the most controversial figure in Iran, sparking harsh criticism from conservatives for favouring greater cultural openness and opposing greater cleric involvement in the state.Hmmmm.....My succesor is known?Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Mufti's descendents: Shepherd Hotel ours.After Jerusalem court rejects petition against construction of Jewish neighborhood on site of derelict hotel, Husseini family calls for 'international presence to protect Palestinian residents' property'.A day after the Shepherd Hotel in east Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood was razed to make room for some 20 housing units designated for Jews, members of the Husseini family, the descendants of the mufti of Jerusalem, tried to stop the construction work at the site.Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was known for his avid support of Adolf Hitler, lived at the structure which later became the Shepherd Hotel.His descendents filed a petition claiming the land was theirs, but it was rejected by the Jerusalem District Court on Monday. Judge Yigal Marzel said the appeal was filed late despite the fact that those who submitted it learned of the planned razing about a month ago. The mufti's son, Abd el-Khader, told a press conference in Sheikh Jarrah, "I want to make it clear that there never was and there never will be a deal between the Husseini family and the occupation's government for the sale of the Shepherd Hotel compound." The family's attorney, Sani Huri, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that the land had been purchase legally is unfounded. "Israel transferred the asset to Moskowitz without the family's consent. The property was given to the family when it was forced to leave Jerusalem for Jordan. There need to be documents and signatures, but here everything was done in secret. When we asked the Land Registration Office to see the documents, we were told the file had disappeared," he said.Hmmmmm.....Nazi collaborators should get the same deal as the rest got at Nuremberg.Read the full story here.

• PM: Must be military option against Iran.Netanyahu tells foreign correspondents Iranians will cancel nuclear program 'only if they believe they are facing a credible military option at the end of the tunnel.' On Jewish construction east Jerusalem: It's a free country.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Tuesday that Iran will not stop its nuclear program unless economic sanctions are backed with a "credible military option."Speaking to foreign correspondents in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said the only time the Iranians stopped their nuclear development was in 2003, when they thought they were threatened with a military strike.The PM said the Iranians would cancel their nuclear program only "if they thought they were facing a credible military option at the end of the tunnel." "If there is credible military option you won't need to use it," he said.The Israeli premier also told the foreign correspondents that only his government can ensure the support of the Israeli people for a peace deal with the Palestinians.Netanyahu appealed for direct negotiations with the Palestinians until an agreement is reached. He expressed pessimism, charging that the Palestinians have avoided peace talks. "You want to negotiate peace, sit down and negotiate," he said. "There is no other way to achieve peace."Hmmmmm....."Looking back now,they must wonder why did we not go ahead in 2003?Read the full story here.

• Al-Qaeda to target royal wedding? Sources in British PM's office say terror group plans to sabotage Prince William and Kate Middleton's April wedding with massive attack.LONDON - Al-Qaeda intends to carry out a massive terrorist attack during Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding, a senior official in British Prime Minister David Cameron's office told Yedioth Ahronoth Monday.According to the source, the British intelligence service has collected evidence showing that the terror organization plans to sabotage the royal wedding, perhaps staging the attack along the route the couple plans to take on their wedding day. Local police is set to close the route three days prior to the event in order to prevent such a disruption. According to the intelligence information, the attack would be carried out by al-Qaeda operatives already located in the UK.As per the tradition, the bride, Middleton, is expected to ride a car from Buckingham Palace, passing by key sites on her way to Westminster Abbey, where the ceremony will take place. Following the service, the couple will return to the palace along the same route, this time riding a horse-drawn carriage. Approximately a million people are estimated to line the sides of the road to watch the historic procession.Officials are concerned that should the terrorists carry out the attack while the couple is riding the carriage, it would harm not only hundreds of people but also the kingdom's most treasured asset – the royal family.Hmmmm....."Peacefull bystanders who only burn poppies"?Read the full story here.

• Pope's call for Middle East to protect Christians sparks Egypt fury.Cairo recalls ambassador to the Vatican after what it deems 'unacceptable interference' in foreign affairs.Pope Benedict was tonight at the centre of a new diplomatic storm after Egypt recalled its ambassador to the Vatican in protest at the pontiff's call for Middle Eastern governments to do more to protect their Christian minorities.Cairo's dramatic reaction came amid reports of a further attack in Egypt in which a Christian died. The interior ministry said an off-duty policeman boarded a train in southern Egypt and opened fire, killing a 71-year-old man and wounding five other Christians, including the dead man's wife. The attack raises fears of a new wave of rioting by Christians still mourning the deaths of at least 21 worshippers as they were leaving mass at a Coptic church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve.In a statement, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said Cairo's ambassador had been called back for consultations "after the Vatican's new statements that touch on Egyptian affairs and which Egypt considers an unacceptable interference in its internal affairs".In a speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See on Monday, the pope said the Alexandria bombing, coming after a string of attacks in Iraq, showed "the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, in spite of difficulties and dangers, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities".In Rome, a senior Vatican official, said Egypt's reaction was "the proof that the things said by the pope have hit the mark". Monsignor Jean-Louis Bruguès, stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity.Hmmmmm...."The Truth is rarely accepted or apreciated".Read the full story here.

• Off-duty policeman shoots 71-year-old Christian dead on train in Egypt, sparking protests.The ministry statement identified the policeman as Amer Ashour Abdel-Zaher, a Muslim. It said he boarded the Cairo-bound train at the town of Samalout in Egypt's central Minya province and opened fire on the passengers with a handgun.It was not immediately clear if he was aware his victims were all Christian. But Christian women, who made up four of the five wounded, stand out in the conservative south because they do not wear headscarves as most Muslim women do.The statement added that Abdel-Zaher was on his way to work at a town near Samalout.The train originated in Assiut which, like Samalout, is home to a substantial Christian community.Police arrested Abdel-Zaher at his nearby home after he fled the scene and he was being questioned, according to the ministry statement.Hmmmm...It's pretty obvious he was targeting Christians.Read the full story here.
• YouTube - The Egyptian police attacking the church in Samalout after the train attack on Copts.See the full story here.

• Pope insults Muslims, say MPs.Pakistani politicians have accused the Pope of interfering in state matters after he called for controversial blasphemy laws to be scrapped.Benedict XVI urged the Islamic nation to repeal the legislation -- which carries the death penalty for insulting Islam -- a week after the shooting of the governor of Punjab, who had criticised the laws."I once more encourage the leaders of that country to take the necessary steps to abrogate that law," the Pope said."The tragic murder of the governor of Punjab shows the urgent need to make progress in this direction."He added that the legislation had been used as a pretext for violence against non-Muslims.The laws have come under scrutiny after the sentencing to death of Aasia Bibi, a Christian, for insulting Islam, in a case that has divided the country further.Islamic party leaders condemned the Pope's comments."Pakistan is an Islamic ideological state and the Pope cannot tell us to change our laws, which are in conformity to our belief," said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam, one of the country's largest Islamic groups supporting the blasphemy laws.Farid Paracha, the leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, the most powerful Islamic party in the nation, said: "The Pope's statement is an insult to Muslims across the world."Hmmmm...."Muslims can tell the whole word how to behave,but Christians must keep silent and be killed?"How many "Statements" have we heard in the name of Islam calling for the killing of non believers?Read the full story here.

• HT:TranslatingJihad.IslamOnline.net: "Offensive Jihad Is Permissible to Secure Islam's Borders, to Extend God's Religion, and...to Remove Every Religion but Islam from the Arabian Peninsula".IslamOnline.net is listed as the 6th most popular Islamic website in the world. And yet, Western apologists of Islam assure us that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are peaceful, and that Islam rejects offensive jihad.Fighting Against Non-Muslims -- Legitimacy and Rulings. islamonline.net, 8 Jan 2011

• Q: When is it permissible to fight against non-Muslims, and when is it not permissible? Please elaborate.
• Mufti: Dr. 'Imad Mustafa, Professor of Fiqh and Its Origins, at the Universities of al-Azhar and Umm al-Qary.In the name of God, praise be to God, and prayers and peace be upon the prophet of God, etc.:Fighting against non-Muslims is what is known in Islamic jurisprudence as Jihad in the path of God. Jihad is a prescribed duty in cases of aggression from the infidels against Muslims, for we must resist them, make jihad against them, and defend against them. This is according to the text of the Qur'an, for Almighty God has said: "Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors" (Qur'an 2:190). This type of jihad is known as defensive jihad, and it is a duty agreed to by all Islamic scholars and all who are wise, and is endorsed in our day by recognized international charters. However, the occupier and his associates have come to label this "terrorism."Then there is another type of fighting against the non-Muslims known as offensive jihad. Islamic scholars have differed on the issue of offensive jihad, which is to pursue the infidels into their own land without any aggression or assistance to him. Some scholars have gone as far to say that this jihad is illegitimate, while others have gone as far as to say that it is legitimate and even required.However there can be no disagreement that offensive jihad is not totally prohibited, for two schools [of Islamic jurisprudence] have ruled that offensive jihad is permissible in order to secure Islam's border, to extend God's religion to people in cases where the governments do not allow it, such as the Pharaoh did with the children of Israel, and to remove every religion but Islam from the Arabian peninsula, and to save the captive and weak. [...]Hmmmm......"However, the occupier and his associates have come to label this "terrorism."Could it be any clearer?No more "Misunderstanders of Islam but in the name of Islam!Read the full story here.

• Tucson should make Rep. King rethink Muslim probe.The shooting in Tucson offers Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) an opportunity to rethink his planned Homeland Security Committee hearings on Muslim “radicalization” in this country.King says he's worried about the “disconnect,” as he calls it, “between outstanding Muslims who contribute so much to the future of our country and those leaders who--for whatever reason--acquiesce in terror or ignore the threat.”By that standard, he should have hearings on the failure of Republican leaders to denounce Sarah Palin's "crosshairs" Web page and Sharron Angle's invocation of "Second Amendment remedies" to Big Government and her opponent in the Nevada U.S. Senate race, Harry Reid.Of course, that is no business for the Homeland Security Committee. Imagine the response if King's Democratic predecessor, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, had tried to summon Palin and Angle, not to mention Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, to testify at such hearings.King's announcement of hearings last month proved incendiary, with law-abiding U.S. Islamic groups and such prominent individuals as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to Congress, protesting that such an attention-getting forum will only further “vilify” them.Rep. King said he promised Ellison, “If you want, you can testify. You can have a panel of your own. And it's not going to be a setup. We're not going to be taking shots at you." But he hinted at just that when he said in his announcement that he would "do all I can to break down the wall of political correctness and drive the public debate on Islamic radicalization." And let's not be naive: There are Muslim bashers who will find in the hearings a platform, whether they’re testifying or just spouting off on the Internet, to connect Muslim organizations to terrorism.Hmmmmm....What in God's name has a mentally deranged shooter to see with Islamic Terrorists?Why even compare them in the first place?Is he trying to say thats all Islamic terrorists are mentally disturbed?Read the full story here.

•  HT:Aina.13 Christians Killed in Nigerian Village Attack.Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- An attack on a Christian village in central Nigeria early Tuesday morning left 13 people dead, an official said.At about midnight, the village of Kuru Station was attacked by unknown assailants, Riyom local government chairman Simon Mwadkon told CNN.Three houses were attacked and 12 people were killed at the scene, he said. Four others were taken to a hospital, where a thirteenth person died."The situation is very tense," but security forces are now on the ground, Mwadkon said.Nigeria has been rocked by recent religious violence, with the government blaming most of the it on Islamist extremists.Christmas Eve attacks in the volatile city of Jos claimed at least 31 lives.Jos is the capital of Plateau state, which lies on a faith-based fault line between Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria and the mainly Christian south.Hmmmm......"Offensive Jihad Is Permissible to Secure Islam's Borders, to Extend God's Religion".Read the full story here.

• Arianna Huffington in Airplane Blackberry Dispute.Media mogul Arianna Huffington experienced some pre-flight turbulence when she "defied" a United Airlines request for travelers to shut down all electronic devices, leading one incredulous male passenger "to get up from his seat in protest of her continued chatting and texting," the New York Post reported.A testy exchange of words ensued between Huffington and the passenger, who is identified as Plainview, Long Island, resident Ellis Belodoff, and both were "hauled off the plane for questioning," according to the Post. Police did not end up charging either Huffington or Belodoff.Huffington's representatives, however, didn't seem to be taking the matter quite as seriously as their boss.There was a passenger who seemed upset," said Mario Ruiz, a spokesman for Huffington told the Post. "Arianna thought he didn't like the snacks. Guess not. Maybe he was an iPhone fan. As you know, the battle between iPhone lovers and BlackBerry users can get pretty heated."Speaking with AOL News, Ruiz disputed the Post story, stating that there was "no altercation" and that Huffington spoke briefly with security personel after leaving the plane.
  Hmmmm...She seems to think that she can overide the pilot's orders,and endanger the passengers their life,isn't that a federal offence?Read the full story here.

• Transparency in the age of Obama.Barack Obama largely ran on the platform of transparency, but such views have been left behind on the campaign trail.So in January 2009, the nation turned to 'the great hope', Barack Obama, a man so familiar with the US Constitution one could imagine him being able to recite it backwards. As it turns out, it seems he interprets it backwards as well.The first major event on the political calendar was healthcare reform, Democrats (and the tens of millions without healthcare insurance) were hoping to succeed where the Clintons had previously failed. Progressives were optimistically exuding large swathes of hope, dreaming of a public option. The Beltway political landscape was about to undergo a facelift, with the healthcare insurance lobby - one of the biggest 'cartels' in town - about to receive a swift boot to the unmentionables, better yet we were all going to see it live on national TV - Obama promised at least eight times that a debate on the healthcare issue would be televised.We got screwed. We did get a televised debate, several Democrats went up against several Republicans spewing their respective talking points - no doubt written by political consultants and not by people in medical/public health field - an event watched by the 8 or 9 people constantly tuned into C-Span and the three others streaming it from the White House website. Don't worry if you missed the healthcare discussion, your in the company of the elected officials who allegedly took part in it.The real debate took place behind the closed doors of the Oval Office, with a strict guest list including insurance executives and none other than the lobbyists who were supposedly being ushered out of town and back to Dodge.Not only is Obama against rescinding the scope of presidential executive orders - extended via the various post 9/11 security Act amendments collectively referred to as the Patriot Act - he has added a few extras, one being what I like to refer to as his "Presidential Execution Program" (PEP), PEP talks in the Oval Office have a distinctly different outcome, to pep talks in the locker room.Obama has bestowed upon himself, the decision of which 'suspected' "evil doer" (we might as well use Bush rhetoric, since we are still very much beholden to his policies) gets to live or die. Very much reminiscent of the demented Robot Santa from Futurama, Obama maintains a list of 'naughty' individuals whose fate will undoubtedly involve a drone, some hellfires and ironically, little hope…According to attorney, Maria LaHood, of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, who represents the father of the only person we know for sure that is on the list, Anwar al Awlaki, the list is not only secretive, but a Federal Court recently barred any discussion of releasing even the standards for what puts one on Obama’s hit list. Who knows, Anwar al Awlaki may be guilty of some treasonable offense, but where in the name of our legal system does a mere president of the USA get to decide without due process in a court of law who must die?I can’t even begin to fathom the lack of moral outrage in this country against the PEP - no matter where any of us are on the political spectrum, such an affront to morality and legal procedure should be met with the most extreme rejection and hostility. Yet, I doubt if a majority of Americans even know that such a program exists.Transparency should, but doesn’t begin at the top of the power pyramid. The increasing surveillance and persecution of peace and social justice activists coupled with the escalating use of full body scanners in US airports tells me that the only 'transparency' Obama wanted was for our clothes and our lives, not his administration.What is the moral of the series of articles on Barack Obama? Do I believe that Obama is "evil incarnate?" No, but I believe the system that he is at the same time an advocate for, and tool of, is becoming increasingly evil, misguided and out of control with its wars abroad and oppressions at home.Hmmmmmm......Opinions may differ on the latter one!Read the full dictatorship story here.

• HT:TheDailyCaller.TheDC Exclusive: A secret $6 billion US taxpayer bailout for Puerto Rico?Read the full story here.

• Iraqi immigrant to stand trial in daughter's death.PHOENIX -- An Iraqi immigrant accused of killing his daughter because he believed she was too Westernized will go to trial in Phoenix after he failed to reach a plea deal with prosecutors. Prosecutors and attorneys for Faleh Hassan Almaleki had been in discussions about a plea deal for weeks ahead of a scheduled Jan. 18 trial date. Barring a last-minute deal that appears unlikely, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Roland Steinle said at a hearing Tuesday that he would call two large groups of potential jurors next week. Steinle noted a large pool was needed because of extensive pretrial publicity and the need for jurors to be available to serve on a lengthy case. Police allege Almaleki slammed his Jeep into his 20-year-old daughter, Noor Almaleki, and her boyfriend's mother in October 2009 in the parking lot of a state Department of Economic Security office in the Phoenix suburb of Peoria.The mother lived, but Noor was in a coma for two weeks before she died from her injuries. Almaleki has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of a serious injury accident. His public defender and the prosecutor declined to comment after Tuesday's brief hearing. Almaleki, who turned 50 on Jan. 1, remains in custody. He attended the hearing in shackles in the jury box, wearing a back brace over his faded black and white striped county jail garb and pink undershirt. After the hearing ended, Almaleki interrupted through an interpreter, saying "I don't know what's going on so far." Steinle allowed him to confer with his lawyers for a few minutes, then cut off their discussion to move on to the next case. "You can discuss with him over the next few days what the rules of criminal procedure are in reference to a lawyer appearing," Steinle said. The case caused nationwide outrage after prosecutors deemed it an "honor killing" because Almaleki had said his daughter dishonored his family and became too Westernized.Hmmmm.....Now if there would be Sharia law in the US chances are he would be a free man.Read the full story here.

• HT:PiNews.Execution: Taliban style beheading in Kiel Germany.To such scenarios, you have to get used to it or not in Germany. A 30-year-old Kurd from Iraq on Friday literally executed in the backyard of a bakery in Kiel-Gaarden by a group of Lebanese Kurds. The victim had to kneel in front of his captors at first, before his throat was cut. The SPD-town council chairman Bruno Levtzow has found nothing better to do than "to guard against generalizations" warning, which would take "undue the vast majority of law-abiding immigrants," I am worried that now all the black haired ones are thrown into one pot."This was not a knife fight , that was a real execution." With these words, says an expert on migrant Kiel scene, it causes great unrest in immigrant circles, since on Friday they killed a man outside a shop in the district Gaarden. It's now all about the concern that the situation could escalate.What the police and the press learned from our Scout: Kiel-Gaarden was an Iraqi Kurd who worked at the Vinetaplatz as a hairdresser, of Lebanese Kurds, who's killers belong to the Kiel Miri clan,who executed him by cutting his throat as he was held by several. The victim had an extra-marital affair with the wife of one of the perpetrators!The victim was previously repeatedly asked to stop this. The wife was also the cousin of her husband.Hmmmm...."Taliban style justice in Germany"?Read the full story here.(Google Translate).

• HT:AhmadiyyaTimes.Pakistan: No room for secularism as Islam is its sole identity - Jama'at-e-Islami.Lahore : Islam is Pakistan's sole identity, and there is no room for secularism and its believers in this country, Jama'at-e-Islami deputy Secretary General Hafiz Sajid Anwar has said.Addressing the congregation at Mansoora mosque, Anwar said that a Muslim could not tolerate blasphemy of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), The Nation reports.Even Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik had told media persons that if someone committed blasphemy in his presence, he would shoot him to death, he added.Anwar exhorted the rulers to learn a lesson from Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer's assassination, as none of the official Khatibs and Imams was ready to lead his funeral prayer.On Tuesday, Taseer was assassinated by Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, one of his own elite security force protectors, who opened fire on him because of the governor's support for the release of Pakistani-Christian woman Asia Bibi, who has been sentenced to death on blasphemy charges.There was consensus of the Ummah that blasphemy of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was punishable by death, said Anwar, adding that Taseer publicly sympathised with the blasphemer woman, expressed full support to her and promised her clemency, and all this was unbecoming of his high office.He said that Asia Bibi had been convicted by a law court and not by any mufti or cleric, and that Taseer had been issuing statements in violation of the country's constitution, the Quran and the Sunnah, which gave the impression of his anti-Islamic views and finally led to his assassination.He also demanded the immediate release of the relatives of Mumtaz Qadri, the bodyguard who shot Taseer at least 17 times before surrendering.Addressing another congregation at Syed Maudoodi Institute mosque, JI leader Hafiz Muhammad Idrees said that Taseer's murder should be an eye opener for the other rulers who were clamouring against the Blasphemy Law.Referring to Malik's statement that he would shoot down a blasphemer, Idrees asked what crime Mumtaz Qadri had committed.He advised the anti-Islam elements in the country to stop attacks on the religion, and study it thoroughly. The western powers could cow down the Muslim rulers but not the Muslim masses, he added.Hmmmm.....Perhaps the Obama administration should give them a couple of Billion Dollars more?Read the full story here.

• Iran presents: Equipment used by 'Mossad spies'.Intelligence minister showcases computer, weapons allegedly given to suspected spies by Mossad. 'We obtained good intelligence, managed to locate people linked to Zionist regime,' he says during press conference in Tehran.The Islamic Republic's Intelligence Ministry on Tuesday publicly exhibited computers, weapons and secret equipment allegedly used to carry out the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist last year.The Iranian government claimed that the computer used by the assassins were encrypted so they could contact their operators while staying outside of the country.Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi convened a special press conference on Tuesday to announce the discovery, and presented the reporters with equipment that Mossad allegedly gave the secret agents.Among the items was a laptop computer, which according to Irna news agency was confiscated during the arrest of the suspected spies.The reporters were also presented with several guns and ammunition, as well as the instrument in which the assassins allegedly hid the explosives that killed Prof. Mohammadi. The Iranian minister also displayed "spying equipment designed to make videos and pictures, a radio transmitter, a box with documents and equipment to forge documents." Read the full story here.

• US high court rejects Obama citizenship case.WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court refused Monday to take up the question of President Barack Obama's citizenship, which a core group of skeptics continues to challenge despite presentation of his US birth certificate.The high court, without comment, rejected the request by Orly Taitz, a California lawyer who has emerged as a leader of the "birther" movement of mainly rightwing protesters who question where Obama was born.She had asked the court to annul a federal judge's 20,000-dollar penalty for filing a "frivolous lawsuit" by her client, a US soldier who refused to deploy to Iraq because she viewed the commander in chief as illegitimate.Judge Clay Land in the southeast state of Georgia determined in October 2009 that Taitz's pursuit of the case was "breathtaking in its arrogance and borders on delusional," and scolded her for expressing "no contrition or regret regarding her misconduct."She had filed a stay of deployment request on behalf of Captain Connie Rhodes, a US Army medic who challenged Obama's legitimacy as president. When Land threw the case out, Taitz publicly branded it "an act of treason."In her petition before the Supreme Court, Taitz asked: "Is the whole nation de facto reduced to the level of slaves or serfs when one without valid vital records, without social security number of his own and without a valid long form of birth certificate is able to get in the position of president?"On Monday Taitz said she would not let the case rest."I will file a motion for reconsideration," she said on her website, adding that she has "evidence of highly suspicious activity in several federal courts.""If we don't clean up corruption in the judiciary, in the White House, citizens of this country will have no trust in the system and will take justice in their own hands. This is dangerous," she wrote.Hmmmm...."L'etat c'est moi!"?Read the full story here.

• HT:TheAmericanDream.8 Conspiracy Theories About Health That The Mainstream Media Has Been Forced To Admit Are Actually True.Who knows more about health - the mainstream media or those that believe in "conspiracy theories"? Well, the truth is that time after time after time those in the "alternative media" and those who believe in "conspiracy theories" have been proven to be far ahead of those in the mainstream media when it comes to matters of health. Sadly, the mainstream media receives so much funding and so many advertising dollars from the pharmaceutical industry, the medical industry, the big chemical companies and the health insurance industry that they are extremely cautious to report any information that would be harmful to any of them. So for years, the mainstream media generally refused to talk about the dangers posed by things such as fluoride, aspartame, prescription drugs, genetically modified crops and cell phones. But now the alternative media has been making so much noise about many of these health issues for so long that the mainstream media has been forced to acknowledge that some of these "conspiracy theories" about health are actually true.Not that the mainstream media is all of a sudden turning their backs on the financial giants that are pumping billions of dollars into them. But the truth is that we are starting to see just a little bit more honest reporting about health issues from the mainstream media these days.The following are 8 conspiracy theories about health that the mainstream media has been forced to admit are actually true....Read the full story here.

• Turkey’s 'visionary' diplomats shape 'visionary' diplomacy,with sharp arrows flying around.Turkey’s “visionary diplomats” are in pursuit of “visionary diplomacy,” as stated in objectives set by the foreign minister, and met last week to discuss ways to explain the country’s evolving foreign policy to the countries where they are posted.In the opening address of the conference in Ankara last Monday, Davutoğlu set a target for Turkey, saying that Turkey would be at the top of the “wise” countries in the world. In his assertive address, the foreign minister said diplomats would not only be firefighters rushing to stop crises in any corner of the world but also city planners, which means the pursuit of a policy preventing crises from happening.The Greek leader’s messages of friendship in the stadium warmed the audience’s hearts, and his speech was often interrupted by applause. Erdoğan, accompanied by his wife Emine, asked his counterpart why he did not bring his spouse with him.Papandreou’s address to ambassadors, however, sent some unexpected shockwaves to many diplomats in the room as well. Papandreou called Turkey an occupier in northern Cyprus and criticized Ankara for violating Greek airspace.Davutoğlu, who accompanied the Greek prime minister to see him off at the airport, told Papandreou that he could have made a more visionary speech, instead of letting fly the arrows of criticism, one source involved in the talks told the Hürriyet Daily News.Diplomats said once the Greek leader resorted to criticism-laden rhetoric, Erdoğan occasionally left the context of his previously written speech and gave spontaneous responses, which received nods from the ambassadors in the room.“We had to applaud the Greek prime minister’s speech, but the Turkish prime minister’s applause was even louder of course,” said a source.Read the full story here.

• Fears grow for minorities in north Sudan if south votes to secede.President Omar al-Bashir's uncompromising stance on imposing sharia law and the Arabic language if south Sudan votes for independence in the referendum bodes ill for cultural diversity.As southern Sudanese prepare to vote for independence tomorrow, the jubilation at the prospective breakup of Sudan that is so widespread in the south is not shared by everyone in the north.Particularly concerned are people in the two "contested areas" – South Kordofan and Blue Nile – who fought alongside the southerners in the civil war but have been left in the north by Sudan's comprehensive peace agreement (CPA).With predominantly African populations of Nuba and Ingessana, who practise Christianity and traditional religions in addition to Islam, the people of the two areas are now being referred to as janubeen jadeed – the new southerners. This reflects their potential future status as marginalised Africans on the southern periphery of an integrated Arab-Islamist state. Precisely the same situation that led to the southerners calling for independence.To complicate matters, virtually all of north Sudan's current oil production is in South Kordofan. If Southerners vote to secede, Khartoum stands to lose the 80% of its oil supplies currently produced in the south, and is unlikely to countenance losing the rest.Under the CPA, the two areas are supposed to have "popular consultation" on their future status, but this process – like the referendum for Abyei district – is completely off-track and people are extremely nervous about their future should the south vote to secede and President Omar al-Bashir carry out his threat to amend the constitution to consolidate north Sudan as an Arab-Islamic state with no concessions for racial or religious minorities.Bashir recently declared: "If south Sudan secedes, we will change the constitution, and at that time there will be no time to speak of diversity of culture and ethnicity … sharia and Islam will be the main source for the constitution, Islam the official religion and Arabic the official language."This statement – coupled with his defiant stance on Islamic law after international condemnation of a YouTube video of a woman being flogged by laughing policemen – has caused massive unease among north Sudan's minorities. Bashir said those calling for an investigation into the ill-treatment misunderstood Islam, because "sharia law has always stipulated that one must whip, cut, or kill"."Bashir clearly doesn't recognise the rights of anyone other than Arabs and Muslims," Kambal says. "He allowed cultural and religious freedom for minorities while he wanted to keep the southerners on board, but what rights will Christians and minority people like the Nuba have after the south breaks away?"Hmmmm......How long before the massive killing of Christians will start in Sudan?Read the full story here.

• Iraq - Seats In Iraqi Parliament Sold To Highest Bidder.Under the Iraqi constitution, an MP appointed as minister must relinquish his or her seat in parliament, and party leaders are then free to fill the vacancy with candidates who ran for parliament but were not elected. An Iraqi MP earns more than $100,000 a year, and is also entitled to a generous package of benefits, including a housing allowance and salaries for personal guards, often recruited from among the MP's friends and relatives. After four years of service, an MP receives a pensioncandidates who ran for parliament but were not elected. An Iraqi MP earns more than $100,000 a year, and is also entitled to a generous package of benefits, including a housing allowance and salaries for personal guards, often recruited from among the MP's friends and relatives. After four years of service, an MP receives a pension for life; moreover, he and his family are entitled to diplomatic passports during his term and for 10 years after that. Hence, there is fierce competition over the vacated parliamentary seats, and candidates often pay large sums to be selected.Hmmmm......Obama ...." If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a SUCCES like Iraq".Read the full story here.

• HT:Imra.Hamas leader: We are only a few steps away from achieving a historic triumph which might cost us a large number of our children.Agencies- Gaza -Palestinians will achieve a historic triumph in any future confrontation with Israel, but the toll will be heavy on the Palestinian side, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar said Saturday."We are only a few steps away from achieving a historic triumph which might cost us a large number of our children. However, in the coming confrontation with the Zionist entity, we will realize our ancestors' dream and return history to the right track," Zahhar said.The Hamas official made the comments at a ceremony held to commemorate the second anniversary of a massacre at the UN-controlled Al-Fakhoura school in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.The school was bombarded by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead, a three-week offensive that began in December 2008.The Hamas leader was optimistic that justice would be achieved for Palestinians.Hmmmmm........Sounds like that peaceplan is really working great Mr President.Read the full story here.