Al-Sudais: Islam Is a Religion of Dialogue with Other Cultures and Religions
Age Islam News Bureau
26 Nov 2012
Arab World
• Al-Sudais: Islam Is a Religion of Dialogue with Other Cultures and Religions
• Egyptian Film “The Atheist” Praises Islam, Says Film Crew
• Syrian government air strike kills 10 children near Damascus: Activists
• Top Brotherhood leader goes on trial for ‘defaming’ female TV presenter
• Brotherhood member killed in Damanhour clashes with anti-Morsi protesters
• Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to meet judges over power grab
• Syrian rebels capture 3 military bases in a week
• Strategy to tackle Saudi unemployment outlined
• Morsi fails to impress Egypt's farmers with debt pardon
Africa
• 11 killed in suicide attacks on Nigerian church
• Nigeria gunmen attack Abuja Sars police HQ
Pakistan
• 12 die after drinking adulterated cough syrup in Pakistan
• Pakistani hackers reveal why Google, other websites were defaced
• Senior journalist Hamid Mir escapes bid on life: report
• Pakistani Taliban reject peace talks with govt
• Blast in Karachi’s Malir area kills one, injures three: police
• Pakistan doing little to bring terrorists to book: agencies
• Twitter alert: Tears and anger on Salala attack anniversary
Europe
• Omar Bari: Four Britons being trained for jihad in Syria
• Frenchman sentenced to two years in Dubai jail for spitting on Quran, assaulting woman
• Ireland to act speedily to implement abortion legislation: Minister
• Interfaith dialogue to find common ground
• On International Day, Ban Leads UN Call for Action to End Violence against Women
• Germany calls 26/11 strike despicable
• Russia PM Slams 'Unacceptable' Support of Syria Rebels
India
• Where Hindus join Shias to mourn Imam Hussain
• Teach recruits Hindi to keep them busy, LeT’s India head told Ansari
• Abdul Hakim killed, in full public glare, after exposing Khaps on TV
• 26/11 four years on: India's grand terror checks a no-show
• Life as usual for Afzal Guru inside jail
• 26/11: Tributes paid to martyrs, victims
• Mumbai remembers 26/11 victims four years on
• India wary as Pakistani terror machinery grinds on
• India deploying more troops in Ladakh due to threat: Farooq Abdullah
• Pakistan violates ceasefire, targets 10 Indian posts in J&K
• 26/11 anniversary: Experts doubt netas’ claim of safe Mumbai
• Lack of mandatory clearance stalls sand import from Pakistan via land route
• Illegal weapons hold peace hostage in western Assam
• Visas for Pak Cricket fans on production of return tickets
Southeast Asia
• Shia refugees live in uncertainty in Java, Indonesia
• Tagore's bust unveiled at 9th century Buddhist temple in Indonesia
• Parliament weighs ban on sexist remarks during debates
• Islam consistent with democracy: SBY
• Malaysia lifts ban on Bangladeshi workers
Mideast Asia
• Hamas chief backs Palestinian UN bid: Statement
• Israel's defence minister Ehud Barak quits politics
• Gaza damage to cost $1.2 bn: Hamas spokesman
• Israel successfully tests missile defence system
• Senior Bankers Leave BofA's MidEast Ops: Sources
• Body of Turkish Ex-Leader Shows Signs of Poisoning: Paper
• As Bombs Fell in Gaza, a Rich Cactus Lover Could Cultivate Only Patience
• NATO Missiles Not for Syria No-Fly Zone-Turkish Military
South Asia
• Afghans demand reprieve for killer of French troops
• Rights group urges no amnesty for Afghan Taliban
• High Court concludes hearings of state’s appeal case over Maldivian MP arrest
• Sri Lanka to sidestep US-led sanctions against Iran: Report
• For Private Security Guards in Kabul, Hazardous Duty
North America
• From Man Who Insulted Muhammad, No Regret
• Obama envoy to flag Kabul express
• US aims to keep 10,000 troops in Afghanistan post 2014
• Shun 'worldly logic of power': Pope Benedict to new cardinals
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Film Crew: Yasmine Gamal, Mohamed Abdel Aziz, Sabry Abdel Moneim (Courtesy of Al Molhid film)
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/al-sudais-islam-religion-dialogue/d/9439
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Arab World
Al-Sudais: Islam Is A Religion Of Dialogue With Other Cultures And Religions
26 November 2012
Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, head of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques, has highlighted the significance of dialogue with other cultures and religions, saying it is a good medium to spread the message of Islam.
“The Holy Qur’an, which is an eternal miracle, contains different forms of dialogue. So we can understand that dialogue is a method encouraged by God,” said Al-Sudais.
In a statement on the occasion of the opening of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) in Vienna today, he said dialogue should be conducted wisely.
“The formation of this centre in the West with King Abdullah’s support gives a strong message that Islam is a religion of dialogue and understanding and not a religion of enmity, fanaticism and violence,” he said.
“This is a historic event in cultural relations between the East and West,” Al-Sudais said, adding that the centre would play an important role in narrowing differences between followers of different religions and cultures.
He said the Vienna centre crowns King Abdullah’s interfaith dialogue initiative, which he announced four years ago. The participation of hundreds of prominent international personalities in the opening ceremony reflects the king’s global reputation, he added.
Speaking about the Vienna centre, he said it would promote human values, tolerance and peaceful coexistence among people of different religious faiths and cultures.
He said King Abdul Aziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, had used dialogue as an effective tool to unify the country. He praised King Abdullah for setting up the King Abdul Aziz National Dialogue Centre in Riyadh as an effective channel for responsible expression of views and opinions. “The Riyadh-based centre was instrumental in discussing a number of pressing issues that face the country,” Al-Sudais said.
Located in Vienna, a city long used to being a bridgehead between world religions and cultures, KAICIID is an independent, international organization, free of political or economic influence. The founding states (Saudi Arabia, Austria and Spain) constitute the “Council of Parties” responsible for overseeing the establishment of the centre.
Secretary-General Faisal bin Muammar said: “It is my profound belief that this center can become a place of leadership and applied learning; a place where candid dialogue among followers of different religions and cultures can flourish so that we can value and cherish the richness of our diversity and live together as good neighbours.”
Muammar added: “I am convinced that KAICIID will, within a short period of time, build a bridge for better mutual understanding, facilitating interreligious and intercultural dialogue to enhance cooperation, respect for diversity, justice and peace.”
http://www.arabnews.com/al-sudais-islam-religion-dialogue
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Egyptian Film “The Atheist” Praises Islam, Says Film Crew
Ahram Online goes one-on-one with Al-Molhid film crew, director Nader Seif El-Din, and actors Mohamed Hisham and Mohamed Abdel Aziz. The film is to be released during the winter break vacation
Farah Montasser
25 Nov 2012
Almost two years since the January 25 Revolution in Egypt, unrest remains vivid within the country. Under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, from whom hails President Mohamed Morsi, many have questions protections on freedom of expression in the arts and culture. The team behind the Egyptian feature film Al-Molhid (The Atheist) shared their experiences with Ahram Online.
"We are never pro-atheism," says Nader Seif El-Din, opening his conversation with Ahram Online. He insists the film project "has nothing to do with the revolution and does not challenge the ruling Islamist ideologies of Egypt today."
The story of Al-Molhid, currently in editing, dates back three years. "I first noticed this rise of atheism in Egypt way before the revolution and I wanted to investigate the matter," El-Din told Ahram Online.
The film depicts a young man who was born Muslim (a designation that cannot be changed) but started disbelieving Islam and all religions as he grew older. El-Din spent more than four months researching atheism. The story of the young atheist, played by Mohamed Abdel Aziz, also known as Zizo, is based on a number of cases El-Din investigated during the last years of Mubarak's regime. Yet El-Din admits that the script was re-edited after the revolution to fit the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The exact number of atheists in Egypt remains unknown. Religious freedom is a very sensitive issue while drastic measures have often been taken against those claim to be atheists, including fines and imprisonment. As an Islamic country, the state does not recognise atheists. Yet the Internet has been an open space for atheists in Egypt to meet and organise weekly assemblies, like Think Atheist website that has gathered hundreds of atheists in Egypt.
"I did write the script, but first went to Al-Azhar for guidance. I give thanks to the sheikh I met there, who helped me all the way through with clarifying the teachings of Islam, and some events that take place in the film, as you will see," says El-Din.
"It is only to highlight the fact that among young people, the thought of becoming an atheist has widely spread, since there are a lot of ridiculous notions of what's right and wrong claimed by those who call themselves Islamic scholars," says actor Mohamed Hisham, playing the guiding sheikh in the film.
Correcting the message
"I believe the dominance of fundamental and false Islamic messages spread by those who claim to be Islamic scholars has increased. Therefore I found it a must to continue with my film and help clear the image of my religion," El-Din describes. "No authority or school is powerful enough to either stop or correct them," he states.
"Al-Azhar, since we began working on this project, has been very supportive and not once has anyone from Al-Azhar ordered us to stop. All scholars we met and those who watched the film for approval said 'Bravo' and 'Please proceed,'" Hisham states.
According to El-Din, "Al-Azhar was pleased with Al-Molhid and encouraged us as the film discusses a major social problem we have today."
Last month, Al-Azhar board members gave their approval for the film. According to Al-Ahram Arabic, not a single shot of the film was objected to. Furthermore, the Censorship Committee of Egypt approved the film without any cuts, "making it the first uncut movie," Hisham jokes.
Hisham recalls screening Al-Molhid in front of the Censorship Committee along with director El-Din. "When we first went in, before the viewing, and met with the committee, I noticed a number of script pages being marked at the top corner of each page. I told Nader." El-Din interrupts: "Yes, Hisham said: 'It is over, the film will not pass,' but I calmed myself down and told him, 'Let's wait and see,'" El-Din remembers.
During the screening, the entire committee went silent and as the film came to an end, "They all greeted us and congratulated us. No cuts, no negative criticism, nothing," El-Din told Ahram Online.
Public response
Despite the approval of both Al-Azhar and the Censorship Committee, the film crew are still receiving threats. "We constantly receive attacks and death threats on our Facebook page, but nothing physical so far," Hisham confesses.
"People keep sending us hateful messages and there are those who have organised a campaign against us on Facebook too, but nothing more, and it does not scare us … We remain positive," El-Din says.
"What's funny is that both parties, Islamists and atheists, feel offended and share in those hateful messages equally," Hisham remarks with an ironic laugh.
According to the film crew, Yasmine Gamal, an actress in the film, has been also received messages from atheists. "One atheist keeps sending us messages demanding Yasmine's respect to atheists after she grouped atheists and con artists in one sentence in an interview … something that is absurd," El-Din recalls.
Starring in his first feature film, playing a molhid (atheist), Zizo, feels very proud. "I am delighted and determined as the rest of us working in this film," Zizo tells Ahram Online. Unlike his colleagues, Zizo has been attacked on the street. "Once a man with a beard came to me and advised me to stop the film, but I reasoned with him and told him to wait and see," he recalls.
Besides Al-Molhid, Zizo is also rehearsing for a play to be released soon. "I believe that the level of freedom in arts and culture has slightly increased following the revolution," he says.
The process of making Al-Molhid to the young talents involved is proof that the level of freedom has increased. Nonetheless, Hisham still believes there is "a long way to go" and "constant battles to fight." El-Din intervenes: "But this is a start and it is for us, the well-educated and culturally exposed, if I may, to create awareness. Thanks also to our producer, Adham Afifi, who never gave up on us."
Al-Molhid stars Mohamed Hisham, Mohamed Abdel Aziz (Zizo), Yasmine Gamal, Laila Ezz El-Arab, Sabry Abdel Moneim, Hassan Eid, and Ahmed Magdy.
Al-Molhid is scheduled to hit cinema theatres during the winter break in Egypt, though the exact release date remains to be decided.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/32/59125/Arts--Culture/Film/AlMolhid-The-Atheist-Egyptian-film-praises-Islam,-.aspx
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Syrian government air strike kills 10 children near Damascus: Activists
Nov 26, 2012
AMMAN: A Syrian government air strike on a rebel-held village near Damascus killed 10 children on Sunday as they played outdoors, opposition activists said, and video footage showed residents collecting young bodies torn by shrapnel.
The children went out after a lull in fighting in Deir al-Asafir, a village 12 km (8 miles) east of Damascus, when fighter jets struck, activists and residents said.
Video footage taken by activists showed the bodies of two young girls, one wearing purple, the other red, on the street in the village, with wounds to their neck and head. A sobbing woman picked up one of the girls up and hugged her lifeless body.
Another two dead boys, hit in the head and face, were shown on the backseat of a car. Men picked up the bodies of two other children while a larger body lay next to the front wheel of a vehicle.
"None of those killed were older than 15 years old. There are two women among 15 people wounded, mostly hit as they were inside the courtyards of their houses," said Abu Kassem, an activist in the village told Reuters.
"There were no fighters inside Deir al-Asafir when the bombing occurred. They operate on the outskirts. This was indiscriminate bombing," he said.
Abu Kassem said the munitions dropped by the fighter jets were cluster bombs. Other footage showed a row of what appeared to be unexploded small bombs.
"We collected 70 of these so far," one man said. Syria has barred most reporters from the country making it hard to verify the report.
Syrian authorities made no comment on the report, but official media have said the army has been on the offensive to "cleanse" the area of what the government calles as terrorists.
Earlier this month, the UN political affairs chief told the Security Council of credible reports that the Syrian military has used cluster bombs in fighting the 20-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's autocratic rule.
The Syrian army has denied a Human Rights Watch report issued in October that Assad's forces have used cluster bombs, saying it did not possess such weapons.
Cluster bombs are banned under a 2010 UN treaty, though Syria, like Israel, Russia and the United States have not signed the pact.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Syrian-government-air-strike-kills-10-children-near-Damascus-Activists/articleshow/17366463.cms
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Top Brotherhood leader goes on trial for ‘defaming’ female TV presenter
24 November 2012
A Cairo court began on Saturday the trial of the vice president of Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, accused of defaming a female television presenter.
FJP leader Essam al-Erian and television presenter Jihan Mansur were both represented by their lawyers during the trial, Egypt’s Youm7 website reported on Saturday.
Mansur, a presenter with private television channel, Dream, complained that Erian whom she had interviewed had hinted she was paid to criticize the Muslim Brotherhood.
The case highlights the tense climate prevailing between Islamists and most of the Egyptian media since the election in June of President Mohamed Mursi, who rose from the ranks of the Brotherhood.
Islamists have been repeatedly accused of pressuring the media through the suspension of journalists accused of "insulting" Mursi or airing information seen to be inaccurate.
The appointment of Muslim Brotherhood member Salah Abdel Maqsud Metwalli as information minister and a summer revamp of state-run media personnel has fuelled perceptions that the group intended to put pressure on the media.
In August, Mursi tried the pacify the media by signing a decree scrapping preventive detention of journalists for alleged media crimes.
This led to the freeing of Islam Afifi, editor of small independent newspaper al-Dustur, who was accused of spreading false news and inciting disorder.
Afifi was the first journalist to go on trial since the overthrow of veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak in February last year.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/24/251553.html
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Brotherhood member killed in Damanhour clashes with anti-Morsi protesters
The Muslim Brotherhood’s political party says one of its members was killed in the ongoing clashes with anti-Brotherhood protesters in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour (VIDEO)
25 Nov 2012
The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said on Sunday one of the Muslim Brotherhood youth was killed in clashes against the Islamist group’s foes in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour.
“Islam Fathi Masoud was martyred and 60 were injured in an attack on the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters with no presence from police forces,” the FJP said on its official Facebook page.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/59154/Egypt/Politics-/Brotherhood-member-killed-in-Damanhour-clashes-wit.aspx
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Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to meet judges over power grab
Nov 26, 2012
CAIRO: Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will meet senior judges on Monday to try to ease a crisis over his seizure of new powers which has set off violent protests reminiscent of last year's revolution which brought him to power.
Egypt's stock market plunged on Sunday in its first day open since Mursi issued a decree late on Thursday temporarily widening his powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review, drawing accusations he was behaving like a new dictator.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Egyptian-President-Mohamed-Mursi-to-meet-judges-over-power-grab/articleshow/17367270.cms
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Syrian rebels capture 3 military bases in a week
November 26, 2012
Syrian rebels’ success in seizing three military bases in less than a week has underscored the growing difficulty faced by Damascus in securing its outposts and stopping a rebel encroachment. Attacks on the bases, one north-east of Aleppo, a second at Mayedin in the far east and a third near Damascus, yielded a large number of weapons, which had been in desperately short supply, especially in positions across Syria’s second city.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/Syrian-rebels-capture-3-military-bases-in-a-week/Article1-964260.aspx
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Strategy to tackle Saudi unemployment outlined
25 November 2012
JEDDAH: Labor Minister Adel Fakeih yesterday disclosed that there are about 448,000 unemployed Saudi men and women in a country that hosts 8.4 million foreign workers.
Addressing the fourth HR Forum at Jeddah Hilton, he said more than 1.3 million unemployed Saudi men and women have benefited from the Hafiz program, citing a report issued last Ramadan.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/strategy-tackle-saudi-unemployment-outlined
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Morsi fails to impress Egypt's farmers with debt pardon
Small farmers complain of not benefiting from President Mohamed Morsi's promise to cancel all farmers' debts under LE10,000
Marwa Hussein
26 Nov 2012
Just as Egypt's late president Gamal Abdel Nasser garnered monumental popularity among Egyptian farmers by enacting a land reform law just a few months after he grabbed power in July 1952, President Mohamed Morsi has attempted to do the same, but without much success.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/58807/Business/Economy/Morsi-fails-to-impress-Egypts-farmers-with-debt-pa.aspx
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Africa
11 killed in suicide attacks on Nigerian church
26 November 2012
Two suicide bombers targeted a church inside a military barrack in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least 11 people and injuring several others as worshipers were returning after a Sunday mass.
The attack occurred at St. Andrews Military Protestant Church located inside Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji in the northern Kaduna state.The blasts occurred in quick succession as the church was finishing the service. The second blast occurred at the same spot minutes after the first one had rocked the area.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/11-killed-in-suicide-attacks-on-nigerian-church/article4136146.ece
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Nigeria gunmen attack Abuja Sars police HQ
November 26, 2012
Unknown gunmen have attacked a Nigerian police base in the capital, Abuja, where Boko Haram Islamist militants are often held, police say.
A police spokesman said the attack was repelled. Unconfirmed reports say some detainees were freed.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20493739
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Pakistan
12 die after drinking adulterated cough syrup in Pakistan
Nov 25, 2012
LAHORE: At least 12 men died and several others were in a serious condition after drinking adulterated cough syrup in this eastern Pakistani city today, police said.
The men had drunk the cough syrup to get intoxicated, police said.
Doctors at a state-run hospital said the men fell ill as the medicine was adulterated.
Over 20 men fell ill or fainted after drinking the cough syrup in Shahdra Town of Lahore.
Four of them died instantly while eight more died in hospital.
At least seven men were being treated in hospital and several of them were in a serious condition, police said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/12-die-after-drinking-adulterated-cough-syrup-in-Pakistan/articleshow/17362654.cms
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Pakistani hackers reveal why Google, other websites were defaced
November 26, 2012
A group of hackers from Pakistan revealed vulnerabilities with PKNIC – which manages domains for Pakistan including .com, .pk and org.pk – which led to the defacement of websites including Google’s Pakistan page earlier.
The group claims to be the “watchdog” of the Pakistani cyberspace and reportedly monitors websites to make sure they keep functioning smoothly.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/471102/pakistani-hackers-reveal-why-google-other-websites-were-defaced/
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Senior journalist Hamid Mir escapes bid on life: report
26 November 2012
ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani journalist and TV anchor escaped a bid on his life Monday when the bomb disposal squad defused a bomb planted under his car in Islamabad, police and his channel said.
Hamid Mir, a senior Geo TV anchor was returning to his house in the capital and the bomb was apparently planted when he stopped at a market, Geo News reported.
The explosive device in a metal box was found stuck under the front passenger seat of Hamid Mir’s car, city police chief Bani Amin said.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/11/26/senior-journalist-hamid-mir-escapes-bomb-attack-reports/
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Pakistani Taliban reject peace talks with govt
26 November 2012
PESHAWAR: The Pakistani Taliban has ruled out any possibility of peace negotiations with the Pakistani government, a spokesman for the banned militant group said Monday, vowing to continue fighting until the ouster of the country’s ‘secular rulers’.
Reacting to a statement by Federal Interior Minister issued Sunday, a spokesman for the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Ehsanullah Ehsan rejected any prospects of peace talks with the government, accusing the interior minister Malik of being “a foreign agent not worthy of granting forgiveness to the Taliban”.
Full report at:
Security personnel cordoned off the area as investigations in the attack went underway.
http://dawn.com/2012/11/26/ttp-reject-peace-talks/
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Blast in Karachi’s Malir area kills one, injures three: police
26 November 2012
KARACHI: An explosion near Mohabbat Nagar area of Malir in Karachi killed one person and injured three others on Monday, DawnNews reported.
Police sources said that the bomb was planted and concealed in a cement block some time earlier but detonated on Monday due to the closure of mobile phone services.
Rescue and emergency teams reached the site of explosion and the injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.
Security forces cordoned of the area as investigations into the blast went underway.
http://dawn.com/2012/11/26/blast-in-karachis-malir-kills-one-injures-three-police/
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Pakistan doing little to bring terrorists to book: agencies
Rajesh Ahuja, Hindustan Times
November 25, 2012
After India and the US, it will be the turn of Pakistan to bring perpetrators the 26/11 attack to justice but the country’s attitude so far is uninspiring. “Pakistan has not arrested all accused of the 26/11 carnage. Lashkar-e-Taiba military commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested but another top operative Muzammil was mysteriously let off. Sajid Mir is also out trying to mount new attacks on India. Former Pakistan army Major Abdul Rehman Hashim alias Pasha and LeT patron Hafiz Mohammad Saeed roam freely. The list is endless,” said a security source.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/IndiaSectionPage/Chunk-HT-UI-2611-TopStories/Pakistan-doing-little-to-bring-terrorists-to-book-agencies/Article1-964218.aspx
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Twitter alert: Tears and anger on Salala attack anniversary
November 26, 2012
One year after 24 soldiers were killed in an attack on a Pakistani check post on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, #RememberingSalala was the top trend today (Monday), with Twitterati across the country posting tweets to express their sorrow and disgust.
On November 26, 2011, Nato forces opened fire on a check post of the Pakistan Army located in Salala, which left 24 soldiers dead. In opposition, Pakistan blocked supply routes to Nato-Isaf forces stationed in Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/471081/twitter-alert-tears-and-anger-on-salala-attack-anniversary/
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Europe
Omar Bari: Four Britons being trained for jihad in Syria
Nov 26, 2012
LONDON: Four British extremists are being trained to fight a jihad or holy war in Syria and Palestine, according to their trainer, a Syria-born hate preacher who has been banned from Britain.
The Britons are being trained at a camp run by 52-year-old Omar Bakri, The Sun reported.
Bakri has boasted of his military-style courses for Islamic fanatics on Syria's border with Lebanon.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Four-Britons-being-trained-for-jihad-in-Syria-claims-hate-preacher-Omar-Bakri/articleshow/17365465.cms
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Frenchman sentenced to two years in Dubai jail for spitting on Quran, assaulting woman
By Bassam Za’za’,
November 25, 2012
Dubai: A French businessman has been sentenced to two years in jail for spitting on the Quran and assaulting a woman after she refused to marry him.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted 41-year-old R.J., of spitting on the holy book and insulting Islam by also throwing on the floor a book that contained Hadith, sayings of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
He was also convicted of attacking the new convert, a 36-year-old British woman, S.M, in her bedroom, beating and then threatening to kill her if she refused to marry him.
“The accused will be deported following the completion of his jail term,” said Presiding Judge Mohammad Jamal upon pronouncing Sunday’s judgment.
Full report at:
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/frenchman-sentenced-to-two-years-in-dubai-jail-for-spitting-on-quran-assaulting-woman-1.1109804
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Ireland to act speedily to implement abortion legislation: Minister
Nov 26 2012
London : Ireland will act "speedily" to implement legislation providing limited access to abortion if an expert group's recommendation is accepted by the Cabinet, a minister has said, amid the raging controversy over the death of an Indian dentist.
The expert group set up to examine how the state deals with the issue of lawful abortions has favoured legislation allowing for the limited provision of abortion along with regulations to deal with practical matters, according to media reports.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ireland-to-act-speedily-to-implement-abortion-legislation-minister/1036468/
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Interfaith dialogue to find common ground
FOUZIA KHAN
26 November 2012
European and Middle-eastern scholars talked to identify common ties at the Bridging Cultures Forum on Saturday.
Al-Makkiyah Al-Madaniyah Institute and the German consulate organized the two-day forum with workshops.
Vefahan Ocak, director general of the cabinet and chief adviser at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said the forum was to bring Muslim and non-Muslim scholars and thinkers on one platform to better understand, engage in dialogue and exchange ideas.
Dieter W. Haller, German ambassador in the Kingdom, said the forum served to enhance the intercultural dialogue between Muslims and the Western world.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/interfaith-dialogue-find-common-ground
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On International Day, Ban Leads UN Call for Action to End Violence Against Women
25 NOVEMBER 2012
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading a United Nations call on world leaders to "make good" on pledges they have made to end violence against women, a scourge that affects millions of women and girls worldwide.
"Up to 70 per cent of women experience physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime (and) as many as a quarter of all pregnant women are affected," Mr. Ban said in message to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
"Millions of women and girls around the world are assaulted, beaten, raped, mutilated or even murdered in what constitutes appalling violations of their human rights," he added.
Full report at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201211260151.html?viewall=1
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Germany calls 26/11 strike despicable
November 26, 2012
On the fourth anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, Germany on Monday joined the country in mourning the victims of the "despicable" strike and said the country stands united in the international efforts to combat terrorism.
"Germany stands in solidarity with the Indian people in remembering and mourning those who were victims of the despicable terrorist attacks in Mumbai," German Ambassador Michael Steiner said.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Germany-calls-26-11-strike-despicable/Article1-964429.aspx
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Russia PM Slams 'Unacceptable' Support of Syria Rebels
Nicolas Miletitch | November 26, 2012
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev slammed as "unacceptable" the recognition and support by France and other states of the Syrian opposition battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
In a wide-ranging interview with Agence France-Presse and Le Figaro ahead of a visit to Paris starting Monday, Medvedev also spoke of the EU economic crisis as a "serious threat" and did not rule out returning to the Kremlin in the future.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/russia-pm-slams-unacceptable-support-of-syria-rebels/558290
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India
Where Hindus join Shias to mourn Imam Hussain
November 25, 2012
A group of upper caste Hindus joined Shia Muslims in Muzaffarpur today to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, saying it was part of their tradition. The martyrdom of the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, his family and followers marks the 10th day of the month of
Moharram.
These Hindus in Muzaffarpur, about 70 km from Patna, belong to the Bhumihar Brahmin Mahasabha and claim their lineage as the Hussaini Brahmin sect.
"We also mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussain like Shia Muslims. It is part of a centuries-old tradition started by our ancestors," said Mahinder Singh, one of the dozens of Hindus who marched barefoot.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/WestBengal/Where-Hindus-join-Shias-to-mourn-Imam-Hussain/Article1-964111.aspx
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Teach recruits Hindi to keep them busy, LeT’s India head told Ansari
Sagnik Chowdhury
Nov 26 2012
Mumbai : While instructing 26/11 accused Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal to teach recruits Hindi, Lashkar’s India operations commander Muzammil Butt alias Yusuf said unless youngsters at training camps were kept occupied, they would go back home and never return.
In an interrogation report prepared by the Mumbai Police and accessed by The Indian Express, Ansari has said in the month of Ramzan in 2008, he was sitting with LeT operative Imran Nishan in the computer room at the LeT Bait-ul-Mujahideen camp in Muridke, when he was told that Yusuf had called him to his office.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/1036277/
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Abdul Hakim killed, in full public glare, after exposing Khaps on TV
S Raju, Hindustan Times
November 26, 2012
Casual labourer Abdul Hakim, 29, who exposed the ugly face of Khap panchayats against lovers in Aamir Khan’s TV show Satyamev Jayate earlier this year was eliminated in full public glare in his remote native village Adoli in western UP’s Bulandshahar district on Thursday. HT learnt on
Sunday that five armed men shot Hakim dead in full public view when he was on his way to the village doctor’s clinic to get medicines for his pregnant wife, Mehawish, 25.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/UttarPradesh/Man-killed-after-exposing-Khaps-on-TV/Article1-964247.aspx
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26/11 four years on: India's grand terror checks a no-show
Aloke Tikku, Hindustan Times
November 25, 2012
Four years after the Mumbai terror attacks that lasted three days, leaving 166 dead, India still isn't equipped to prevent another 26/11-type attack, at least going by the status of the three anti-terror initiatives of the UPA government - the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid), National
Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems.
"None of the big ticket projects have reached a critical mass where they would alter our capabilities in terms of counterterrorism," said security expert Ajai Sahni.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/IndiaSectionPage/Chunk-HT-UI-2611-TopStories/26-11-four-years-on-India-s-grand-terror-checks-a-no-show/Article1-964225.aspx
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Life as usual for Afzal Guru inside jail
By Kritika Sharma
26 November 2012
AT THE centre of one the biggest debates in the country today, Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru is least affected by the demand for his death, or so it seems from his daily routine.
Guru, who has been on death row since 2004, has been lodged in Central Jail, Tihar, for the past 11 years. Inside the jail premises, he is kept in the high- security prison, meant for high- risk prisoners. The prison is guarded by policemen from Tamil Nadu as they are thought to be unbiased and unattached with the case.
The prison has high walls with barbed- wire fencing to cut the scope of escape from the premises.
Full report at: Mail Today
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26/11: Tributes paid to martyrs, victims
26 November 2012
Mr Shinde and Mr Pawar paid homage to the heroes at the Police Gymkhana in Marine Lines where a 26/11 memorial has been erected in remembrance of the policemen, who lost their lives fighting terrorists during the dastardly strikes.
Floral tributes were on Monday paid to martyrs of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks on the fourth anniversary of the strike with Union ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde and Sharad Pawar laying wreaths at the police memorial in South Mumbai.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/2611-tributes-paid-to-martyrs-victims/article4136149.ece
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Mumbai remembers 26/11 victims four years on
November 26, 2012
Mumbai paused in its busy tracks on Monday to remember the 166 people who fell to the indiscriminate bullets of 10 Pakistani terrorists during a 60-hour siege, India's most wounding terrorist attack, that began this day four years ago.
Brief commemoration events were held at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Oberoi Trident, Leopold Cafe and Nariman House, some of Mumbai's most loved landmarks that were targeted by the 10 terrorists who sneaked into Mumbai on the night of Nov 26, 2008 through the Arabian Sea route and landed at Colaba.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Mumbai-remembers-26-11-victims-four-years-on/Article1-964329.aspx
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India wary as Pakistani terror machinery grinds on
Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times
November 25, 2012
Interrogation of Indian-origin terrorists Fasih Mehmood and Abu Jundal from Saudi Arabia has confirmed New Delhi's worst fears that the anti-India terror apparatus of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the ISI-backed Karachi project was still alive and kicking, and four years from after the
26/11 massacre, the terror threat from Islamabad was undiminished. Exploiting their ideological differences, Pakistan uses LeT as a strategic arm against India, and Taliban against Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/IndiaSectionPage/Chunk-HT-UI-2611-TopStories/India-wary-as-Pakistani-terror-machinery-grinds-on/Article1-964216.aspx
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India deploying more troops in Ladakh due to threat: Farooq Abdullah
Nov 26, 2012
NEW DELHI: India is befriending China on one hand and remaining "cautious" on the other by deploying more troops in Ladakh region due to "threat" perception, having learnt lessons from the past, Union minister Farooq Abdullah said on Monday.
Addressing young students, scholars and scientists at the Northern Regional Science Congress here, Abdullah broached the topic when he was referring to the abundant wind energy resources available in Ladakh region.
"We people have Army there (in Ladakh). (We have) one full division there and now we are putting another division there because we have threat from China and I don't say that outside but I am telling you because you are Indians.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-deploying-more-troops-in-Ladakh-due-to-threat-Farooq-Abdullah/articleshow/17371738.cms
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Pakistan violates ceasefire, targets 10 Indian posts in J&K
Nov 26, 2012
JAMMU: Violating the ceasefire yet again, Pakistan troops targeted 10 Indian forward posts by firing over 6000 rounds from heavy weaponry along the Indo-Pak border in Poonch district.
The firing on Sunday night, which was the heaviest this year, came ahead of the ninth anniversary of the Indo-Pak ceasefire agreement on Monday. The Indo-Pak border truce came into force on November 26, 2003.
"Pakistan troops opened heavy fire with medium machine guns and heavy machine guns on 10 Indian forward posts along LoC in Krishnagati sub-sector of Poonch district last night," PRO, defence, S N Acharya said on Monday.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistan-violates-ceasefire-targets-10-Indian-posts-in-JK/articleshow/17371002.cms
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26/11 anniversary: Experts doubt netas’ claim of safe Mumbai
By Prafulla Marpakwar
Nov 26, 2012
MUMBAI: Senior police officers and politicians declared on Sunday that Mumbai is prepared to repel any attack of the magnitude of 26/11 but their words were met with disbelief and scepticism.
On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the bloody assault, home minister R R Patil admitted that law-enforcement agencies were unequipped to fend off the 10 Pakistani terrorists who landed in Mumbai by sea on November 26, 2008, and wreaked terror on the city.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/26/11-anniversary-Experts-doubt-netas-claim-of-safe-Mumbai/articleshow/17367552.cms
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Lack of mandatory clearance stalls sand import from Pakistan via land route
By Yudhvir Rana
Nov 26, 2012
AMRITSAR: Five trucks of sand imported for the first time from Pakistan via Attari land route by traders in Punjab, have been held by the customs department for want of clearance from the quarantine department and the ministry of environment.
Sand is being imported via the land border due to its acute shortage in Punjab, following a ban on sand mining operations.
Additional Commissioner, Customs, Amanjit Singh told TOI on Sunday that local businessmen had imported 5 truckloads of sand from Pakistan, but these would be cleared by Customs only after production of required certification by the quarantine department and clearance of samples by the ministry of environment.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lack-of-mandatory-clearance-stalls-sand-import-from-Pakistan-via-land-route/articleshow/17367447.cms
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Illegal weapons hold peace hostage in western Assam
By Supriya Sharma, TNN | Nov 26, 2012
KOKRAJHAR/GUWAHATI: In the violent clashes between Bodos and Muslims in July-August in western Assam, of 97 people killed, ten had fallen to bullets. It indicated a large presence of illegal firearms in the region. The second round of violence only confirmed this. In mid-November, of 10 people killed within a week, nine had died of bullet injuries, five from automatic weapons.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Illegal-weapons-hold-peace-hostage-in-western-Assam/articleshow/17366344.cms
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Visas for Pak Cricket fans on production of return tickets
November 25, 2012
The Government may issue a multi-city visa to Pakistani cricket lovers planning to witness the forthcoming cricket series beginning December 25 if they provide tickets of the matches and return ticket besides having an Indian sponsor. A committee formed within the union home ministry has suggested that tickets to the venue and the return tickets would ensure regulating the visiting Pakistani cricket lovers, official sources said.
Union Home Ministry, while giving a go ahead for Indo-Pak cricket series, had conveyed to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that it would have to strictly abide by the rules framed for allowing Pakistani spectators to enter into India.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Visas-for-Pak-fans-on-production-of-return-tickets/Article1-964045.aspx
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Southeast Asia
Shia refugees live in uncertainty in Java, Indonesia
Indra Harsaputra
November 26 2012
Beleaguered minority Shia Muslim refugees from Sampang, Madura, East Java, are now facing further uncertainty as the local government stops supplies of their daily needs.
Shiite leader Iklil Al Milal said in Surabaya on Sunday that the refugees from Karang Gayam village faced difficulties in getting food and clean water over the last month as the local administration started to cease supplies of the two without reason.
Up to 274 Shia followers have been forced to take shelter at a local sports center after the majority Sunnis attacked and burned their village, homes and farm lands, killing two people on Aug. 26 — based simply on the belief that the Shia teachings were heretical.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/26/shia-refugees-live-uncertainty.html
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Tagore's bust unveiled at 9th century Buddhist temple in Indonesia
Nov 26 2012
Jakarta : The bust of Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore was unveiled today at Indonesia's Borobudur temple, the largest Buddhist complex in the world dating back to the 9th century.
The bust was unveiled at a grand ceremony at the temple attended by Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of India to Indonesia and ASEAN, and Listyowati, Director of South and Central Asia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia.
The event was one of the main highlights of the ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012 which kicked off at Yogyakarta earlier today.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tagores-bust-unveiled-at-9th-century-buddhist-temple-in-indonesia/1036504/
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Parliament weighs ban on sexist remarks during debates
Nov 26, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 — Parliament has accepted a proposal to bar lawmakers from making sexist remarks during debates.
The original Standing Order 36 (4) reads: “It shall be out of order for Members of the House to use offensive language.”
If accepted, the amendment to Standing Order 36 (4) will include the phrase “or make a sexist remark.”
Full report at:
http://my.news.yahoo.com/parliament-bans-sexist-remarks-during-debates-
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Islam consistent with democracy: SBY
November 26 2012
President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono said on Sunday that there was no contradiction between Islam and democracy and Indonesia was a living proof that the two entities could go hand in hand.
“I reject the position that Democracy could not live alongside Islam,” Yudhoyono said in his keynote speech in the fourth World Peace Forum (WPC) held at the Bogor Palace on Sunday.
Yudhoyono said that Indonesia could serve as a shining example to the world that the country with the largest Muslim population could practice democracy and continue to thrive.
Yudhoyono went further to assert that Indonesia is also an examples of how to reconcile democracy and economic growth.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/26/islam-consistent-with-democracy-sby.html
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Malaysia lifts ban on Bangladeshi workers
2012/11/26
Kuala Lumpur on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dhaka on recruitment of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia lifting a nearly four-year ban on the manpower recruitment.
The MoU was signed by Malaysian government’s Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S Subramaniam and Bangladesh Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Malaysia, joint secretary (administration) Md Nurul Islam confirmed The Daily Star.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=42713
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Mideast Asia
Hamas chief backs Palestinian UN bid: Statement
26 Nov 2012
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal on Monday told Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas that his movement backs a bid for enhanced UN status for the Palestinians, a Hamas statement said.
"Khaled Meshaal... held a telephone conversation with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in which he affirmed that Hamas welcomes the step of going to the United Nations for state observer status," the statement said.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/59181/World/Region/Hamas-chief-backs-Palestinian-UN-bid-Statement.aspx
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Israel's defence minister Ehud Barak quits politics
Nov 26, 2012
JERUSALEM: Israel's defence minister Ehud Barak on Monday announced he was quitting political life after a decades-long career that also saw him serve as prime minister.
Barak, 70, made the surprise announcement at a press conference in Tel Aviv, adding that he would retire from politics after a new government is formed in the wake of January elections.
"I have decided to resign from political life and not participate in the upcoming Knesset elections," Barak said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israels-defence-minister-Ehud-Barak-quits-politics/articleshow/17372865.cms?
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Gaza damage to cost $1.2 bn: Hamas spokesman
November 25, 2012
Israel's eight-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip has caused more than $1.2 billion in direct and indirect damages, a spokesman for the Hamas government said on Sunday. "The total cost of damages caused by the Israeli aggression is $1.245 billion (960 million euros)," Taher al-Nunu told reporters in Gaza City.
He said direct damage caused by more than a week of Israeli aerial bombardment had cost $545 million (420 million euros) while indirect damages added up to some $700 million (540 million euros).
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/Gaza-damage-to-cost-1-2-bn-Hamas-spokesman/Article1-964140.aspx
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Israel successfully tests missile defense system
AP, Jerusalem
Israel successfully tested its newest missile defense system Sunday, the military said, a step toward making the third leg of what Israel calls its "multilayer missile defense" operational.
The "David's Sling" system is designed to stop mid-range missiles. It successfully passed its test, shooting down its first missile in a drill Sunday in southern Israel, the military said.
The system is designed to intercept projectiles with ranges of up to 300 kilometers (180 miles).
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=42720
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Senior Bankers Leave BofA's MidEast Ops: Sources
November 26, 2012
DUBAI (Reuters) - The head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Middle East and North Africa unit has left following an overhaul of the U.S. lender's regional investment banking operations, three sources said.
A spokeswoman for BofA in the Middle East confirmed the departure of Phil Southwell, hired in May 2011 to run the bank's MENA business, and also the resignation of Ziad Awad.
Awad, a managing director with the bank for more than five years, has resigned and will leave at the end of the year, sources had also said on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter has not been publicly disclosed.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/11/26/business/26reuters-bofa-
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Body of Turkish Ex-Leader Shows Signs of Poisoning: Paper
November 26, 2012
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - An autopsy on the exhumed body late President Turgut Ozal, who led Turkey out of military rule in the 1980s, has revealed evidence of poisoning, a newspaper reported on Monday.
There had long been rumors Ozal, who died of heart failure in 1993 aged 65, was murdered by militants of the "deep state" - a shadowy nationalist strain within the Turkish establishment of the day. He had angered some with his efforts to end the Kurdish conflict and survived on assassination bid in 1988.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/11/26/world/europe/26reuters-turkey-president-autopsy.html?ref=europe
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As Bombs Fell in Gaza, a Rich Cactus Lover Could Cultivate Only Patience
By JODI RUDOREN
November 26, 2012
GAZA — Jawdat N. Khoudary is one of Gaza’s wealthiest men, and one of its boldest dreamers.
His $15 million-a-year construction company, Saqqa & Khoudary, is building two hospitals here with money from Turkey and Saudi Arabia, employing 60 people full time and 140 day laborers. A lover of antiquities whose family has lived in Gaza more than 200 years, he opened the strip’s first archaeological museum in 2008, and is financing a French dig in the north. At his 100,000-square-foot compound on his family’s former citrus farm, a garden oasis amid concrete density, he is cultivating tens of thousands of cactus from around the world, imagining a huge public park and nursery selling small pots for $1 or less.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/world/middleeast/in-gaza-even-a-wealthy-man-cannot-silence-the-bombs.html?ref=middleeast
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NATO Missiles Not for Syria No-Fly Zone-Turkish Military
November 26, 2012
ANKARA (Reuters) - NATO surface-to-air missiles due to be stationed near Turkey's border with Syria will only be used to protect Turkish territory and not to establish a no-fly zone within Syria, the Turkish military said on Monday.
Turkey riled Syria, Russia and Iran by requesting the NATO surface-to-air Patriot system, designed to intercept aircraft or missiles, last Wednesday after weeks of talks on how to shore up security on its 900-km (560-mile) border as the conflict in Syria deepens.
Syria, which called the move "provocative", and its allies including Russia and Iran oppose any development that they perceive could be a first step towards implementing a no-fly zone.
"The deployment of the air and missile defence system is only to counter an air or missile threat originating in Syria and is a measure entirely aimed at defence," the Turkish military said in a statement.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/11/26/world/europe/26reuters-syria-crisis-turkey-patriot.html?ref=middleeast
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South Asia
Afghans demand reprieve for killer of French troops
26 November 2012
JALALABAD: Student demonstrators on Monday demanded that an Afghan soldier sentenced to death for killing five French soldiers be spared execution.
A military court last week rejected an appeal by the soldier, Abdul Sabor, and the Afghan authorities have since executed 14 death row prisoners in two groups including several Taliban insurgents.
Unconfirmed Afghan media reports have suggested that Sabor is among a third group that President Hamid Karzai has approved for execution. Karzai’s office has refused to comment on the issue.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/11/26/afghans-demand-reprieve-for-killer-of-french-troops/
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Rights group urges no amnesty for Afghan Taliban
26 November 2012
KABUL: An international human rights group urged Afghan authorities on Monday to refuse to provide Taliban insurgents with immunity from prosecution in return for peace talks.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said President Hamid Karzai’s Western-backed administration had pledged amnesty for the Taliban if they join a Kabul-backed peace scheme.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/11/26/rights-group-urges-no-amnesty-for-afghan-taliban/
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High Court concludes hearings of state’s appeal case over MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor’s arrest
By Mohamed Naahee | November 25th, 2012
High Court has concluded hearings of the appeal filed by the state following the release of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor by Kulhudhuffushi Magistrate Court.
MP Ghafoor was arrested along with Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Jabir and several senior opposition figures on the uninhabited island of Hodaidhoo on November 16, for alleged possession of drugs and alcohol. Police in a statement released following the arrests claimed that 10 people were arrested during a ‘special operation’ on the island.
Full report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/high-court-concludes-hearings-of-state%E2%80%99s-appeal-case-over-mp-hamid-abdul-ghafoors-arrest-47860
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Sri Lanka to sidestep US-led sanctions against Iran: Report
Nov 26, 2012
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will sidestep US-led sanctions against Iran by diverting its oil payments towards a water management project that Tehran is funding in the island, a senior official was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Two billion rupees ($15.38 million) owed to Iran for oil will be used to finance the Uma Oya irrigation scheme, Sri Lankan water resources secretary Ivan de Silva told the local Sunday Times.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Sri-Lanka-to-sidestep-US-led-sanctions-against-Iran-Report/articleshow/17365373.cms
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For Private Security Guards in Kabul, Hazardous Duty
By AZAM AHMED
2012/11/26
KABUL, Afghanistan — For the replacement Afghan security guards, their new posting — an established traffic checkpoint in a heavily guarded Western enclave in Kabul — would seem to be a decent one, other than the fact that three of their predecessors had just been killed by a Taliban suicide bomber.
The site itself told the story: the blast crater from the attack, on Wednesday, had been covered by two rows of green sandbags stacked 10 feet high, and ball bearings from the bomber’s vest pockmarked the neighboring walls. An excavator shoved dirt loosened from the blast into tidy mounds along the edges of the street, which sits a few blocks from the American Embassy in the city’s Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/world/asia/in-afghanistan-private-guards-and-hazardous-duty.html?ref=asia
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North America
From Man Who Insulted Muhammad, No Regret
By SERGE F. KOVALESKI and BROOKS BARNES
November 26, 2012
LOS ANGELES — Fuming for two months in a jail cell here, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula has had plenty of time to reconsider the wisdom of making “Innocence of Muslims,” his crude YouTube movie trailer depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a bloodthirsty, philandering thug.
Does Mr. Nakoula now regret the footage? After all, it fuelled deadly protests across the Islamic world and led the unlikely filmmaker to his own arrest for violating his supervised release on a fraud conviction.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/us/from-the-man-who-insulted-islam-no-retreat.html?ref=world&_r=0
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Obama envoy to flag Kabul express
By Saurabh Shukla
26 November 2012
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama is determined to ensure that his “ big India plan” is launched in his second term in the White House.
Just a few days after Obama told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that “ India is a big part of my plan” when they met on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit at Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Obama is sending his top diplomat Wendy Sherman to Delhi on Monday to discuss what top sources said is the US’ new Afghan strategy. India is expected to play a key role in the new strategy.
Full report at: Mail Today
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US aims to keep 10,000 troops in Afghanistan post 2014
November 26, 2012
The administration of President Barack Obama aims to keep around 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan after formal combat operations in that country end in 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday.
Citing unnamed senior US officials, the newspaper said the plan was in line
with recommendations presented by General John Allen, commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan, who has proposed a force between 6,000 and 15,000 US troops.
This force will conduct training and counterterrorism operations after the Nato mission in Afghanistan formally concludes at the end of 2014, the report said.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/NorthAmerica/US-aims-to-keep-10-000-troops-in-Afghanistan-report/Article1-964315.aspx
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Shun 'worldly logic of power': Pope Benedict to new cardinals
Nov 25, 2012
VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict on Sunday told six prelates newly elevated to the rank of cardinal that all Catholic leaders should shun the "worldly logic of power" and stick to spreading the gospel.
The pope presided at a solemn mass in St Peter's Basilica with the six men from the United States, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Lebanon and Colombia the day after they became cardinals at a ceremony known as a consistory.
"To be disciples of Jesus, then, means not letting ourselves be allured by the worldly logic of power, but bringing into the world the light of truth and God's love," he said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Shun-worldly-logic-of-power-Pope-Benedict-to-new-cardinals/articleshow/17361385.cms
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/al-sudais-islam-religion-dialogue/d/9439