March 31: Operation Global Blackout: Anonymous Hackers Intend to Shut Down the Internet by Disabling Core DNS Servers.

March 31: Operation Global Blackout: Anonymous Hackers Intend to Shut Down the Internet by Disabling Core DNS Servers.(SHTF).By Dan Graziano.The hacking group known as Anonymous intends to attack the core servers that control the routing of all internet traffic. DNS, or Domain Name Servers, are a critical backbone of the web and make it possible for internet surfers to reach web site destinations by typing in a domain name in their browsers. Once a particular web site is requested, a query is sent to a domain name server, which then redirects that web address to a specific IP address on the web. Without these servers, access to web sites through traditional means (typing in a ‘dot com’) becomes impossible, because there is no way to direct the traffic to the appropriate web site destination.
According to a statement released by Anonymous, it is these servers that will come under fire on Saturday, March 31. Anonymous says they do not intend to ‘kill’ the internet completely, but rather, the end game of Operation Blackout 2012 is a temporary take down of the internet where “it hurts most.” According to the group, the operation is being carried out to protest SOPA, Wallstreet, our irresponsible leaders and the beloved bankers who are starving the world for their own selfish needs out of sheer sadistic fun, on March 31, anonymous will shut the Internet down,” the group stated last month. “Remember, this is a protest, we are not trying to ‘kill’ the Internet we are only temporarily shutting it down where it hurts the most.” Read the full story here.


 

If You Thought SOPA Was Bad, Meet big Brother: ACTA !

Read more about ACTA here.

MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Argentina 5.5 - 5.4 ; Indonesia 5.3 - 5.2 !More info here.

• 'Iran says it arrested suspects in scientist killing'.(JPost).Iranian authorities have arrested several suspects in connection with the assassination of nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan last week, Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani was quoted as saying in Iranian media Monday."A number of people who had a hand in the assassination of martyr Ahmadi-Roshan have been arrested," Mehr News quoted him as saying. "[An] investigation is underway to identify the terrorists and details about the assassination."Read the full story here.

• Saudi Arabia says it can raise oil production to fill any supply gap.(AlArabiya).The world’s top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, said on Monday it could increase oil production by about 2 million barrels per day (bpd) “almost immediately,” a day after Iran threatened its Gulf neighbors not to compensate for any shortfall in its oil exports if sanctions bite too harshly.“We can easily get up to 11.4, 11.8 million almost immediately, in a few days,” Dow Jones Newswires quoted Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi as telling CNN in an interview. The country currently produces just under 10 million bpd now.Saudi Arabia has promised repeatedly to fill any supply gap left if output from Iran or any other major producer is disrupted. But “to get to the next [700,000 barrels a day] or so, we probably need about 90 days”, he said.That would take Saudi Arabian output to its full capacity of 12.5 million bpd.Naimi said the kingdom favors an oil price of $100 per barrel, identifying an ideal oil price for the first time in more than three years.“Our wish and hope is we can stabilize this oil price and keep it at a level of around $100,” Naimi said.Riyadh has not specified a preferred price range since it said it favored $75 per barrel in November 2008. Recently, however, Naimi has said that price level was out of date.Iran has warned neighboring Gulf states not to compensate for a possible shortfall of its oil exports after it has been hit with Western sanction.“If the oil-producing nations on the Persian Gulf decide to substitute Iran’s oil, then they will be held responsible for what happens,” Iran’s OPEC representative Mohammad Ali Khatibi was quoted as saying by Sharq newspaper.“We would not consider these actions to be friendly,” Khatibi added.“I personally do not believe that the Strait, if it were shut, will be shut for any length of time. The world cannot stand for that,” the oil minister.Asked if he is concerned about the war of words between Iran and United States, Naimi said: “I don’t think all these pronouncements are helpful to the international oil market or to the price of oil. It’s really disturbing.”Read the full story here.

• Oil prices, Iran are increasingly sources of concern.(WP).By Steven Mufson.The price of crude oil and growing tensions with Iran are bubbling to the top of economists’ and policymakers’ worry lists for 2012, as U.S. and European Union sanctions threaten to reduce the sales of Iranian oil and put pressure on one of the world’s largest petroleum exporters.“It’s been in the background for quite some time,” said Edward Yardeni, a leading investment strategist. “I’ve characterized it as one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse for 2012. Now it’s come from behind to be at the head of the pack.”The push for tighter sanctions on Iranian oil exports comes at a time when oil prices are already high. Last year was a record-shattering year for oil prices, which averaged $107 a barrel, about 14 percent more than in the previous record year of 2008, according to figures from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.The U.S. oil import bill — for crude and refined products — jumped about $125 billion from 2010 to 2011.Rising oil prices could hurt the fragile global economy, which includes economists’ other big worry: Europe.Hmmmm......Why Obama cancelled the oil sanctions on Iran?Reelection purposes!Read the full story here.

• Iraq detains a few hundred foreign contractors in recent weeks, including many Americans who work for the U.S. Embassy.(Alarabiya).Citing unnamed industry officials, the newspaper said the detentions have occurred mainly at the airport in Baghdad and at checkpoints around the capital. U.S. troops completed their withdrawal from Iraq on December 18, leaving behind an Iraqi security force that officials said could maintain internal security.The contractors were detained after the Iraqi authorities raised questions about their documents, including visas, weapons permits and authorizations to drive certain routes, the report said.Although no formal charges have been filed, the detentions have lasted from a few hours to nearly three weeks, the paper noted.Last month, two Americans, a Fijian and 12 Iraqis employed by Triple Canopy, a private security company, were detained for 18 days after their convoy from Kalsu, south of Baghdad, to Taji, north of the capital, was stopped for what Iraqi officials said was improper paperwork, The Times said. One of the Americans, Alex Antiohos, 32, a former Army Green Beret medic who served in the Iraq war, said in a telephone interview that he and his colleagues were kept at an Iraqi army camp. He said they fed insect-infested plates of rice and fish, forced to sleep in a former jail, and were verbally threatened by an Iraqi general, according to the report.“At times, I feared for my safety,” Antiohos is quoted as saying. Just after the last U.S. troops left, the Iraqis stopped issuing and renewing many weapons licenses and other authorizations held by contractors, the paper noted. The restrictions led to a sequence of events in which contractors were being detained for having expired documents that the government would not renew, The Times said. Read the full story here.

• The End of SOPA (At Least in its Current Form): Congress Shelved SOPA, Putting Off Action on the Bill.(SHTF).Misguided efforts to combat online privacy have been threatening to stifle innovation, suppress free speech, and even, in some cases, undermine national security. As of yesterday, though, there’s a lot less to worry about. At issue are two related bills: the Senate’s Protect IP Act and the even more offensive Stop Online Piracy Act in the House, both of which are generated intense opposition from tech giants and First Amendment advocates. The first sign that the bills’ prospects were dwindling came Friday, when SOPA sponsors agreed to drop a key provision that would have required service providers to block access to international sites accused of piracy.The legislation ran into an even more significant problem yesterday when the White House announced its opposition to the bills. Though the administration’s chief technology officials officials acknowledged the problem of online privacy, the White House statement presented a fairly detailed critique of the measures and concluded, “We will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.” It added that any proposed legislation “must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet.”Until now, the Obama administration had not taken a position on the issue. The response was published yesterday as part of the online “We The People” petition initiative launched by the White House last year.Though the administration did issue a formal veto threat, the White House’s opposition signaled the end of these bills, at least in their current form.A few hours later, Congress shelved SOPA, putting off action on the bill indefinitely.The scariest part of the legislation, as Daisy points out above, is that due process would have been eliminated (just like in the NDAA), forcing internet providers, search engines and ad networks to simply shut down a web site(s) based on just the complaintant’s accusations, leaving those web site owners who were shut down to deal with the fallout with costly legal expenses and lengthy court battles.You may recall that in 2010 the government shut down 73,000 web sites in exactly this manner. Though the owners of the majority of the targeted sites were not technically infringing copyrights, some were linking to other sites that did, making them an accessory.Even more alarming is the ability, under legislation such as SOPA, of the government to control the flow of information across major internet providers. Articles or videos criticizing political figures or policies could easily be targeted, as they were in October of this year when the government moved to shut down rogue publishers of critical content .What it boils down to is that SOPA was an attempt to put the power of information back in the hands of an elite few who are rapidly losing the ability to control what the masses are reading, hearing and seeing. Alternative news and ‘extremist’ information was the target (and still is).While we applaud President Obama (yes, we agree with him on this move) for formally issuing a veto threat, we remain skeptical of his motivations. This being an election year, the last thing the President needs to be dealing with along with the economic crisis and tensions in the middle east, is the protests of millions of voters who would have undoubtedly taken to the streets when access to their favorite web sites like Youtube, Google, Facebook, and Twitter were shut down because of alleged SOPA violations.Moreover, we aren’t one bit convinced that this veto was done in the interests of free expression, as the administration may claim. In November, the President issued a similar veto threat about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which allows for the detention of American citizens determined to be threats to national security and public safety on the domestic (U.S.) battlefront. He flip-flopped on the issue just a couple of weeks later, and signed the bill into law over New Year’s weekend to complete silence from the mainstream media.It is our view that SOPA, in one form or another, will return with a vengeance.Hmmmm.......Brace yourselves for the Internet I.D. Card...........Incoming!Read the full story here.

• Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Aide: Iran to Use All Means to Defend Interests.(Fars). Speaking to reporters here in Tehran on Monday, Supreme Leader's Advisor for Military Affairs Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi pointed to a letter sent to Iran on the Strait of Hormoz, and noted that the strait is a strategic waterway both for global trade and global energy. Safavi further said Iran's coastal line is stretched from Iraqi Southeastern Al-Faw peninsula to Guatr in the Sea of Oman and for this very reason Iran can control and guarantee security of global energy in this region. An estimated 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes through the waterway. He added that Iran believes that security of this region should be established through collective measures. "If a danger is posed to Iran, we will use different political and other types of measures to defend our interests," Safavi underscores. Earlier today, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast confirmed receiving a US letter on the Strait of Hormoz, and underlined that Tehran is studying the message and will respond to it if necessary. The US letter follows threats by Iran last month to shut off the Strait of Hormuz - the world's most important oil shipping lane - if new US and EU sanctions over its nuclear program halted Iranian oil exports. The United States has said it would not allow Iran to block the Strait, calling it a "red line" for the US military. In response, Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami dismissed the US warning over the closure of the strategic strait, and stressed that powerful Iran acts on its own and never asks for anyone's permission to carry out what it desires. Iranian lawmakers and officials have recently warned enemies that Iran is entitled to the right to close the strategic oil lifeline as a defensive option against foreign invasion. "The closure of the Strait of Hormoz is not on the Islamic Republic of Iran's agenda (at present), but if threats against Iran come to trample upon the rights of our nation while others use the strait for exporting their oil, then Iran will be entitled to the right to close the Strait of Hormoz," member of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Taqi Rahbar told FNA late December. "The international conventions reserve such rights for the Islamic Republic of Iran as well," Rahbar underscored. The lawmaker, however, said, "For the time being, the Islamic Republic of Iran has not decided to close the strait, but this (closing the strait) depends on the conditions of the region." Hmmmmm.......After hearing Salami, Waiting now to hear from 'Baloni'.Read the full story here.

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it is committed to defense treaty with Syria.(AlArabiya).Following reports alleging its involvement in the violent repression of Syrian protestors, Iran’s government said it has not yet interfered in the situation in Syria, but stressed its commitment to the joint defense treaty to which Iran and Syria are signatory. Iran has viewed what is happening in Syria as a domestic affair, but it will definitely interfere in case a foreign attack in launched on Syria, a source from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) told Al Arabiya on condition of anonymity.The source added that, according to preliminary estimates, the situation in Syria is “good” till now.“Our brethren in Syria see the same thing and expect the crisis to be resolved within two months or so,” the source said.The source pointed out that Syria is different from other countries that witnessed protests in the sense that it is surrounded by supporters from all sides.“We and our brethren in Iraq and Lebanon are protecting Syria,” the source explained in a clear reference to Nouri al-Malikil’s government and Hezbollah, both allies of Iran.Despite reports stating that so far the situation in Syria is “stable,” the IRGC, the source pointed out, is still worried of a division or a coup in the Syrian army.According to American officials who believe the IRGC is taking part in the fight against Syrian opposition, Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, commander of IRGC al-Quds Force, which specializes in operations outside Iran was in Damascus this month.Read the full story here.

• Anti-Israel hackers strike El Al, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange websites.(JPost).Hours after anti-Israel hackers said they would strike the websites of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and El Al, both sites were taken offline overnight on Monday.The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange website made a swift recovery and was back online by Monday morning, but the El Al website remained unavailable into the morning.The prominent hacker 0xOmar, who has been at the forefront of an Internet assault on Israel, and who released tens of thousands of Israeli credit card numbers last month, sent an email to The Jerusalem Post before the attack.He said he had been joined by a hacking team called "Nightmare." The new group "promised to take down" the two websites by morning, he added.El Al released a statement saying it was aware that "a cyber war has been waged against the State of Israel for two weeks. El Al is closely monitoring the activities of the Saudi hacker [0xOmar]." El Al said steps being taken to fortify its official website "could cause disruptions to the website's activities." Both websites supply key information to members of the public, and their attack represents an escalation in the web war being waged against Israel.The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange confirmed it was targeted and said it was subject to a denial of service attack (DoS), in which a server is flooded with hits, making it unavailable to other users.TASE said its technicians were working to ensure its website would be fully operational on Monday.Meanwhile, a Jewish pro-Israel hacker named Hannibal published information enabling web users to break into the accounts of 20,000 Arab Facebook users.Hannibal said he held information that would allow for the breaking in to 10 million Iranian and Saudi bank accounts, and threatened to cause billions of dollars worth of damages.Hamas on Sunday also called for an escalation of Internet hacking against Israel, saluting Arab programmers who have managed to infiltrate Israeli computer systems.Read the full story here.

• Costa Concordia Disaster - Rescue Workers Search Desperately for Survivors.(Spiegel).By Julia Stanek. The death toll in the Costa Concordia disaster has risen to six after a body was found early on Monday. Sixteen people are still missing. Rescue workers described the treacherous conditions aboard the ship, which is lying on its side off the Italian island of Giglio.The passageways of the Costa Concordia are said to be as dark and damp as caves. The Italian rescuers who are searching the wrecked cruise ship for survivors know a lot about such environments. They belong to a special unit of the fire department that apply mountain-rescue techniques to water-based operations. On Sunday, they managed to rescue three people from their cabins, including a Korean couple on their honeymoon who were found trapped in a room. On Monday, the death toll from the accident rose to at least six people after the body of an adult male passenger was found just before dawn. More than 60 were injured, and 16 people are still missing on Monday. The ship, which had around 4,200 passengers on board, struck a rock on Friday evening just hours after leaving the Italian port of Civitavecchia and is now lying on its side close to the island of Giglio. "The ship is now tilting at an angle of about 87 percent," Flavio Vescovio, an Alpine rescue specialist, told Spiegel online.Read and see the full story here.

• Google's arguments in Indian court provoke sharp remarks from judge.(NDTV).New Delhi: Google and Facebook argued in the Delhi High Court today that there is no way for them to screen content before it is posted online. Both companies are among 21 whose executives have been summoned to appear in person in a lower court on March 13 for allegedly hosting obscene and objectionable content."It's easy for people to say you can use filters. If we were to block the word 'sex', for instance, all data on ration cards, passports etc. will get blocked in one go, as the word 'sex' figures in all this data," argued Google's lawyer, Neeraj Kishan Kaul. The company said that as a search engine, it leads to surfers to sites they're looking for. "The offending material belongs to the website, controlled by the owner of the website. Google has nothing to do with it," Mr Kaul added.  The legal trouble for companies including Orkut, Yahoo and YouTube is based on a petition filed by Vinay Rai, a Delhi resident who has pointed the court to obscene depictions that he found online of Hindu deities, the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus Christ. A Delhi court has suggested the executives of these 21 companies be tried for criminal conspiracy; the government has sanctioned their prosecution. The companies appealed against this in the High Court, which warned last week that like China, India can choose to ban these websites."There are serious issues regarding freedom of speech. We have this freedom in our country unlike a totalitarian regime like China. We are proud we have this freedom," said Mr Kaul on behalf of Google.Read the full story here.

• Zhirinovsky warns Putin against returning as president.(RN).Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky said on Monday that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin should decide against returning to the post of the country’s president as it is not accepted in the civilized world.“No one can be the head of the country for more than two terms. With the exception of Argentina, former presidents do not return to their posts as it is unbecoming and means that [he] does not want to give up his power,” Zhirinovsky said at a news conference.The populist firebrand and the leader of the ultra-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) said it would be harmful “when the very same person will be looking at us for six more years and telling us how we must live.”The 65-year old politician said the ruling tandem of Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev “will not give away their power to the opposition,” as they have an intention of keeping it until 2030.Zhirinovsky, running against Putin in the March 4 presidential election, said his campaign slogan will be “Zhirinovsky or it will be worse” and promised early elections to the Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, in May next year if he is elected president.“We support all the demands of the opposition of any kind. We promise to hold early elections in May next year,” he said.“Why did you not hit the streets after June 12, 1991, when [late Russian President Boris] Yeltsin did not gain the votes that were attributed to him?” he said adding that all the following elections in Russia were falsified and that is why “there is such a complete mess in the country.”LDPR garnered 12 percent in the December 4 disputed parliamentary election.Read the full story here.

• Gulf business in Egypt brings with it sex trade.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: Marwa is 20-years-old. She protested in Tahrir, cheered when Hosni Mubarak left power and had a sense of hope for the future of Egypt and herself. Now, with January 25 in less than two weeks, she is angry, frustrated and in her own words, “hopeless.”She is one of many young Egyptian girls who has fallen victim to the massive influx of Gulf Arabs to the country since the ousting of Mubarak, who have come to the country for “tourism.”Marwa’s story is shocking and sad. She is blunt and doesn’t mince details, some too descriptive to reveal publicly.“I was out with my friends and I met a nice man. We spoke for a while and he asked if I wanted to come for a drink,” she told Bikyamasr.com. “I thought okay, why not? I can do that in this free country.”When she arrived back at the man’s hotel room, a Saudi national who she did not name threw himself on her, ripping her clothes off.“He raped me over and over again for hours. It was horrifying. I was in tears and didn’t know what to do. At the end of the night he gave me money and passed me off to a friend,” she continued.“Then his friend did the same thing and then another. I was there for days. They gave me money and said I was a prostitute and if I told the police they would say that.”Her repeatedly being raped gave her a new sense of determination to fight against the growing sex trade in the country, which has seen numerous young girls forced to work in dirty, unfinished flats, or go out with predominantly Gulf men for the evening.“They are forced into it because there are no means for them to speak out or get help,” she said.It is part of a growing trend of wealthy Arabs arriving in Cairo to “experience the local” society.Waleed Abdelrahman, a wealthy tourist operator in Cairo who helps Saudis and other Gulf Arabs find flats for their summer vacation, says he is inundated by Saudis for “the place to get the best girls.”“They don’t just come for the good weather and cheap living, that is for sure,” Abdelrahman revealed. “They are here because now that they can’t go to Europe due to a number of restrictions, they come to Egypt instead, because our society is more open and free.”He said that in the past decade or so, Egyptian nightclub owners have learned quickly how to cater to their Gulf clients.Abdelrahman says that while his agency, which he asked to remain anonymous, does not participate in the day-to-day affairs of their Saudi guests, he knows what goes on. And it is not to his liking.“They come here to party. Sometimes, when we clean up a flat at the end of the summer, it is a mess because all they do here is drink alcohol and trash the place. Let’s not forget the girls,” he said.According to the tourism operator, nightclubs will hire, often forcing, young women and girls to work as prostitutes for their Arab clients. He said that at the hotels, including the 5-star hotels in Cairo, “there are dozens of call girls waiting and prepared to be an escort for the night, or the entire time the Saudi men are here.”Very few people talk about what goes on, and the Egyptian government does little to address the issue of prostitution in the country. Tourism is one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners and the Gulf Arab influx in the summer months goes a long way to keep the industry booming.Dina Radwan, a 28-year-old aspiring writer, says that the desire for money by the Egyptian tourism industry is part of the “hypocrisy now flourishing in the country,” she told Bikyamasr.com.She argued that when the “Gulfies” come to Egypt, the same people who would be willing to throw a woman in jail for kissing someone on the street or pre-marital sex, are the same individuals “who support the prostitution” of girls and women.“They don’t care about anything except money and this is a main source of income for them during the year because the Saudis pay a lot of money for the girls,” she said.There are no statistics on prostitution in Egypt. It is a don’t ask don’t tell reality that Radwan says hundreds of women get involved in.“Often their families will get money for giving their girls away for the so-called ‘urfi [temporary] marriage to one of the rich Gulf businessmen. Nobody complains and the government turns a blind eye.”Now that the Saudis have their own flats, it will be easier to move for them and stay away from the gaze of police, said Abdelrahman.He believes that with so many Saudis owning property in the country, the police and military will not be able to do the little amount of cracking down that they had done in recent years.“The Saudis can simply pay them off and go to their own homes. There is nothing anyone can do until the tourism ministry takes it upon themselves to make this situation end. It is not good,” he added.But, for many, it is part of the business that earns millions of Egyptian pounds from their Saudi and Gulf guests.Read the full story here.

• Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood says no changes to tourism, alcohol and bikinis okay.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: Representatives from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) sent a message of reassurance to tour operators and foreign workers in the tourism sector, at a meeting on Sunday, pledging no changes or restrictions over beaches in the coming period.The party also asserted the freedom of the tourist to wear whatever clothes, including bikinis, and have full access to all types of food and beverages.The FJP took almost 45 percent of seats in recent parliamentary and was followed by the ultra-conservative Salafist al-Nour Party, which won around 20 percent of the seats.“The party regrets the decline in tourism and other economic activities as one of the repercussions of the January 25 revolution,” said Ahmed Suleiman, Chairman of the Tourism Committee of the party, during a meeting organized by the Business Association and attended by representatives of the FJP and foreign tour operators.He pointed out that the party would contribute to the redoubling of “the rates of tourism in the coming period,” and that the situation of tourism and its present conditions “would remain the same as before the revolution and this sector will not be subjected to any changes as long as the FJP is represented in the parliament.”Suleiman stressed the need to reactivate beach tourism as it is one of the “most popular aspects of tourism in Egypt.”He said the FJP is already speculating tourism numbers, “taking a number of measures including the establishment of a series of museums along the Nile Valley to boost the cultural tourism traffic.”He pointed out that monuments and statues currently in stores will be taken out and displayed in the order of dynasties, in each governorate of origin, respectively.He explained that the party`s vision is to make good use of nature reserves, medical and therapeutic tourism and conferences.At the same meeting, Ahmed el-Imam, a member of the “tourism boosting committee” of the FJP said the government, without mentioning the military junta by name, “is one of the main reasons afflicting tourism internally, and while Egypt has about 33 percent of the monuments of the world, the state is incapable of utilizing them in an optimum way,” saying that the party aims at bringing 25 million tourists annually in the upcoming years.Hmmmm.......Heeeeeelp we're broke, Mummies and pyramides first ?Read the full story here.

• Two Palestinians caught with 10 pipe bombs near checkpoint.(Ynet).Military Police forces working at the Salem checkpoint caught two Palestinians carrying 10 pipe bombs, a gun and several bullets. The bombs were dismantled and the Palestinians were turned over to security forces. An initial investigation suggests that the soldiers detected two Palestinians in their 20s approaching a checkpoint near the military court carrying two bags. After a check they discovered the contents of the bags."An investigation of the previous incident suggests that the suspects planned on carrying out a terrorist attack at the court," the battalion commander Lt. Col. Erez Raven said. "The other side is not familiar with our MOs which change from time to time and we raised our alert level in the past week. There were no terror threat alerts." The Salem Military Court is scheduled to discuss a hearing on the sentence of Amjad Awad, one of the murderers of the Fogel family. Read the full story here.

• Belgium: Muslim executive 'under control of foreign countries'.(IIE).Via HLN (Dutch):"Belgian Muslim bodies are definitively under the control of foreign countries. The Muslim Executive will now be led only by people who will prioritze the interests of their land of origin over those of Belgian Muslims," says the AMDB (Democratic Alternative of Belgian Muslims), who say they unite 'all components of the Muslim community' in Belgium.The general assembly of the Muslim Executive recently extended Semsettin Ugurlu's term as chairman, as well as a series of other positions. The Executive also passed a motion of no-confidence against the new members, and the three members of ADMB were excluded. AMDB says the general assembly orchestrated the illegal exclusion of the three active members who refused to comply with embassy-Islam policy."Just 11 of the 44 members of the general assembly were present. AMDB say that this way they passed the motion of no-confidence against the AMDB members who are 'known for their battle for a transparent, democratic Islam' which is not linked to any state intervention.The AMDB do not recognize the legality of the decision and its members intend to continue in their positions and sue the Muslim Executive in court.Read the full story here.

• Egypt’s “virginity tests” case postponed for third time.(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: An Egyptian military court on Sunday postponed the “virginity test” case filed by Samira Ibrahim against a military doctor, Ahmed Adel Mohammed, to a session on January 29. This is the third such postponement since the case was filed.The postponement came as a result of a request from the Doctors Union, who showed solidarity with the defendant and sent a delegation of lawyers to defend him, and asked the court to give time for them to review the case.Ibrahim filed a lawsuit against the doctor, who works at a military facility, and has accused him of forcing her to undergo a virginity test last March, when she and other female protesters were arrested in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during a sit-in and taken to a facility.The women were forced, in front of dozens of other soldiers, to take down their pants and allow a doctor to examine them. When Ibrahim asked for the procedure to be done in private, she was assaulted, Ibrahim said.The military court has been charged the doctor of committing a “crime against modesty,” and “negligence of the obedience of the military orders.”Rights groups have told Bikyamasr.com that by using these charges, it eases the crimes from felony by physical assault to indecent misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of no more than one year.Local groups have condemned the continued protection of the leaders and members of the armed forces from any accountability for crimes committed against civilians.Ibrahim described the decision to postpone her case as a “total mess and farce.”The lawsuit was filed by Ibrahim with the assistance of lawyers from the Hisham Mubarak Law Center and the Nadim Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture.Although dozens of young women were subjected to the tests on March 9, the 25-year-old Ibrahim is the only one who has spoken out about the incident and filed a lawsuit against the military rulers.Human Rights Watch interviewed Ibrahim and another victim, Salwa al-Hosseini, and reviewed the testimony of two others obtained by doctors at the Nadim Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture.All four concurred in their statements that on the morning of March 10, two officers went into the prison cell holding the 17 women and asked them who among them was married and who was not.“Then they told the seven of us that they were going to examine us to see if we were really virgins. They took us out one by one. When it was my turn they took me to a bed in a passageway in front of the cell.”“There were lots of soldiers around and they could see me. I asked if the soldiers could move away and the officer escorting me tasered me. The woman prison guard in plain clothes stood at my head and then a man in military uniform examined me with his hand for several minutes. It was painful. He took his time. It was clear he was doing it on purpose to humiliate me.”“I was beaten, electrocuted, and forced to strip naked in front of male officers,” Ibrahim told Human Rights Watch.The official complaint before the Administrative Court states that Ibrahim “was exposed to the ugliest forms of humiliation, torture and a violation of the sanctity of her body.”In a court hearing on October 25, the State Council lawyer denied this allegation and called for the dismissal of the case based on lack of evidence.The case, however strong in many corners of Egyptian society, received little local media coverage, angering and saddening Ibrahim.“It breaks my heart that international outrage over my case is stronger than that of my fellow Egyptians,” Ibrahim said.Violations against women are therefore hugely underreported in Egypt – one recent report from 2003 found that as many as 98 percent of rape and sexual assault cases are not reported to authorities.Read the full story here.

• Indonesia - 25 Volcanoes Showing Abnormal Activity: Presidential Aide.(JG).Padang, West Sumatra. Twenty-five volcanoes in Indonesia are now showing abnormal activity or have been put on alert or watch status, presidential special aide Andi Arief said here on Saturday. “According to official data, 25 volcanoes are now under alert or watch status and they must be given priority with regard to disaster mitigation planning at district or city levels,” he said at a workshop on journalists’ role in disaster management. He said in West Sumatra there were two volcanoes that need to be closely watched, namely Mount Marapi and Mount Talang, as they are still under alert status. Mount Marapi is located in Agam and Tanahdatar districts and rises 2891 meters above sea level, and Mount Talang (2597 meters above sea level) in Solok district was located around 40 kilometers from the provincial capital Padang. Apart from the two volcanoes, the government and regional disaster management agencies were also giving priority attention to Mount Papandayan in West Java, Mount Karangetan and Lokon in North Sulawesi, Mount Ijen in East Java, Mount Gamalama in North Maluku, Mount Krakatau in Banten and Lampung and Mount Lewoloto in East Nusa Tenggara. Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Fiji 5.2 !More info here.

• Obama blows off Congress: President says he won’t abide by spending bill he signed.(WT).BY Emely Miller.When the president of the United States signs a bill into law, it’s expected that he will abide by it. That’s not the case with President Obama, who has a sudden interest in novel legalistic interpretations getting him off the hook from laws he doesn’t like.On Friday, the president signed the $1 trillion omnibus spending bill, which funds the government for the remaining nine months of the fiscal year. Afterward, he released a statement saying he won’t abide by the law because the Justice Department had advised that certain provisions are “subject to well-founded constitutional objections.”House Speaker John A. Boehner’s spokesman Kevin Smith told The Washington Times, “This president used to condemn the type of signing statements he is now embracing to ignore the will of Congress and the American people.”One of the presidential pet peeves is that Capitol Hill put the kibosh on his czars. Those high-level White House appointments aren’t confirmed by the Senate but are central to implementing Mr. Obama’s liberal agenda. Lawmakers specifically blocked funding for salaries and offices for four of his nine czars: health care (who coordinates Obamacare), automobile industry (“car czar”), urban affairs and climate change.The president protested that defunding those positions “could prevent me from fulfilling my constitutional responsibilities, by denying me the assistance of senior advisers and by obstructing my supervision of executive branch officials.” Thus, he’s going to interpret the law as he sees fit.The commander in chief is opposed to new restrictions on foreign relations and national security, especially a new requirement that the defense secretary notify congressional appropriations committees in advance of military exercises that cost more than $100,000 for construction.Also at issue is a restriction on funding United Nations peacekeeping missions that put U.S. armed forces under the command or operational control of foreign nationals. Mr. Obama said he’s only going to apply those provisions he deems constitutional. The same flexibility with the law apparently will be enjoyed in relation to 14 separate provisions that limit foreign aid to certain governments.The president protested that “once again” he has been stopped from transferring terrorist detainees from the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, onto the U.S. mainland. He claimed this law could “violate constitutional separation of powers principles.” He vowed to interpret it to keep executive powers supreme and work to repeal the ban on bringing these dangerous outlaws stateside.On top of all this, Mr. Obama took umbrage at unnamed but “numerous” omnibus provisions that limit the executive branch from spending money without the approval of congressional committees. He wrote, “These are constitutionally impermissible forms of congressional aggrandizement in the execution of the laws.” The chief executive warned that his administration will notify the relevant committees in advance and listen to their recommendations, but “our spending decisions shall not be treated as dependent on the approval of congressional committees.”The American system of government is based on a separation of powers, not presidential fiat. Mr. Obama should abide by every word of the 1,200-page bill passed by Congress and signed by his own hand.Hmmmm.........Dictator.[dɪkˈteɪtə] n 1. (Government, Politics and Diplomacy)
  a. a ruler who is not effectively restricted by a constitution, laws, recognized opposition, etc.
  Read the full story here.

• Washington Times Writer Implies Obama a Domestic Enemy.(BN).Actually, Robert Knight's piece in the Washington Times calls Obama a 'Trojan Horse' president without mentioning the latter's name.I was thinking about writing a novel about what might happen if a man who hates America and wants to bring it down is somehow elected president. What would he do?
  I sketched out a few plot elements, and you can decide whether this will fly.
  First, the Trojan Horse president would initiate unprecedented spending, driving the debt up by more than $4 trillion just in the first three years. Much of the money would go into the pockets of political supporters and people who donate heavily to his campaigns.
  He would ram through an unreadable law allowing the federal government to seize the health care system, which would transform citizens into beholden subjects.
  He would cut out private lenders and federalize student loans.
  He would go on a world apology tour, letting America's friends and foes know that he is doing whatever he can to make sure America becomes a third-rate power and is brought to heel under a growing world government headed by the United Nations. While on the tour, he would praise Islam and denigrate America's Christian heritage.Read it all because there is much more. Under this 'fictional' scenario Knight lays out, the president to which he is referring warrants impeachment, a Senate trial, and removal from office. The part Knight doesn't get to in his novel idea, involves a hyper-partisan Congress that has essentially neutered itself and hasn't the political will to do the right thing thanks, in large part, to a president who possesses the nefarious ability to exacerbate division.By referring to a president of the United States, whether real or fictional, as a 'Trojan Horse,' Knight is essentially identifying such a president as a 'Domestic enemy.' Via the Tenth Amendment Center, here is the oath of office every member of Congress must take upon being sworn in:Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter: So help you God?The response is two words: 'I do.'If this hypothetical president were to succeed in destroying America, Congress would be to blame for allowing him to do so; it is the body that is responsible for dealing with any such reality. That leads me to the response then Republican whip, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) gave to a questioner in the audience at the Heritage Foundation on May 4, 2010.Cantor was asked what it would take for Obama to be defined as a 'domestic enemy.' His answer carries with it a very, very serious indictment of the legislative branch of government to which he belongs, if that answer was wrong.Read the full story here.

• Nameless terrorists kill nameless victims.(IsraelMatzav).In its continuing efforts to deny the reality of Islamic terrorism, the Obama administration issued the following statement on Christmas Day after Islamic terrorists murdered 39 Christians in Nigeria. "We condemn this senseless violence and tragic loss of life on Christmas Day. We offer our sincere condolences to the Nigerian people and especially those who lost family and loved ones. We have been in contact with Nigerian officials about what initially appear to be terrorist acts and pledge to assist them in bringing those responsible to justice."The Zionist Organization of America commented: The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has expressed concern that President Barack Obama's official statement about this horrific massacre of Christians at three different churches by a group of Muslim terrorists mentions neither the Muslim perpetrators nor the Christian victims when clearly the intentional aim of the Islamist terrorists was to murder Christians at several churches. The attacks in Nigeria over the Christmas period resulted in the murder of 39 Christians and the maiming of dozens more, the majority of those killed dying on the steps of a Catholic church that was targeted as congregants were exiting following mass. The Nigerian terrorist assaults were perpetrated by the Boko Haram (meaning 'Western culture is forbidden') Islamist group, sometimes referred to as the 'Nigerian Taliban.' The Boko Haram has been responsible for the deaths of of 504 people this year alone.... The statement... gave literally no clue as to the Muslim identity of the perpetrators or to the fact that Christians were deliberately murdered.This avoidance of any mention of the Muslim identity and inspiration of various terrorists who have assaulted non-Muslims, including the United States, has been a worrying staple of President Obama. Presidential statements on the anniversaries of the 1983 killing of 242 U.S. servicemen in Lebanon by Hizballah or the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, both failed to mention the perpetrators of these acts. The U.S. report on the Fort Hood massacre of 13 U.S. soldiers by Islamist killer, Dr. Nidal Hassan, the was no reference to either Hassan's Muslim identity or his adherence to jihadist doctrine.Obama Administration officials generally speak of particular terrorist attacks as being the work of isolated extremists, even when Islamist terrorist connections (for example, between Fort Hood sniper Nidal Hassan and the American-born Al-Qaida in Yemen leader, Anwar al-Awlaki, who advised him) were readily traceable. Also, the Administration has refused almost uniformly to refer to 'Islamism,' 'radical Islam' and 'jihad.' John O. Brennan, Obama's chief national security adviser for counterterrorism, has even explicitly refused to refer to 'jihad' of 'Islamists,' even though the doctrines of jihad and Islamism are the direct inspiration for the attacks in question. Brennan said, "describing our enemy in religious terms would lend credence to the lie propagated by al Qaeda and its affiliates to justify terrorism, that the United States is somehow at war against Islam ... Nor do we describe our enemy as jihadists or Islamists because jihad is holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam meaning to purify oneself of one's community."Hmmmm.........."I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."Read the full story here.

• SOPA is the end of us, say bloggers.(Politico).The conservative and liberal blogospheres are unifying behind opposition to Congress’s Stop Online Piracy Act, with right-leaning bloggers aruging their very existence could be wiped out if the anti-piracy bill passes.“If either the U.S. Senate’s Protect IP Act (PIPA) and the U.S. House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) become law, political blogs such as Red Mass Group [conservative] and Blue Mass Group [liberal] will cease to exist,” wrote a blogger at Red Mass Group.Some have asserted that the controversial measures would criminalize pages and blogs that link to foreign websites dedicated to online piracy. In particular, this has concerned search engines like Google, which could face massive liability if some form of the bill passes, some say.“Of course, restrictions of results provided by Internet search engines amount to just that: prior restraint of their free expression of future results. Google and others, under SOPA, are told what they can or can’t publish before they publish it. Kill. The. Bill,” conservative blogger Neil Stevens argued at RedState.Liberals had their own spin on it, cheering on the fact that corporate support for SOPA was starting to subside.In particular, GoDaddy, a domain registration firm, suffered a spectacularly bad round of PR when it came out in support of the measures. But after a grass-roots campaign to boycott the firm, driven by Reddit, an online community, and others, GoDaddy reversed course and renounced its support.“Some good news on the SOPA front: Its corporate base of supporters is starting to crumble,” David Dayden wrote at Firedoglake. “GoDaddy is not alone. Scores of law firms are requesting their names be removed from the Judiciary Committee’s official list of SOPA supporters.”In the blogosphere, the trajectory of the bill seemed set — that it is destined for failure if the pressure of the online community is kept up.“The dynamic is clear. Once SOPA — and its Senate counterpart, Protecting IP Act, or PIPA — became high-profile among the Internet community, the lazy endorsements from companies and various hangers-on became toxic. And now, those supporters are scrambling, hollowing out the actual support for the bill. Suddenly, a bill with ‘widespread’ corporate support doesn’t have much support at all,” Dayden said.Conservatives took a slightly different tact, though with similar disdain for the anti-piracy measures.Indeed, blogger Erick Erickson said that he would encourage a primary for any Republican who supports the bill.“I love Marsha Blackburn. She is a delightful lady and a solidly conservative member of Congress. And I am pledging right now that I will do everything in my power to defeat her in her 2012 reelection bid” due to her co-sponsorship for SOPA, Erickson wrote at RedState. “Congress has proven it does not understand the Internet. Perhaps they will understand brute strength against them at the ballot box. If members of Congress do not pull their name from co-sponsorship of SOPA, the left and right should pledge to defeat each and every one of them.”Read the full story here.

• EPIC Sues DHS Over Covert Surveillance of Facebook and Twitter.(Epic)(HT:Cryptogon). EPIC has filed a Freedom of information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to force disclosure of the details of the agency's social network monitoring program. In news reports and a Federal Register notice, the DHS has stated that it will routinely monitor the public postings of users on Twitter and Facebook. The agency plans to create fictitious user accounts and scan posts of users for key terms. User data will be stored for five years and shared with other government agencies.The legal authority for the DHS program remains unclear. EPIC filed the lawsuit after the DHS failed to reply to an April 2011 FOIA request.Read the full story here.

• 'Palestinians' claim Obama 'administration' suggests releasing convicted terrorist to compete in elections.(IsraelMatzav).If this story is true, and unfortunately I suspect that it is, it shows just how low the Obama administration has sunk.Palestinian media are reporting based on Israeli sources (not reported yet in any Israeli media that I have seen) that the United States has 'suggested' to Israel that it release convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti (one of the 'heavy' terrorists that Israel refused to release in the 'terrorists for Gilad' deal) from jail so that Barghouti can compete in the 'Palestinian elections' against Hamas (link in Arabic). Barghouti is serving multiple life sentences for murder.The following is an untouched Google translation of the link.  Palestine Today - Gaza . Israeli sources said that the U.S. administration is concerned about the prospects for the victory of Hamas in Palestinian elections in the event of future conduct in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.The radio said, the occupation army from those sources that concern the U.S. is increasing in light of certain information received from Arab countries on the determination of the Palestinian president to leave office and not to run for president, opening the door to the Hamas victory, even in the presidential election and full control over the Palestinian situation.Meanwhile, Israeli sources said that the American delegation discussed the important role during the last few months and down with officials in Tel Aviv, the idea of releasing a member of the Central Committee of Fatah, Marwan Barghouti from prison so that the occupation of the movement's leadership in the face of Hamas in the upcoming elections.The sources pointed out that Netanyahu rejects the idea of releasing Barghouti, considering it an extension of the late Palestinian leader 'Yasser Arafat' where he helped the two together in planning to kill dozens of Israelis during the second intifada, according to those sources. The sources pointed out that many mediums, including an Israeli Knesset member Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and former Defense Minister Amir Peretz and some leaders of security agencies and Mossad, the former does not oppose the release of Barghouti, considering him one more Palestinian commitment to peace with Israel.If he ever had one, Barghouti no longer has any commitment to peace with Israel. Ben Eliezer and Peretz are both Labor party MK's who were both failures as Defense Minister (Peretz should never have gotten the job in the first place). And if Obama is willing to make an outrageous demand like this one during an election campaign, imagine what he will demand if God forbid he is reelected.Hmmmm.........."I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."Read the full story here.

• IDF strikes Gaza; Islamic Jihad operative killed.(Ynet).One terror operative was killed and 10 people were injured Tuesday in two IAF strikes in Gaza Strip. Shortly afterwards, a Qassam rocket was fired from northern Gaza at Israel. The projectile exploded on the Palestinian side of the border.The PA's Maan news agency reported that an Israeli military aircraft targeted a car driving in the center of Gaza City on Tuesday night, injuring at least eight people, who were rushed to the Strip's Shifa Hospital. Two of the injured are said to be in critical condition. The IDF said that IAF aircrafts targeted a World Jihad terror cell gearing to execute a terror attack on the Israel-Egypt border. According to the military, the cell included former Hamas operative Rami Daud Kufarneh, and Hazam Saadi al-Shuker, also a former Hamas operative.Earlier Tuesday, Palestinian sources in Gaza said that an Islamic Jihad operative was killed and two other people were injured in an IAF strike in the Strip's north.  The IDF confirmed that a Gaza terror cell was targeted as part of the joint IDF-Shin Bet operation. According to the report, Abdulla Talbani, an al-Quds Brigades operative, was killed while riding his motorcycle in a northern neighborhood in Gaza. The injured were rushed to the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. "The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israelis and IDF soldiers and will continue to operate against any element which exercises terror against Israel," a military statement said.Tensions in the southern sector are high: Egyptian border patrol officers fired at smugglers trying to cross over to Israel on Monday night. The exchange took place as IDF forces were patrolling the sector, leading to initial reports suggesting that the Israeli troops had come under fire.The incident was quickly determined as one confined on the Egyptian side of the border. Read the full story here.

• Iran: no oil will be allowed to pass through Strait if West applies sanctions.(AlArabiya).No oil will be permitted to pass through the key oil transit Strait of Hormuz if the West applies sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, Iranian Vice President Ali Rahimi warned on Tuesday.The threat was reported by the state news agency IRNA as Iran conducted navy wargames near the Strait of Hormuz, at the entrance of the oil-rich Gulf.“If sanctions are adopted against Iranian oil, not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Rahimi was quoted as saying.“We have no desire for hostilities or violence ... but the West doesn’t want to go back on its plan” to impose sanctions, he said.“The enemies will only drop their plots when we put them back in their place,” he said.The threat underlined Iran's readiness to target the narrow stretch of water along its Gulf coast if it is attacked or economically strangled by Western sanctions.However, Gulf OPEC delegates told Reuters that Iran would harm itself if it disrupts the flow of oil from the Strait of Hormuz,.“If they do shut down Hormuz this would harm Iran’s exports not only the Gulf producers,” said a Gulf OPEC delegate.Another delegate added that Iran would be “shooting itself in the foot” if it does go ahead with the threat. “For now any move in the oil price is short term, as I don’t see Iran actually going ahead with the threat,” the second OPEC delegate added. More than a third of the world’s tanker-borne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.The United States maintains a navy presence in the Arabian Gulf in large part to ensure that passage remains free.Iran is currently carrying out navy exercises in international waters to the east of the Strait of Hormuz.Ships and aircraft dropped mines in the sea Tuesday as part of the drill, according to a navy spokesman.Although Iranian wargames occur periodically, the timing of these is seen as a show of strength as the United States and Europe prepare to impose further sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors.The last round of sanctions, announced in November, triggered a pro-regime protest in front of the British embassy in Tehran during which Basij militia members overran the mission, ransacking it.London closed the embassy as a result and ordered Iran’s mission in Britain shut as well.Hmmmm.......What would be the result of a nuke in the Strait of Hormuz?Read the full story here.

• Are the French enemies of Islam?(HurriyetDaily).By Burak BEKDİL.Borrowing the phrase from a wire service, “Turkey told France to block the genocide bill, or else.” France has chosen “else.” And hell broke loose – ironically, in Turkey, not in France. The first set of deadly blows came from the state football betting company, which displaced French games from its regular list of bets, and from the mayor of Ankara, Melih Gökçek, who promised to erect an Algerian massacre/genocide monument right across the French Embassy compound in Ankara. Mr. Gökçek should think twice, or else half of Turkey’s diplomatic missions across the world may have to face Armenian genocide monuments soon. As for the betting blow, hats off to the creative Turkishness. Not even the devil could have thought about such a punishing sanction. Poor French... With the de-listing of their football games on Turkish betting sites, they may soon lose their G-7 membership.And Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek prophesied that “those countries who recognize Armenian genocide will one day come one by one and apologize to the superpower-to-be Turkey.” If that is a good guess, why panic? Why play the offended boy who fetches his football and threatens never to play with the neighborhood lads? Cool down, honorable ministers, and just wait for the day when the world will queue up to apologize to you.And according to Labor Minister Faruk Çelik, “if the French King Francois lived today he would have chopped off [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy’s tongue.” Chopping one’s tongue off in the 21st century? That may be a socially acceptable practice in some parts of the world in 2011, but certainly not in Mr. Sarkozy’s France. Watch out, Minister Çelik, you are unwillingly revealing your cultural/political codes.But, as always, the super-hero of all Turkish super-heroes in the most trendy Turkish pastime “who hates Sarkozy/the French the most” was Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who accused Sarkozy/the French for “enmity against Muslims.” Are Sarkozy and the French enemies of Islam because the French Parliament (not yet the Senate) passed a bill that criminalizes the denial of Armenian genocide? A plausible answer to that question should not require hundreds of tiring scientific tests and research. Just look around the “Muslim world,” Mr. Erdoğan, and you can see for yourself. How many Muslim countries officially and/or publicly condemned and retaliated against the Danish cartoons which Muslims deemed were hostile to their faith? Ah, yes, so many. And how many countries officially and/or publicly condemned and retaliated against the French Parliament’s decision to make genocide denial a crime? None, other than Turkey. Will Muslim Syria, Mr. Erdoğan’s ex-love affair, for example, impose sanctions on France because of that bill? Will Egypt, Mr. Erdoğan’s new love affair, do so? Pakistan? Libya? Iraq? Saudi Arabia? Tunisia? The Arab League? Indonesia? Or why did the president of the mullah regime in Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pay a heartfelt state visit to Yerevan on the same day when the French Parliament passed the bill that criminalizes the denial of a Muslim (and caliphate, too!) genocide against Christians? Is Iran not a Muslim country? Are the Shiite Muslims collaborating with the enemies of Islam? To sum it up, Mr. Erdoğan should explain why over 99 percent of the Muslim world does not view Sarkozy/the French as enemies of Islam because their Parliament passed the genocide denial bill.Mr. Erdoğan can always find those answers in another Muslim vs. Christian dispute in which Turkey remains the solitary Muslim player: Cyprus. Why would, Mr. Erdoğan should think, not a single Muslim country, other than Turkey, recognize the Turkish Cypriot statelet? Where is the Muslim solidarity?Too many questions... But they ought to be asked. And there are even more – coming Friday. Read the full story here.

• Shariah was made for man.(HurriyetDaily).By Mustafa Akyol. As Islamist parties emerge victorious from Arab ballots, some are having second thoughts about the Arab Spring. The widespread concern is that post-dictatorial Middle Eastern states will turn into illiberal democracies rather than liberal ones. And while the threat of illiberal democracy is valid for any late-democratizing country – just look at Mr. Vladimir Putin’s Russia – the Middle East bears an additional and unique risk: Islamic law, or the shariah, which might imply corporal punishments for criminals, degradation of women, and persecution of perceived impiety, blasphemy or apostasy.In the face of this risk, a remedy is often hoped for in the power of pragmatism. For example, Egypt’s triumphant Freedom and Justice Party, an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood, will ruin the country’s tourism industry if it bans alcohol. Incumbent Islamists who will have to deliver to their people will face such challenges, the hope goes, and be forced to soften some of their rigid standards.Besides pragmatism, however, there is another source that the more progressive Islamists such as Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda, seem willing to utilize for modernizing their future vision: simply a non-literalist approach to the shariah, which will focus on its “intents” rather than the medieval means that were used to serve those intents.The basis for this non-literal approach goes back to Imam Shatibi, a scholar from 14th-century Muslim Spain. In his magnum opus, “Higher Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law,” Shatibi studied the whole shariah carefully, and concluded that all its decrees could be rendered as the protection of five fundamental values: life, religion, property, progeny and reason.If these intents (maqasid) of Islamic law are taken as its ever-valid content, but the means of these intents are allowed to vary according to time and milieu, as some theologians suggest, then there opens ample ground for reform. Corporal punishments, for example, can be explained as resulting from historical necessity: In seventh-century Arabia, there were neither any correctional facilities nor any bureaucracy to run them. But now we live in a different world.Or the seemingly misogynistic sayings of Prophet Muhammad, such as his advice that women should not travel alone, can be explained as reasonable precautions in his historical context: In seventh-century Arabia, an unprotected woman wandering in the desert would easily fall prey to brigands. In the modern world, however, both law enforcement and means of travel have improved immensely – and therefore the Saudi ban on women’s driving can be declared absurd.These fundamentalists who disregard these nuances do not realize that their blind literalism could lead them to follow the letter of the law, but betray its intents. For example, the Quranic requirement to bring four witnesses to prove an accusation of adultery, whose explicit purpose is to protect women from libel, could turn into a protection for rapists in Pakistan. Western civilization is familiar with a version of this problem from its own canon: The frequent criticism that Jesus brings in the New Testament to the Pharisees, a conservative and literalist Jewish sect of that time, is very relevant. The Pharisees, Jesus noted, were obsessing about the minute details of religious law but leaving undone “the weightier matters of law” such as “justice, and mercy, and faith.” “The Sabbath was made for man,” Jesus also proclaimed, turning the Pharisee mindset upside down, “and not man for the Sabbath.”The future of freedom in Islamic civilization partly lies in a similar insight – that the shariah was made for man, and not man for the shariah. Luckily, the sources that will help nurture that insight are more abundant in Islamic tradition than what is often thought.Read the full story here.

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MFS - The Other News

                    Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Japan 5.0   !More info here.

• Obama’s $4 Million Hawaii Vacation.(Heritage).President Obama had hoped to be in Hawaii today for the start of his 17-day Christmas vacation. Instead, he’s stuck in Washington until Congress finishes its work for the year. But in the Aloha State, residents are already abuzz about the first family’s trip — and its high price tag.Figures obtained by Hawaii Reporter reveal the trip is expected to run taxpayers about $4 million. It has already cost taxpayers about $100,000 extra just so first lady Michelle Obama and the president’s daughters, Sasha and Malia, could leave Friday before the president, according to White House Dossier.Hawaii Reporter’s comprehensive breakdown uses government data to calculate travel, housing, hotel and local costs. Hawaii Reporter research shows the total cost for the President’s visit for taxpayers far exceeded $1.5 million in 2010 — but is even more costly this year because he extended his vacation by three days and the cost for Air Force One travel has jumped since last assessed in 2000. In addition, Hawaii Reporter was able to obtain more specifics about the executive expenditures.The total cost (based on what is known) for the 17-day vacation roundtrip vacation to Hawaii for the President, his family and staff has climbed to more than $4 million.White House press secretary Jay Carney was asked about the vacation’s cost at a briefing last week. He dodged questions about Michelle Obama’s desire to travel separately from the president.Hmmm...."We feel your pain"?Read the full story here.

• Senior MP: Oil Sanction against Iran Means Closure of Strait of Hormuz.(Fars).TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian lawmaker warned the western countries against the consequences of banning Iran's oil sales, saying that Tehran will not allow even a single barrel of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if the West boycotts Iranian crude supplies. "According to the international laws, including Paragraph 4 of Article 14 of the Geneva Convention, in case Iranian oil is sanctioned, we will not allow even a single barrel of oil to pass through to reach the hostile countries," Isa Jafari told FNA on Sunday. He reiterated that enemies, specially the US, should know that the Strait of Hormuz which is the world's energy bottleneck is controlled by Iran and based on their own estimates by 2020 a daily volume of over 35 million barrels of oil will pass through this waterway. The US, Israel and Britain are pressuring the European Union to ban oil imports from Iran while many EU member states are on the verge of bankruptcy and cannot tolerate any higher oil prices. In relevant remarks earlier this week, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had also dismissed oil sanctions against Iran by the EU and other western countries, saying the world is in dire need of Iranian oil supplies. "Imposing sanctions on Iranian oil is not a wise move, and the market would pay a high price for it," Qassemi said, explaining that there will be no replacement for Iranian oil in the market. "I believe Iranian oil has a unique place in the market, and in terms of its volume and quality there is no replacement for it." Despite recent talk about imposing sanctions on Iranian oil, European Union members have failed to reach a consensus in this regard. With some EU members heavily dependent on Iranian oil, a European boycott of Iran's energy sector looks impossible. While there has been mention of Saudi Arabia selling more crude oil in the possible absence of Iranian oil, Qassemi indicated that "the Saudi Oil Minister has completely rejected such an approach." Qassemi said his Saudi counterpart has vowed that if the western, specially the European, states ban Iranian oil imports, Riyadh would not replace Tehran as their source of crude supplies. Read the full story here.

• House GOP Revolts Over Senate Payroll Tax Bill.(BigGovernment).WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday that he opposes a Senate-approved bill that extends a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for just two months and said congressional bargainers need to write a new version that would last an entire year.As if to suggest other changes he would like in the legislation, the Ohio Republican mentioned a provision that would block Obama administration anti-pollution rules and “reasonable reductions in spending” that were in a House-passed version of the payroll tax bill that the Senate ignored.Boehner’s comments came a day after House Republicans used a conference call to complain bitterly about the Senate bill, putting House passage in serious jeopardy.House Republicans dislike the Senate bill for many reasons, including its lack of what they consider real spending cuts and its removal of restrictions on Obama administration rules. Others are unhappy about extending unemployment benefits or oppose cutting the payroll tax, which is used to finance the Social Security system.“It’s pretty clear I and our members oppose the Senate bill,” Boehner said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. He added, “I believe two months is just kicking the can down the road.”House leaders have scheduled a vote on the bill for Monday.The bill would force President Barack Obama to make a decision in the next two months on whether to build the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The president had initially said he would postpone a decision on the 1,700-mile-long pipeline until after next year’s elections and threatened to kill the payroll tax bill if it included the pipeline provision. But he backed off this week as the Senate payroll compromise took shape.Republicans strongly support the pipeline, which is supposed to pump oil from Alberta, Canada, to Texas, for the thousands of jobs it is expected to create. Unions favor the plan but environmentalists oppose it, forcing Obama to choose between two Democratic constituencies.The Senate bill says Obama can reject the pipeline only if he decides building it would not be in the national interest.Hmmmm......Merry Christmas?Read the full story here.

• Egypt’s richest Library set on Fire.(DPNews).CAIRO- The 213-year-old Egyptian maps and historical manuscripts -- described as "irreplaceable" -- were destroyed after a library in Cairo was set ablaze during the clashes, Egyptian officials said Sunday. A fire that engulfed the building of the historic Egyptian Scientific Institute on Saturday morning has been extinguished. The extent of the damage has not yet been determined. The fire started on the lower floors of the building, which is on Qasr al-Aini Street in central Cairo, but later reached the higher floors. The firemen, who arrived very late at the site, could not initially control the fire. State news agency MENA said that firemen eventually managed to control it, but state TV reported that the fire damaged the whole building and all of its collections. The building is adjacent to the Shura Council building, and both MENA and state TV accused protesters of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the institute. Eyewitnesses were reported to have seen protesters throwing a Molotov cocktail at stone-throwing soldiers at the Shura Council building, but the projectile missed the intended target and instead landed in the Egyptian Scientific Institute. The website of Youm7 newspaper alleged that a protester was set on fire after trying to set the building on fire. No other source confirmed this news. Hmmm....."Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen." ("That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people also.") ~ Heinrich Heine.Read the full story here.

• Russian Oil rig sinks, more than 50 feared dead.(Yahoo).MOSCOW (Reuters) - A drilling rig with 67 crew on board capsized and sank off Russia's far eastern island of Sakhalin on Sunday while being towed through a winter storm, leaving more than 50 dead or missing in the icy Sea of Okhotsk.Emergency officials said the crew of an icebreaker and tugboat rescued 14 workers alive from the jack-up rig, the 'Kolskaya', which was operated by a Russian offshore exploration firm. They recovered four bodies from the water."The Kolskaya keeled to its side ... and sank within 20 minutes. The depth of the water at the site is 1,042 metres (3,400 feet)," Russia's federal water transport agency said on its website.Four of the survivors, suffering from hypothermia, were airlifted by helicopter to land and taken to hospital after the disaster struck at 12:45 p.m. (0145 GMT).The rest of the crew were missing, 200 km (125 miles) off the coast of remote Sakhalin island. The water temperature was one degree Celsius (33.8 Fahrenheit), giving survivors around 30 minutes before freezing to death, according to maritime and rescue websites.Three rescue craft, as well as helicopters, were sent to scour the waters for survivors from the rig owned by Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka (AMNGR), a unit of state-owned Zarubezhneft."There is no ecological danger. The vessel was carrying the minimum amount of fuel as it was being tugged by two craft," said a spokesman for AMNGR.The incident was a blow to efforts by Russia, the world's largest energy producer, to step up offshore oil and gas exploration to stave off a long-term decline in onshore production.The jack-up rig, which has three support legs that can be extended to the ocean floor while its hull floats on the surface, was heading from Kamchatka to Sakhalin when it overturned in stormy conditions with a swell of up to 6 metres."(President) Dmitry Medvedev has ordered all necessary assistance be provided to the victims of the drilling platform accident and has ordered a probe into the circumstances of the loss of the platform," the Kremlin said. The Emergencies Ministry said it would work through Sunday night.Winter often lasts 220-240 days in the waters off Sakhalin, where the main companies operating are ExxonMobil, Gazprom, and Royal Dutch Shell. They produce oil and gas, sometimes in icebound conditions, for export largely to Asian markets.Sakhalin-2, in which Shell and Mitsui also have stakes, produces 10 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas at Russia's only LNG plant in the port of Prigorodnoye for export to Asia, much of it to Japan.Read the full story here.

• Vaclav Havel, Dissident Playwright Who Led Czechoslovakia, Dead at 75.(NYT).Vaclav Havel, the writer and dissident whose eloquent dissections of Communist rule helped to destroy it in revolutions that brought down the Berlin Wall and swept Havel himself into power, died on Sunday. He was 75.His assistant, Sabina Tancevova, said that Mr. Havel died at his country house in northern Bohemia. A Czech embassy spokesman in Paris, Michal Dvorak, said in a statement that Mr. Havel, a heavy smoker for decades who almost died during surgery for lung cancer in 1996, had been suffering from severe respiratory ailments since last spring. A shy yet resilient, unfailingly polite but dogged man who articulated the power of the powerless, Mr. Havel spent five years in and out of Communist prisons, lived for two decades under close secret-police surveillance and endured the suppression of his plays and essays. He served 14 years as president, wrote 19 plays, inspired a film and a rap song and remained one of his generation’s most seductively nonconformist writers. All the while, he came to personify the soul of the Czech nation. His moral authority and his moving use of the Czech language cast him as the dominant figure during Prague street demonstrations in 1989 and as the chief behind-the-scenes negotiator who brought about the peaceful transfer of power known as the Velvet Revolution, a revolt so smooth that it took just weeks to complete, without a single bullet fired. He was chosen as democratic Czechoslovakia’s first president — a role he insisted was more duty than aspiration — and after the country split in January 1993, he became president of the Czech Republic. He linked the country firmly to the west, clearing the way for the Czech Republic to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999 and the European Union five years later. Both as a dissident and as a national leader, Mr. Havel impressed the West as one of the most important political thinkers in Central Europe. Political ideas, not economics, interested him. His country, widely considered to have made a smooth transition from Communism to market democracy, came in for his devastating critique in December 1997, when he attacked corruption and the sell-off of government-run industries in a thinly veiled barb at his political nemesis, the longtime prime minister — and now president — Vaclav Klaus. Expressing disdain for what had happened to Czech society under Mr. Klaus — an ally of convenience in the days of the 1989 revolution — Mr. Havel told parliament that a “post-Communist morass” had allowed “the most immoral people” to achieve financial success at the expense of others. Mr. Klaus, a right-wing maverick who espouses the untrammeled capitalism Mr. Havel disliked, succeeded Mr. Havel as president in 2003. On Sunday, Mr. Klaus paid tribute to Mr. Havel, calling him “the symbol of the new era of the Czech state.” While many in the West worshiped Mr. Havel — President Bill Clinton once compared him to Gandhi — in his native country he was regarded with deep affection but also ambivalence, and even scorn. His slogan during the revolution that truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred was mocked by foes, who accused him of naïveté. Read the full story here.

• Don’t Be Fooled: The Horrible Anti-Internet Bill Is NOT Being Shelved Until Next Year.(Washingtonsblog).The Committee Members Who Support SOPA Sneakily Changed the Hearing Date to December 21st, Trying to Trick the American People Into Thinking It Was Over Until After the Holidays So We Won’t Fight Back!News reports initially said that the despicable anti-Internet bill – SOPA – has been delayed until next year. As Huffington Post notes:

After two days of debate, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) abruptly halted a key hearing on the Stop Online Piracy Act, postponing a Committee vote on the bill until 2012. The move marks a win for hordes of internet activists who oppose the bill, but gives lawmakers another opportunity to juice deep-pocketed corporations for campaign contributions.“This is a huge victory for everyone who uses the Internet — and proof that millions of people speaking out can still make a difference in a Congress usually run by corporate lobbyists,” said Aaron Swartz, co-founder of Reddit and Demand Progress, an organization that has staunchly opposed the bills for months.“It is good news,” said Sherwin Sie, deputy legal director Public Knowledge, a non-profit group opposing the bill. “The last thing you want is to get something like this rushed through at the last minute while people are trying to do something else. That’s been the message of SOPA opponents throughout. What’s the big rush?”

But Tech Dirt gives the following update:

Update…. Or not. Despite the fact that Congress was supposed to be out of session until the end of January, the Judiciary Committee has just announced plans to come back to continue the markup this coming Wednesday. This is rather unusual and totally unnecessary. But it shows just how desperate Hollywood is to pass this bill as quickly as possible, before the momentum of opposition builds up even further.Hmmmm.....Every Bill in the past that was bad for the American people had been passed during the Christmas period......Be warned!Read the full story here.

• It’s Time to “Occupy the Dream:” African-American Faith Community Joins Forces with Occupy Wall Street – First Day of Action on MLK Day, Jan 16 at Federal Reserve Banks.(WB).Members of the African-American faith community have joined forces with Occupy Wall Street to launch a new campaign for economic justice inspired by the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Faithful to its philosophical origin, the “Occupy the Dream” coalition has called for a National Day of Action on Martin Luther King Day – Monday, January 16, 2012 – when they will “Occupy the Federal Reserve,” in multiple cities nationwide, focusing attention on the gross injustice visited upon the 99% by the financial elite. This will be the first of many actions leading up to a mass gathering in Washington D.C., to be held April 4 – 7, when millions will unite in celebration of the life and legacy of Dr King.Hmmmm......Play the Race card?Read and see the full story here.

• Full-Speed Ahead for Obama-Sanctioned ‘Taliban Embassy’ in Qatar.(BigPeace).Qatar: host to the US military, al-Jazeera, the Muslim Brotherhood– and now, the world’s first Taliban embassy– at the behest of the Obama administration.On his Facebook page, Big Peace contributor Walid Phares brought my attention to a report in the Pakistani website The Nation that Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, the premier of US ally Qatar, is prepared to open an embassy for the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”– otherwise known as the Taliban. He said, “A solution in Afghanistan requires the participation of the Taliban in a way that must be decided by the Afghans.”An office of the self-styled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would be the first internationally recognized representation for the Taliban since it was ousted from power by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001…. Western diplomats have said it is hoped the opening of a Taliban office would push forward the prospect of talks intended to reconcile insurgents with the Afghan government and end the decade-long war.This story was first reported around the time of the 9/11 anniversary and it’s not a surprise that Obama himself downplayed the news. As The Australian wrote in September: THE US has given its blessing for the Taliban to be brought in from the cold with a critical step towards reconciliation as the world paused to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. "Washington has endorsed plans for the Islamist network to open political headquarters in the gulf state of Qatar by the end of the year. The move has been devised so the West can begin formal peace talks with the Taliban."In addition to being home to In his post, Dr. Phares reminds us that Qatar is the address of al-Jazeera, the Muslim Brotherhood’s most influential figure, Yusef al-Qaradawi, his website OnIslam.net and his popular al-Jazeera tv show, “Shariah and Life”: The Qatari regime, funding power behind al Jazeera, which expresses [the] Muslim Brotherhood agenda, is calling for the recognition of the Taliban and will be opening an embassy for the Taliban regime. It was reported that the US Administration has encouraged Qatar to engage in this direction. Note that the United States is at war with the Taliban and considers it as a terrorist organization. Taliban and their allies of al Qaeda have killed thousands of US civilians and military.”Read the full story here.

• US Congress may restrict aid to Egypt- Camp David Peace Accords with Israel condition to receiving further aid .(BikyaMasr).CAIRO: The United States Congress may restrict aid to Egypt, as part of a $53.3 billion bill set to restructure US foreign aid.As a state of political chaos unravels through Egypt’s post-Mubarak transition to democratic rule, Congress has moved to reconsider the $1.3 billion in security service funding it gives to the Egyptian military annually.Under the terms of the bill, $250 million in US economic assistance for Egypt would also be blocked for review.The funds would be released when the secretary of state assures Congress that Egypt is obeying the 1979 Camp David Peace Accords with Israel, and supporting a transition to a civilian-led government in Egypt by “implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association and religion and due process of law.”“In a difficult economic and political climate, this bill meets our national security needs and global responsibilities while implementing tough restrictions and requirements on recipients of US assistance,” said Rep. Nita Lowey.The Republican-backed bill was passed in the House of Representatives on Friday, and will be up for a Senate vote this weekend. It comes amid efforts to cut the United State’s budget deficit, as Republicans push to reduce overseas spending.The United States government has given Egypt an average of $2 billion in aid since 1979, the majority of which goes to the Egyptian military.In 2010, $1.3 billion went to the Egyptian forces. Another $1.9 million was allocated to help train the Egyptian military and bolster long-term cooperation between the United States and Egypt.The Obama administration requested the same amount of assistance for the 2011 fiscal year.The bill under debate devotes $3.1 billion in security assistance for United State’s ally Israel. It also restructures US foreign aid for Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority.Meanwhile, political violence in Egypt continues, as the military wages an attack on anti-government protesters for the third consecutive day, leaving at least 10 dead and nearly 400 injured, according to official Ministry of Health death tolls.Hmmmm.....Finally some common sense.Read the full story here.

• Bollywood actress Veena Malik reported missing after nude FHM photo scandal.(Mirror).There were fears today for the wellbeing of Bollywood actress Veena Malik after she was reported missing by her manager.The controversial Pakistani model and actress, who is suing FHM magazine after she claimed they doctored photos to make her look nude, has not been seen since yesterday morning.She had complained of feeling depressed, but also was the subject of death threats over the photos.Her manager Pratiek Mehta said he received a text from Malik saying she was ill and depressed.Mr Mehta said she had been filming a movie called Mumbai 125 Kilometers at Goregaon and was last seen leaving in a car after shooting had finished.He added: "I have been trying to reach her since yesterday, but have failed. I have approached the officials at Bandra police station and have sought help in finding the whereabouts of Veena."However, the police at Bandra said she had not officially been reported as a missing person..The film’s director Hemant Madhukar said: "Veena left after the pack-up yesterday (Friday) morning. In the afternoon, I received an SMS from her where she apologised for not being able to concentrate on the shooting, stating that she was disturbed."I called her immediately, but her number was not reachable. I have not been able to get in touch with her since.”Last week Malik was reported to have said the stress of the controversy had aged her 10 years.Referring to FHM India, the 33-year-old said: “I feel completely cheated. They've added 10 years to my age.”Malik, who appeared on Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother, created controversy earlier this month when FHM India published a nude picture of her on its cover.Read the full story here.

• Update - Missing Veena Malik wearing Burka secretly reaches Pakistan.(Timesofindia).According to sources, she arrived back for visa renewal to Lahore via Wagha border, where her friend Ashmit Patel had come to drop her. She had mysteriously disappeared from Mumbai where she was shooting for a film.Actress was in the heat of a storm for posing nude in the Indian edition of FHM magazine with only an ISI tattoo on her arm.She alleged that the magazine airbrushed out the thong she was wearing during the shoot.Sources said that she walked into Pakistan from the Wagah border on Friday, where some of her friends picked her up and left for an unknown destination, The Nation reported.She had come to India on a 45 days visa, which was about to expire and a couple of days back she was asked by the authorities to get the visa renewed.Her arrival in Pakistan went unnoticed because she was wearing a burqa and her passport carried her real name Zahida.Earlier, A missing person's case has been registered at the Bandra police station in Mumbai. Her manager Prateek said, "Even if she was planning to go home, Veena would have told me. I got a call from her at 5.30am on Friday, but I couldn't speak to her. Post that I haven't been able to speak to her." But a source close to Veena is skeptical. "Really? I have no clue about this. From what I know she is in Mumbai." Sohail Rashid, Veena's manager in Pakistan, said, "Post the nude photo shoot incident, I too received abusive messages.Read the full story here.More here.

• Serious human rights violations committed by Egypt’s army.(Bikyamasr).More evidence has emerged documenting the ongoing crimes of Egypt's military.CAIRO: The Egyptian military has committed serious human rights crimes and violations against protesters, as more documentation of the violence emerges on social networking websites, showing video footage of harsh and excessive use of force against the protesters, including women and elderly people.Women have been beaten and stripped of their clothes, assaulted and threatened with rape prior to being detained.Activists say the military is escalating their violence and attacks. The number of missing people is increasing, as the death toll reached 10 on Saturday evening and the count of injured nears 400, according to official estimates from the Egyptian Ministry of Health.One woman in particular was seen in a video receiving a grave beaten by many soldiers. Her shirt snapped open, publicly reveling her skin and bra. She and a companion were running from the troops when she fell. Her companion tried to help her but received an equal beating. She was beaten with heavy wooden batons, and the soldiers in the video were seen kicking her in the chest. One soldier slammed his heavy army boots with tremendous power on the woman, who seemed to have passed out.The still image of the woman, bear chested in her bra and laying on the ground while a soldiers foot remains in the air, heading to her body, made headlines on Egypt’s press on Sunday and gave talk shows hosts and their guests much to talk about on Saturday night. Egyptians woke up to an unpopular fact– the military is not good for us. Newspapers like al-Tahrir enlarged the image, putting it as the headline of its front page.The military and the prime minister said the image is not real, calling it “Photoshopped.” Activists responded by releasing the whole video that shows the full reality of the beating.Another video showed an elderly woman with gray hair being dragged by four soldiers, with no consideration for her age. She was man handled and dragged from her clothes by the young soldiers.Other clips show military officers using live ammunition on protesters, while the other soldiers ran after their prey. Activists said many women were arrested and kept in the Egyptian cabinet building on the street of the sit-in.Since, the military had the street rebuilt in a matter of hours, paving the ground again and fixing the sidewalks, making it hard to imagine how much of a mess it was less than 14 hours ago.The soldiers were also featured setting the protesters’ tents on fire, tearing them apart with their own hands in anger.The violence erupted after a man was kidnapped from the sit-in in front of the Magles al-Sha’b building in downtown Cairo. He returned, badly injured and almost deformed by the beating he suffered at the hands of the soliders.Other protesters were angered at the attack, especially as rumors of kidnappings circulated over the last week. Some people remain missing.The military spilled gasoline on the sit-in’s tents and set it ablaze. Protesters who were trying to flee the fire were beaten badly and chased in the surrounding streets.The military was filmed on roof tops of buildings throwing large pieces of rocks and marble at the protesters below. Eyewitnesses reported that the army used Molotov cocktail bottles, fire crackers and water hoses on the protests.Ghada Kamal Ahmed Abdel Khaleq, an activist with the April 6 Youth Movement, gave her testimony of what happened to her while she was in detention in a video.She said she was trying to rest as the military attacked the street. As she looked back at the running wave of soldiers, she spotted a women being hit by soldiers. Abdel Khaleq stopped and ran back to “relive her from some of the batons– I thought I could lay on her”, she said, but she was not given a chance. She was surrounded with soldiers, who were not shy about using their batons on a woman. She received many hits on her head, cracking her skull open, necessitating stitches.After the beating, she was taken inside the Cabinet building to talk to the officers. One officer, who identified himself with a fake name, wanted her for himself.She said he pushed back the soldiers and told her he recognize her from the street and that she was insulting them. “I will show you how much of a man I am tonight, you are mine” he told the bleeding woman.“Dying is okay, we go out knowing that could happen, but for a woman to be threatened by rape and sexual violence, that is much harder,” she said.Women have repeatedly reported being molested, kicked and hit in sensitive areas and groped by soldiers who see it as a chance.Abdel Kahleq was rescued by a doctor who came inside to take away those who were in need of immediate medical help. He choose to take the women first. Abdel Kahleq says there were about 8 women there, some injured. She had to whisper to the doctor to communicate to him that the officer wanted to keep her overnight. She was taken out after the doctor insisted that she had to join the other women in the clinic.As Abdel Kahleq was leaving, the officer told her he will shoot her if he sees her again outside in the street.Other videos and testimonies continue to emerge, a clear picture is forming of what really went on during the clashes.Read the full story here.

• UK - Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat.(DailyMail).A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims.   Tayside Police's new non-emergency phone number has prompted complaints from members of the Islamic community.The choice of image on the Tayside Police cards - a black dog sitting in a police officer's hat - has now been raised with Chief Constable John Vine.The advert has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually unclean and has sparked such anger that some shopkeepers in Dundee have refused to display the advert.Dundee councillor Mohammed Asif said: 'My concern was that it's not welcomed by all communities, with the dog on the cards. 'It was probably a waste of resources going to these communities.'They (the police) should have understood. Since then, the police have explained that it was an oversight on their part, and that if they'd seen it was going to cause upset they wouldn't have done it.'  Councillor Asif, who is a member of the Tayside Joint Police Board, said that the force had a diversity adviser and was generally very aware of such issues.He raised the matter with Mr Vine at a meeting of the board.The chief constable said he was unaware of the concerns and that the force had not sought to cause any upset but added he would look into the matter.Councillor Asif said: 'People who have shops just won't put up the postcard. But the police have said to me that it was simply an oversight and they did not seek to offend or upset.'Cards featuring police dog-in-training Rebel have been distributed to communities throughout the area to advertise the single number point of contact for non-emergency calls to the police.Rebel has proved a popular recruit for Tayside Police after coming through the very first Lothian and Borders Police dog-breeding programme in February.   One of seven German Shepherd pups born in early December, he has now completed his course of inoculations, and is free to venture out onto the streets of Tayside.A spokesman for Tayside Police said: 'Trainee police dog Rebel has proved extremely popular with children and adults since being introduced to the public, aged six weeks old, as Tayside Police's newest canine recruit.'His incredible world-wide popularity - he has attracted record visitor numbers to our website - led us to believe Rebel could play a starring role in the promotion of our non-emergency number.'We did not seek advice from the force's diversity adviser prior to publishing and distributing the postcards. That was an oversight and we apologise for any offence caused.'Hmmm........Read the full story here.

• Saudi Security Forces Arrest 42 Ethiopian Christians For Praying.(Persecution).Washington, D.C. (December 17, 2011) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Saudi security forces arrested 42 Ethiopian Christians at a prayer gathering in Jeddah on Thursday. The location of the detained Christians is unknown.On December 15, Saudi police and security officers raided an evening prayer meeting at the home of an Ethiopian Christian in the Al-Safa district of Jeddah. Those attending the service were reportedly beaten and threatened before being arrested.Security officials broke [into] the house and captured… beat and threatened them for death… They divided the men and the women and they are torturing them [in prison],” an Ethiopian and Eritrean Christian immigrant community living in Europe wrote in an urgent appeal for help to the ambassadors of European embassies in Riyadh on Friday.Saudi Arabian officials have arrested Christians in the past but it is unprecedented for them to arrest 42 Christians at one time,” a church leader in Jeddah, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told ICC. “We are particularly concerned about the children of the detained Christians.”Two Ethiopian fellowships in Saudi Arabia informed ICC that they will temporarily postpone services until the situation calms. Christians in Saudi Arabia, most of who enter the country as foreign workers, are not allowed to practice their faith openly. Saudi police have been known to raid private worship gatherings in homes, arrest and deport congregants, and confiscate Christian materials, including Bibles.Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, “Though not permitting a single church building where Christians can worship in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government goes even further to assault the religious freedoms of its citizens and foreign workers by hunting for and arresting Christians who attend services in the privacy of their own homes. As a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture, we urge Saudi Arabia to end the abuse that the Ethiopian Christians have reportedly suffered in prison and to ensure their immediate release.Hmmmm....."Islamophobia".... anyone?Read the full story here.

• A financial Dunkirk: Britain draws up plans to rescue expats if Spain and Portugal are hit by financial oblivion.(DailyMail).Evacuation plans for British expats stranded in Spain and Portugal if their banking systems collapse are being drawn up by the Foreign Office.The contingency plans are being put in place to help thousands of Britons if they were unable to get to their money in the event of a catastrophic banking collapse in two of the most vulnerable eurozone economies.Around one million British expats live in Spain, particularly around Marbella and Malaga, and some 50,000 in Portugal.The Foreign Office is concerned that those who have invested savings in their adopted countries would face losing their homes if banks called in loans and they were unable to access money.Last week ratings agency Standard and Poor's downgraded 10 Spanish banks, including Banco Popular.Among options being considered for a 'nightmare scenario' include sending planes, ships and coaches to evacuate expats - some through Gibraltar.Small loans could also be made available to stranded Britons and pressure would be exerted on the Spanish and Portuguese governments to allow access to funds to pay for everyday essentials.Both countries have a deposit guarantee, like the UK, which means depositors are covered for up to €100,000.But in the event of a collapse, most banks would limit withdrawals.Many expats have retired to the south of Spain on fixed incomes, having used their savings to buy villas and apartments.A senior Foreign Office source told The Sunday Times: 'The nuclear scenario would be having thousands of Brits stranded at the airports in Spain and Portugal with no way to get money from the cash dispenser and no way to get home.'Who would be blamed for this? The Foreign Office.'We are looking at how we can help evacuate them if the banks in Spain and Portugal collapse, getting people cash, things like that, sending planes.'Expats could face losing their villas and apartments because they were unable to afford mortgage payments or withdraw enough cash as banks tried to stop money leaving the country.They could also lose savings if banks in either country collapsed.Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First - foreign currency exchange specialists - told the newspaper: 'Countries have individual safeguards on deposits but for people with large deposits in a bank it would be difficult to say whether all that money would be protected.'Read the full story here.

• Highly Toxic Mercury Present in Processed Foods, Yet FDA Does Nothing.(BlacklistedNews).By Anthony Gucciardi - Activist Post.Why has the FDA ignored the fact that mercury, an element that is highly toxic in all forms, was found in a large number of brand-name processed foods?Specifically, the mercury content was found to be contained in high-fructose corn syrup, which also reportedly contains genetically modified ingredients.Instead of addressing this major public health concern, the FDA is focusing their time on crushing beneficial supplements through ridiculous NDI regulations that threaten the entire infrastructure of the nutraceuticals industry.Researchers from two U.S. studies reported that about half of tested samples of high-fructose corn syrup contained mercury. Mercury was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products which listed high-fructose corn syrup as the first-or-second-highest labeled ingredient.Following the report, organizations like the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy called on the FDA for immediate action:  ‘Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply,”’the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.Americans Consumed Over 37 Pounds of Mercury-Laden HFCS in 2008. Mercury is toxic in any dosage, but the information becomes even more alarming when you consider the fact that the average American consumed 37.8 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup in 2008! If this is not explosive enough on its own, remember the fact that this is but one source of mercury exposure. CFL light bulbs, mercury-contaminated seafood, and some dental fillings are a few sources of mercury exposure that affect millions of individuals.The ubiquitous nature of high-fructose corn syrup in processed food products makes it difficult to avoid if you are on a junk food diet that is devoid of essential nutrients. Unfortunately, a large number of people worldwide subscribe to this nutritional program while in the dark regarding the true effects that such a diet can have on the human body. Until the FDA decides to step in (which simply will not happen unless activists make enough noise), protecting yourself and your family against HFCS is your priority. If you eat 100% organic food items, or grow your own organic food, you will not have to worry about toxic high-fructose corn syrup.It’s time to tell the FDA to focus on the real issues, like toxic elements in our food supply — not health-promoting supplements that have improved lives and boosted immune systems.Read the full story here.