Political Parties Urge Khaleda to Sever Ties with Jamaat, Hefazat
New Age Islam News Bureau
31
Oct 2013
RT Photo / Nadezhda Kevorkova
South Asia
• Political Parties Urge Khaleda to Sever Ties with Jamaat, Hefazat
• Ambassadors warned of international restrictions if president not elected by November 11,
• After years of living in fear, Afghan interpreter lands in US and out of danger
• Uighurs scorn Tiananmen 'terrorist' claim
• Militant activities spreading in China, experts warn
Southeast Asia
• Ex-Jihadist Says Prison Best Place to Recruit New Terrorists
• Malaysian parents still believe the country is a good place to raise kids
• Muslim group says RM10-million Klang temple will send out wrong message
• Perak Perkasa wants action over YouTube clip mocking court ruling on Allah
Arab World
• War in Syria is not a war between Shia and Sunni: Syrian Refugees
• Qaeda recruits enter Syria from safe houses in Turkey
• Assad to UN envoy: Peace talks can succeed only if foreign aid to rebels stops
• US aid needed to battle al-Qaida: Iraqi PM
• Watchdog: all of Syria’s chemical production facilities destroyed
• World urged to help Jordan end restrictions on Syria refugees
• Saudi Arabia translates Qur'an to Kurdish
• Sharia, army top Egypt’s constitution debate
• Egyptian police disperse pro-Morsi students at Al-Azhar
India
• Where Are Muslim Ministers? Community Finds Little Representation in Power
• Muzaffarnagar violence: Four persons were killed eight arrested, cases against 15
• India-Pakistan Meet on the cards
• Centre keeping watch on Muzaffarnagar situation: Shinde
North America
• Pakistan still supports terror operations in India: US expert
• NYPD Must Ditch Discriminatory Muslim Surveillance for Its Own Good
• Islamophobia in New York Is Mainstream
• Revealed: NSA pushed 9/11 as key 'sound bite' to justify surveillance
• Dearborn, Michigan Is Under Sharia Law, Says Satirical Website, But City Is Not Amused
• US ‘will help Iraq fight terror’
Europe
• Caucasian Muslims Board Issues Fatwa on Muharram, Avoid Harming Yourselves with Chains
• Stem ethnic extremism by criminalising internet provocations – Russian minister
• Ethnic Russians Increasingly Regard North Caucasus as Foreign Entity
• Russia alarmed by fresh reports Syrian militants using chemical weapons – FM
• "Bosnia is a graveyard of innocent Muslims"
• Pakistan official drone death toll count sparks anger from rights groups
• BoE’s Executive Director: ‘Deep and Liquid’ Shariah-Compliant Markets Urgently Needed
Pakistan
• Osama, Taliban products of western policy: Pak Punjab CM
• 'Sharif backed ISI operations in Kashmir in 1992': Hussain Haqqani
• US drone strike in North Waziristan leaves three dead
• Will stop NATO supplies if drone attack occurs during Taliban talks: Imran
• 'Magnificent Delusions' of US-Pakistan relations
• Pakistan-India tit-for-tat policy must end: Nawaz
• ‘No Musharraf role in the killing of Lal Masjid cleric’
Mideast
• Death toll in attack on Salafi-held town in Yemen rises to 24
• Dozens of Jewish fanatics storm Aqusa to perform rituals
• 'Qaeda' gunmen kill 3 in Yemen attack: Official
• Turkey needs second generation of reforms: President Gül
• Closer links a must among Islamic bloc: TOBB head
• Knesset prepares to raise legal marriage age from 17 to 18
• Foxman slams Kerry remarks as White House courts Jewish leaders on Iran
Africa
• Kenya crackdown on militants troubles Muslims
• 'Bodies of 87 migrants found in Niger desert'
Australia
• Biggest Islamic school in Australia faces closure
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/political-parties-urge-khaleda-sever/d/14237
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South Asia
Political Parties urge Khaleda to sever ties with Jamaat, Hefazat
Oct 31 2013
The Communist Party of Bangladesh and Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal last night asked BNP chief Khaleda Zia to break the alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami and sever relations with Hefazat-e Islam.
In a meeting with the BNP chairperson at her Gulshan office in the capital, they termed the two Islamic organisations “communal, militant forces” who opposed the country’s independence.
CPB President Mujahid ul Islam Selim and BSD General Secretary Khalequzzaman spoke to the media at Khaleda’s Gulshan office following the meeting.
On Tuesday, the two left party leaders met Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Gono Bhaban residence and urged her to sever her party’s ties with Jatiya Party.
Asked what Khaleda said in response to their call, the CPB and BSD leaders said the BNP had no ideological or electoral unity with the Jamaat; they only had a pre-election unity.
The CPB and BSD leaders also said they asked the BNP chief not to budge from her demand for a non-party caretaker government for the sake of compromise.
Selim and Khalequzzaman said both the two major parties should weigh each other’s proposal and find an amicable solution to hold a free, fair and participatory election.
The two left leaders also blasted foreign diplomats for their interference in the internal political matters of Bangladesh and remarked that “some quarters” in the society did not want the two major parties to compromise as they aimed to grab the state power through other evil forces.
http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/cpb-bsd-urge-khaleda-to-sever-ties-with-jamaat-hefajat/
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Ambassadors warned of international restrictions if president not elected by November 11,
By Ahmed Naish | October 31st, 2013
Foreign ambassadors have warned of international restrictions on trade and financial transactions if there is no president-elect by the end of the current presidential term on November 11, former President Mohamed Nasheed said at a press briefing yesterday (October 30).
To avert such a scenario, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate suggested two solutions: the Supreme Court should review its judgment to annul the September 7 presidential election, or one of the two rival candidates should withdraw his candidacy “for the sake of the nation and Islam” ahead of the fresh polls scheduled for November 9.
“Ambassadors of foreign nations that I meet are now saying very openly that if there is no president-elect by November 11 they would have to take action under their normal rules or procedures,” Nasheed said.
A nation without an elected president is considered a dictatorship and prone to instability and unrest by the international community, he added.
Nasheed referred to financial sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe on troubled states such as Sudan and Myanmar.
If similar sanctions are imposed on the Maldives, Nasheed said the country would face difficulties in both importing essential goods, such as oil, medicine and foodstuffs, and continuing to export fish to Europe.
“If we cannot hold an election, we will be forced to conduct all business transactions overseas with cash,” he continued, as restrictions would apply to transactions through foreign financial institutions and banks.
“We are concerned because we can see Maldivians having to bear this burden. We are concerned that our rivals, even under these circumstances, are trying to stop the election and maintain the coup government,” said Nasheed.
The European Parliament in Strasbourg this week heard calls from UK MEP Charles Tannock to apply “maximum pressure” to reverse what he described as a “judicial coup” in the Maldives.
Rival candidates only considered discussions to conclude the presidential election before November 11 after parliament “with a comfortable majority” passed the MDP’s proposal for the speaker of parliament to assume the presidency in the absence of a president-elect, Nasheed contended.
On the day parliament adopted the MDP resolution, he continued, the PPM and JP “realised that the coup government cannot be maintained even if they obstruct the election.”
“Even when we went to the Elections Commission, we all knew very clearly that it was unlikely that both rounds of the election could be held before November 11 while abiding by the Supreme Court guidelines,” Nasheed said.
Two options
Nasheed stressed that either a Supreme Court review or a candidate’s withdrawal was necessary to ensure a victor in one round to conclude the election by November 11.
As it was the Jumhooree Party that sought annulment of the September 7 election, Nasheed urged the party’s candidate Gasim Ibrahim to file a case at the apex court requesting a review of its decision.
“We are now at the mouth of a pit, on the edge of razor blade,” said Nasheed, describing the consequences of repeated election delays.
Asked if either candidate had responded to his appeal for one of the pair to withdraw, Nasheed said he was hopeful but could not say he got “a clear answer.”
“I am certain that Gasim’s question will be, ‘why me?’ The answer is because you are the most sincere,” he said.
In lieu of a candidate dropping out of the race, Nasheed said the second option was for the Supreme Court to review its judgment and allow the second round to take place on November 9.
If none of the two scenarios came to pass, Nasheed expressed confidence of winning the election on November 9 “in one round” against the PPM and JP candidates.
“In my view, the Maldivian people’s patience has run out because of the efforts to stop the election from taking place. Fishermen can’t go fishing. People can’t leave on a holiday or for medical treatment overseas. And the campaign activists do not want in the slightest for their lives to return to normalcy,” he said.
Nasheed questioned the sincerity of the JP and PPM’s request for the Elections Commission to conclude the election before November 11 as both parties were insisting on following the Supreme Court guidelines whilst calling for Dr Waheed to remain in office.
Nasheed emerged the front-runner in the annulled September 7 election with 45.45 percent of the vote followed by Progressive Party of Maldives candidate Abdulla Yameen who polled 25.35 percent, necessitating a second round run-off.
Business tycoon Gasim narrowly missed out in a place in the run-off election with 24.07 percent of the vote and contested the results at the Supreme Court alleging widespread electoral fraud.
Meanwhile, at a press conference yesterday, JP Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed emphatically dismissed Nasheed’s calls for Gasim to withdraw, calling instead for Nasheed to step back for the good of the nation.
“There is a fear that Islam will disappear if you [come to power]. There is a fear that there will be bloodshed here caused by introduction of other religions. There is a fear that you will sell of the nation’s assets,” he said.
http://minivannews.com/politics/ambassadors-warned-of-international-restrictions-if-president-not-elected-by-november-11-says-nasheed-70374
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After years of living in fear, Afghan interpreter lands in US and out of danger
October 31, 2013
The Afghan interpreter who saved a US soldier’s life in the heat of battle has finally set foot on American soil after he and his family spent years enduring death threats from the Taliban while being caught up in bureaucratic red tape in the states.
Janis Shinwari landed in Washington DC Tuesday night after US Army First Lieutenant Matt Zeller launched a desperate public campaign to convince the State Department to grant Shinwari asylum.
In April 2008, Zeller was driving through the most tumultuous area of Afghanistan when his three-Humvee convoy was ambushed by an overwhelming number of Taliban fighters. Lost and confused by a series of explosions, the Americans surrounded their vehicle when Zeller heard a burst of AK-47 fire from behind, turning to see two Taliban fighters dead.
It was clear to Zeller, the veteran and former CIA officer later said, that he would have been killed if Shinwari had not come running at the sound of gunfire.
Yet even as US troops prepare to completely pull out of Afghanistan next year, Shinwari and countless other Afghan nationals who helped US troops have been denied entry to the US. The Taliban and other insurgent groups have targeted what they see as enemy sympathizers, vandalizing Shinwari’s truck and forcing him to move his family around the country while waiting for what is known as Special Immigrant Visas (SIV).
Zeller eventually started a petition on Change.org for his friend. The page attracted more than 100,000 signatures and persuaded the US State Department to issue the necessary documentation. But in September 2012, after the interpreter had quit his job and packed up his family, the US embassy phoned to tell him that his visa had been revoked and his application placed back under review.
Shinwari and Zeller complained to international media outlets that the State Department had likely received a fake tip from the Taliban, which hoped to scare the Americans into believing that Shinwari was a risk to national security.
After Zeller said he had no choice but to “shame and embarrass” the government into lifting the freeze on Shinwari’s application, the situation was resolved.
“I got my last member of my unit home,” Zeller told CBS This Morning. “I can breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in five years. I got my buddy home.”
His tone was in refreshing contrast to interviews he gave just one month before, in which Zeller warned that Shinwari would “no question” be killed if not granted an SIV.
“I had a brother here to fight for me, and I was thinking that I can make it,” Shinwari said. “What he promised to me, he did it…He promised me that when he was leaving he told me that one day he will bring me home, and the United States is my home.”
With help from local community leaders, Zeller launched a website where the public can make donations. Shinwari said he hopes to make a home in the Washington DC area and continue the profession he mastered in the war zone.
“First of all, I’m trying to find a good house, and after that, a good job for me,” he told the Huffington Post. “I’m trying to find the same job that I did back in Afghanistan, interpretation, because it’s my profession and I’m a good interpreter. I will talk to my brother Zeller.”
http://rt.com/usa/afghan-interpreter-safe-fear-danger-996/
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Uighurs scorn Tiananmen 'terrorist' claim
AFP | Oct 31, 2013
BEIJING: Members of China's mostly Muslim Uighur minority and overseas groups on Thursday dismissed China's account of a Tiananmen Square " terrorist attack" as a dubious pretext for repression, amid signs of stepped-up security.
Beijing police said on Wednesday that Usmen Hasan - in an SUV carrying his mother and wife, jihadist banners and machetes - sped onto the pavement, crashed in front of a giant portrait of Mao Zedong and set the car alight.
The incident in the symbolic heart of the Chinese state killed two tourists, with 40 other people injured, and all three in the car died, police said. Five other suspects with Uighur-sounding names were captured within 10 hours, although police only announced their detention two days later.
The Uighur minority is concentrated in China's far-western region of Xinjiang, where ethnic tensions and discontent with the government periodically burst out into violence.
Beijing regularly calls such incidents "terrorism", but Uighur organizations dismiss that as an excuse to justify religious and security restrictions. Information in the area is tightly controlled.
"I don't think there are any Uighur terrorist organisations, but China gives us a terrorist hat," said a Uighur at a university campus in the capital, who asked not to be named.
"I love this country but I'm afraid that people won't understand me," he added. "It's possible that some would take this kind of extreme measure, but because ... they had a very sad experience." He and other Uighurs around the capital described discrimination they had encountered. A chef in a Xinjiang restaurant declined to talk about terrorism for fear he would come "under pressure".
Alim Seytoff, a US-based spokesman for the overseas World Uyghur Congress (WUC), called the official narrative of the Tiananmen event full of holes and discriminatory.
"The Chinese claim is in a way very unbelievable, to some extent outrageous," he told AFP. "The only reason this is labelled as a terrorist incident is because the passengers happened to be Uighurs," he added
Seytoff questioned why an attacker would kill his own family, and how religious material could survive in a car engulfed in flames.
"Why would he bring his mother and his wife?" Seytoff said. "The car was burned almost to the ground, the three people were burned to death, and the flag wasn't burned — in the car?"
Seytoff said there was a pattern of authorities labelling Uighurs as terrorists based on "thin evidence". He dismissed claims of organised resistance in Xinjiang, describing incidents instead as "sporadic, individualistic, out of desperation".
According to Chinese state-run media a "terrorist attack" in the Turpan area in Xinjiang left 35 people dead in June, and 139 people have been arrested in recent months for propagating jihadist ideology.
Ethnic tensions have risen in Xinjiang since millions of members of China's Han majority moved to the resource-rich region, where they largely control the economy. Rioting in the capital Urumqi involving both ethnic groups in 2009 left 200 people dead.
Seytoff warned Uighurs could face tighter repression after Monday's incident, particularly in the capital, where the WUC said 93 people have been rounded up.
In Xinjiang residents of Turpan said security had been ramped up, as it was after the June violence. A restaurant manager surnamed Wang said police had alerted them to "prepare against attacks".
State-run media warned Thursday Uighurs would be the "biggest victims" of the Tiananmen incident.
Police had refrained from stating the attackers' ethnicity but the Global Times, which is close to the ruling Communist party and often strikes a nationalist tone, said that all those involved were Uighurs.
"People from Xinjiang, especially the Uighurs, will be the biggest victims," it said. "The ordinary work and study of Xinjiang people" in other parts of China "may be affected," it added, urging people in Xinjiang to "understand the negative effects and overcome them by cooperating".
It also exhorted Han Chinese to "make the Uighurs feel our sincerity". Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying condemned the Tiananmen incident on Thursday as "an action against humanity, society and civilians".
It was "extremely wrong" to link the actions of "a small group of extremists with Chinese policy on ethnic groups and religion", she added.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Uighurs-scorn-Tiananmen-terrorist-claim/articleshow/25004355.cms
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Militant activities spreading in China, experts warn
PTI | Oct 31, 2013
BEIJING: The daring suicide attack at Tiananmen Square here marks a major shift in militant activities as they have spread from the troubled Xinjiang province to the rest of the country, Chinese experts have warned and called for a united front against terrorism.
"Violent terrorists are the common enemies of all China ... People from Xinjiang and the inland regions should join hands in fighting against violent terrorist forces," state-run Global Times said in its editorial titled "China needs united front against terrorism".
"The violent terrorists involved in the incident are all Uighurs. Society will see the real negative effects brought by the violent terrorists," it said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Militant-activities-spreading-in-China-experts-warn/articleshow/25003944.cms
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Southeast Asia
Ex-Jihadist Says Prison Best Place to Recruit New Terrorists
Oct 31 2013
The Indonesian prison system is a fertile recruiting ground for terrorist organizations to find new recruits, a former jihadist said on Wednesday.
“By going to several jails, I have direct experience of seeing that terrorists continue to recruit new members that they met and trained in jail,” Abdul Rahman Ayub, a former member of Jemaah Islamiyah, said in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, as quoted by the state-run Antara news agency. “That is why the number of terrorists continues to rise.”
Ayub said that many incipient terrorists were radicalized in jail, where many had arrived to serve sentences for minor crimes.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ex-jihadist-says-jail-best-place-to-recruit-new-terrorists/
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Malaysian parents still believe the country is a good place to raise kids
OCTOBER 31, 2013
Malaysians may complain about the country’s politics, stagnant wages and rising cost of living but many still think Malaysia is a good place to raise their children.
According to a survey of parents in five Asian countries conducted by global market research company Ipsos, Malaysian parents polled first with 75% of fathers and 76% of mothers agreeing to bring up their children in the country.
Parents from other countries were more pessimistic, with South Korean parents the least hopeful about having their children grow up in their native land – only 21% of fathers and 13% of mothers agreed that South Korea is a good place for children to grow up.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysian-parents-still-believe-the-country-is-a-good-place-to-raise-kids
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Muslim group says RM10-million Klang temple will send out wrong message
Oct 31 2013
A Muslim non-governmental organisation is against the rebuilding of a Hindu temple in Klang (pic) at a cost of RM10 million, saying it will create a negative impression among Muslim tourists from the Middle East and undermine the government’s Islamic credentials worldwide.
Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman said such development is not covered in the Federal Constitution under freedom of religion because it exceeds the rationality of religious freedom.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/muslim-group-says-proposed-rm10-million-klang-temple-will-send-out-wrong-me
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Perak Perkasa wants action over YouTube clip mocking court ruling on Allah
Oct 31 2013
The Perak chapter of Malay right wing movement Perkasa today lodged a police report over a YouTube clip, which it claimed mocked the Court of Appeal decision on the use of the word Allah.
Its head Mohd Hafez Mubin Mohd Salleh together with 10 other Perkasa members lodged the report at the Ipoh police headquarters in Ipoh, at 1.44pm.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/perak-perkasa-wants-action-over-youtube-clip-mocking-court-ruling-on-allah
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Arab World
War in Syria is not a war between Shia and Sunni: Syrian Refugees
'If We Cared About Sunni-Shia Differences, We Would Never Have Got Married' - Syrian Refugees
Oct 31 2013
If you still wish to think that the war raging in Syria is of religious character, you only have to speak to people to revise your opinion, because practically every family’s story defies the theory.
Foreign militants and their associates are not interested in how inter-religious and inter-communal relations are built in Syria. Neither are they aware of such a well-known fact in Syria that Bashar al-Assad’s wife is a Sunni. Because it undermines the basic idea of the Syrian conflict, according to which Sunnis are allegedly fighting against Alawites and Shias. The president’s family is not an isolated case – on the contrary, it is quite widespread. There are a number of families who turn the concept of the religious Shia-Sunni war in Syria on its head. Two and a half years of attempts aimed at splitting Syria into groups separated by religious background have fallen by the wayside, largely because of such inter-religious marriages.
Zahir and Lina fled from Homs in November 2011. He is a Sunni, she is a Shia. They live in the north of the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, in Hermel. The apartment building they live in was hit by a shell on April 20, 2012.
Full report at:
http://rt.com/op-edge/syria-refugees-sunni-shia-marriage-908/
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Qaeda recruits enter Syria from safe houses in Turkey
31 October 2013
Hundreds of al-Qaeda recruits are being kept in safe houses in southern Turkey, before being smuggled over the border to wage “jihad” in Syria, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
The network of hideouts is enabling a steady flow of foreign fighters - including Britons - to join the country’s civil war, according to some of the volunteers involved.
These foreign jihadists have now largely eclipsed the “moderate” wing of the rebel Free Syrian Army, which is supported by the West. Al-Qaeda’s ability to use Turkish territory will raise questions about the role the Nato member is playing in Syria’s civil war.
Turkey has backed the rebels from the beginning - and its government has been assumed to share the West’s concerns about al-Qaeda. But experts say there are growing fears over whether the Turkish authorities may have lost control of the movement of new al-Qaeda recruits - or may even be turning a blind eye.
Full report at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10415935/Al-Qaeda-recruits-entering-Syria-from-Turkey-safehouses.html
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Assad to UN envoy: Peace talks can succeed only if foreign aid to rebels stops
Oct 31 2013
Syrian President Bashar Assad told the Arab League-UN envoy Wednesday that foreign support for the armed opposition must end if any political solution to the country's conflict is to succeed, state-run media said.
Assad's comments to Lakhdar Brahimi during their meeting in Damascus cast further doubt on already sputtering efforts to convene an international peace conference to try to end the country's civil war.
Full report at:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.555309
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US aid needed to battle al-Qaida: Iraqi PM
AP | Oct 31, 2013
WASHINGTON: A bloody resurgence of al-Qaida in Iraq is prompting Baghdad to ask the US for more weapons, training and manpower, two years after pushing American troops out of the country.
The request will be discussed during a White House meeting Friday between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Barack Obama in what Baghdad hopes will be a fresh start in a complicated relationship that has been marked both by victories and frustrations for each side.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-aid-needed-to-battle-al-Qaida-Iraqi-PM/articleshow/24975723.cms
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Watchdog: all of Syria’s chemical production facilities destroyed
31 October 2013
All of Syria’s declared chemical arms production equipment has been destroyed ahead of a Saturday deadline, the international chemical weapons watchdog said in a document obtained by Reuters.
“The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is satisfied it has verified, and seen destroyed, all declared critical production/mixing/filling equipment from all 23 sites,” the document said.
OPCW teams had inspected 21 out of 23 chemical weapons sites across the country.
The other two were too dangerous to inspect but the chemical equipment had already been moved to other sites which had been inspected, it said.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/10/31/Watchdog-Syria-has-destroyed-chemical-production-facilities-.html
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World urged to help Jordan end restrictions on Syria refugees
AFP | Oct 31, 2013
AMMAN: Amnesty International today urged world support to help Jordan and other countries hosting Syrian refugees end border restrictions on those fleeing the conflict, saying hundreds are being turned back.
In a new report, Amnesty highlights the difficulties faced by people who are trying to escape the conflict in Syria to neighbouring countries, mainly Jordan.
The tiny desert kingdom hosts more than 500,000 Syrian refugees, including some 120,000 in the northern Zaatari camp near the border.
"It is unacceptable that scores of people from Syria, including families with small children seeking refuge from the fighting, are being denied admission by neighbouring countries," Philip Luther, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/World-urged-to-help-Jordan-end-restrictions-on-Syria-refugees/articleshow/25003888.cms
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Saudi Arabia translates Qur'an to Kurdish
World Bulletin / News Desk
Oct 31, 2013
The head of religious affairs in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, Kamil Haji Ali, has revealed that Saudi Arabia is preparing to publish Kurdish translations of the Holy Qur’an.
On returning from the Hajj pilgrimage, he said ‘We are very pleased to know that Kurdish translations of the Qur’an will be published. Everyone, especially our pilgrims, are overjoyed to hear this news. We thank the Saudi Arabian government for this.’
Full report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=121741
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Sharia, army top Egypt’s constitution debate
Oct 31, 2013
At the same time, the military that toppled Mursi is pressuring the assembly to make it virtually independent of — or even above — the elected government. The panel has been sharply divided over an article that would allow the generals, not the president, to choose the defence minister — a sign of the army’s wariness of being under the control of an elected civilian.
Full report at:
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/egypt/sharia-army-top-egypt-s-constitution-debate-1.1249524
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Egyptian police disperse pro-Morsi students at Al-Azhar
31 October 2013
Police have entered al-Azhar University in the Egyptian capital Cairo to disperse students protesting in support of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
The interior ministry said it had responded to a request for help from university authorities.
Pro-Morsi students had been holding protests at the campus for weeks.
The operation come hours after the arrest of Essam al-Erian, a senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood movement to which Mr Morsi belongs.
Mr Erian is vice chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Brotherhood's political wing. Prosecutors had ordered his arrest in July, after the military ousted Mr Morsi.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24746310
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India
Where Are Muslim Ministers? Community Finds Little Representation in Power
ZEESHAN SHAIKH
Oct 31 2013
Mumbai: The battle for the Muslim vote has now been joined by the BJP, led by Narendra Modi. However, as figures across the country show, the community finds little representation in power, irrespective of which party is ruling.
Of the 28 states in the country, 13 have no Muslim ministers. That includes all the four states ruled by the BJP, where the party has no Muslim MLA either.
Just 57 of the total 609 ministers across various states, or 9.35 per cent, are Muslim. As per the 2001 Census, Muslims make up 13.43 per cent of the population. Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir accounts for as many 18 of those 57 ministers. If J&K is taken out, the entire country has all of 39 Muslim ministers.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/where-are-muslim-ministers--community-finds-little-representation-in-power/1189437/?india_top
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Muzaffarnagar violence: Four persons were killed Eight arrested, cases against 15
PTI | Oct 31, 2013
MUZAFFARNAGAR (UP): Eight persons have been arrested and cases registered against 15 people in connection with fresh communal violence in Budhana area of Muzaffarnagar district where paramilitary forces are patrolling tense areas.
Four persons were killed on Wednesday night as communal violence erupted afresh in Budhana area of Muzaffarnagar district, which was hit by riots last month leaving 62 dead.
Eight persons were arrested in connection with the latest round of violence and security was enhanced in the entire district where tension ran high, officials said.
Cases have been registered against 15 persons at Budana Police Station, SSP, Muzaffarnagar, H M Singh said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Muzaffarnagar-violence-Eight-arrested-cases-against-15/articleshow/24976460.cms
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India-Pakistan meet on the cards
Oct 31 2013
An India-Pakistan meeting could take place on the margins of a multilateral meeting to be held in Gurgaon on November 11 and 12, said official sources.
No agenda has been drawn up in case External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid gets to interact with Pakistan Prime Minister’s Foreign Adviser Sartaj Aziz, who is arriving to attend the ASEM (Asia- Europe Meeting) Foreign Ministers’ meet. As Pakistan is yet to make a formal request for the meeting, official sources in the Ministry of External Affairs said techni-cally the Centre is yet to take a call on whether an interaction would take place.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indiapakistan-meet-on-the-cards/article5297868.ece
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Centre keeping watch on Muzaffarnagar situation: Shinde
PTI | Oct 31, 2013
NEW DELHI: In the wake of fresh violence in Muzaffarnagar, the home ministry is keeping a close watch on the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and has sought a report on it.
"We are keeping a watch on the situation. We have also sought a report from UP," Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Centre-keeping-watch-on-Muzaffarnagar-situation-Shinde/articleshow/24993282.cms
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North America
Pakistan still supports terror operations in India: US expert
PTI | Oct 31, 2013
WASHINGTON: Pakistan continues to support terror operations in India even after Nawaz Sharif has taken over as the new Prime Minister, a former top Pentagon official and an eminent defence analyst has told the US Congress.
"They support terror operations in India with terrorist organisations. They support the Haqqani network and the Taliban in conducting operations against the United States and Nato and Afghanistan. They've got blood all over their hands with the casualties," General (Retd) Jack Keane said yesterday.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Pakistan-still-supports-terror-operations-in-India-US-expert/articleshow/24973351.cms
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NYPD Must Ditch Discriminatory Muslim Surveillance for Its Own Good
Faiza Patel
Oct 31 2013
Twice in the course of the last month, the New York City Police Department has been forced to defend its Muslim surveillance program in court. Police documents show that at least since 2003, the NYPD's Intelligence Division intensively monitored the daily lives of law-abiding American Muslims in the city and surrounding areas. The department's argument that there is no such program — it simply follow leads and goes where they take it — flies in the face of this publicly available evidence. And its refusal to acknowledge that Muslims may have legitimate concerns about surveillance will likely take the NYPD down the same unproductive path it followed with its stop-and-frisk program.
Full report at:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/30/nypd-muslim-surveillancediscrimination.html
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Islamophobia in New York Is Mainstream
Oct 31 2013
In a New York City civil court, proceedings have just begun in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 12 year old child. The child was reciting an Islamic prayer as he boarded a New York City MTA bus. The driver heard the prayer, and called the boy a terrorist and ejected him from the bus. In another incident, Salleh Uddin, a Bangladeshi cab driver who practices Islam was pulled over by a New York City Police Officer. The officer punched him in the face. Islamic groups in the U.S. like the Council of American Islamic Relations, are calling these incidents "hate crimes." Cyrus Mcgoldrick, a leader of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms, says that events like these, where Muslims are being attacked for their religious beliefs, are not uncommon in the United States.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/10/30/332069/islamophobia-in-new-york-is-mainstream/
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Revealed: NSA pushed 9/11 as key 'sound bite' to justify surveillance
Oct 31 2013
The National Security Agency advised its officials to cite the 9/11 attacks as justification for its mass surveillance activities, according to a master list of NSA talking points.
The document, obtained by Al Jazeera through a Freedom of Information Act request, contains talking points and suggested statements for NSA officials (PDF) responding to the fallout from media revelations that originated with former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Invoking the events of 9/11 to justify the controversial NSA programs, which have caused major diplomatic fallout around the world, was the top item on the talking points that agency officials were encouraged to use.
Full report at:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/30/revealed-nsa-pushed911askeysoundbitetojustifysurveillance.html
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Dearborn, Michigan Is Under Sharia Law, Says Satirical Website, But City Is Not Amused
The Huffington Post | By Yasmine Hafiz
10/30/2013
"City in Michigan First to Fully Implement Sharia Law," declared a National Report headline on Monday, causing an uproar on social media. Over 88,000 people shared the article, and many took action by calling city hall employees in Dearborn, Michigan, to voice their outrage. Dearborn is a suburb of Detroit with a large Muslim population which some say is the second largest Arab population outside of the Middle East.
However, their indignation was unfounded, as National Report, which calls itself "America's #1 Independent News Team," is actually a fake news site a la The Onion, and had posted the article as satire.
Full report at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/30/dearborn-michigan-sharia-law-satire_n_4179045.html?ref=topbar
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US ‘will help Iraq fight terror’
Oct 31 2013
Washington: The United States is aiming to help the Iraqi government battle an increasing threat from Al-Qaeda linked terror groups with military sales and intelligence sharing, a US official said Wednesday.
“We do want to help the Iraqis develop the capability to target these networks effectively and precisely,” the senior official said, after a two-hour meeting between US Vice President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki.
Full report at:
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iraq/us-will-help-iraq-fight-terror-1.1249402
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Europe
Caucasian Muslims Board Issues Fatwa on Muharram, Avoid Harming Yourselves with Chains
Oct 31 2013
The Caucasian Muslims Board has held a meeting on the occasion of the Month of Muharram, APA reports.
The event was attended by chairman of Caucasian Muslim Board (CMB) Sheikh-ul-Islam Haji Allahshukur Pashazadeh and believers of various regions.
The Cadi Council of the Caucasian Muslims Board has issued a fatwa on the occasion of the Month of Muharram.
The beginning of the new year– the first of the Month of Muharram by Christian calendar falls on November 5, 2013 and Ashura on the 10th day of the Month of Muharram - on November 14, 2013.
Full report at:
http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=476914
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Stem ethnic extremism by criminalising internet provocations – Russian minister
Oct 31 2013
Russia’s Interior Minister has labelled fighting extremism and provocations on the internet a priority task. He stated that federal law should be changed to cover crimes committed via cyberspace.
Speaking at the Wednesday session of the Russian upper house, Vladimir Kolokoltsev said that the most worrying thing about extremism was the modern tendency to involve young people in such movements. The police are aware of this trend and have repeatedly thwarted radicals’ attempts to infiltrate communities of football fans and to instigate various illegal actions.
Full report at:
http://rt.com/politics/russian-police-internet-provocations-951/
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Ethnic Russians Increasingly Regard North Caucasus as Foreign Entity
By: Valery Dzutsev
Oct 31 2013
Russian pollsters say that the Russian public has changed its attitude toward the North Caucasus over the years. The authoritative Moscow-based polling organization, the Levada-Center, polled Russians about the North Caucasus throughout the 1990s and 2000s. “When the war was still ongoing in the North Caucasus, the dominant opinion [among Russians] was to suppress [the rebellion] by force,” the Levada-Center’s Natalia Zorkaya told Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot). “Nowadays, the impression is that Russians would prefer not to see anything and not to know anything about what is going on in these regions” (kavkaz-uzel.ru, October 25).
Full report at:
http://www.jamestown.org/regions/thecaucasus/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=41549&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=54&cHash=62c9af63a3c058419517e67a3f5eeecf#.UnLa7XC-rXA
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Russia alarmed by fresh reports Syrian militants using chemical weapons – FM
Oct 31 2013
Moscow is deeply alarmed by fresh reports that extremists used chemical weapons on Syrian soil. This information must be thoroughly verified and investigated says a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Recent reports from the region suggest that Jihadist groups, primarily Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, have stepped up their activities against the Kurdish communities in northeastern Syria. The insurgents besieged a number of Kurdish populated areas, which dramatically complicated the already difficult humanitarian situation in the region, whose residents are short of food, medicines, and other necessities.
Full report at:
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_10_30/Russia-alarmed-by-fresh-reports-of-use-of-chemical-weapons-by-Syrian-militants-FM-0242/
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"Bosnia is a graveyard of innocent Muslims"
Oct 31 2013
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three-membered presidency council’s Bosniak member Bakir Izetbegovic said “Bosnia and Herzegovina is a graveyard of innocent Muslims” at a panel held at Oxford University Islamic Researches Centre, underlining that Bosniaks suffered ill-treatment and massacres throughout history and especially after the collapse of former Yugoslavia.
Full report at:
http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=477023
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Pakistan official drone death toll count sparks anger from rights groups
Oct 31 2013
The Pakistani government said Oct. 30 that 3 percent of 2,227 people killed in U.S. drone strikes since 2008 were civilians, a surprisingly low figure that sparked criticism from groups that have investigated deaths from the attacks.
The number, which was provided by the Ministry of Defense to the Senate, is much lower than past government calculations and estimates by independent organizations that have gone as high as 300. The ministry said 317 drone strikes have killed 2,160 Islamic militants and 67 civilians since 2008.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pakistan-official-drone-death-toll-count-sparks-anger-from-rights-groups.aspx?pageID=238&nID=57140&NewsCatID=356
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BoE’s Executive Director: ‘Deep and Liquid’ Shariah-Compliant Markets Urgently Needed
Oct 31 2013
Not enough focus is being put on the need to develop functioning markets where Shariah-compliant products are easily and quickly traded, said the Bank of England’s Executive Director for Markets Paul Fisher, which must be developed if Islamic finance is ever to reach its full potential.
Fisher, who is also a member of the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, said the Islamic finance sector must develop more products under overarching and well-defined Shariah-compliance standards, and create appropriate hedging tools such as Credit Default Swaps to manage down risk.
Full report at:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/518295/20131030/islamic-finance-uk-london-bank-england-paul.htm
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Pakistan
Osama, Taliban products of western policy: Pak Punjab CM
October 31, 2013
LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said there are bright prospects of increase in trade between Pakistan and Germany in the coming days. He said the both countries have been enjoying best relations since 1947, and added, substantial increase in trade is need of the hour.
He said this while addressing an important meeting of Pakistan German Business Forum in Berlin on Wednesday.
Addressing the meeting, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle welcomed the CM and said that transfer of power through recent elections is a proof of the stable democratic process in Pakistan. He said the role of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for furthering the peace process in Afghanistan and policy of best relations with India is commendable.
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/lahore/31-Oct-2013/osama-taliban-products-of-western-policy-cm
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'Sharif backed ISI operations in Kashmir in 1992': Hussain Haqqani
October 31, 2013
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had asked the ISI in May 1992 to continue its covert operations in Kashmir despite a stern US warning, says a book written by a former Pakistani diplomat Hussain Haqqani.
The book titled 'Magnificent Delusions' is slated to be released next week.
Instead of changing his course, Sharif supported the spy agency ISI and the army noting that Pakistan could not shutdown military operations in India and to counter such a warning from the US, he decided to allocate $ 2 million as a first step to reach out to the American media and the Congress.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/sharif-backed-isi-operations-in-kashmir-in-1992/article1-1145731.aspx
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US drone strike in North Waziristan leaves three dead
Oct 31 2013
MIRAMSHAH: Three suspected militants were killed in a US drone strike in Miramshah bazaar in the North Waziristan tribal region late Wednesday night.
Sources said three people were also injured and that the number of casualties was likely to increase.
This is the first drone strike following Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to the United States and his meeting with US President Barack Obama.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1052945/us-drone-strike-in-north-waziristan-leaves-three-dead
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Will stop Nato supplies if drone attack occurs during Taliban talks: Imran
October 31, 2013
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan stated that his party would bring Nato supplies to a halt if a drone attack is conducted during the Taliban peace talks, Express News reported on Thursday.
He added that “there is a resolution being brought in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly regarding this.”
Previous threat by PTI to choke Nato supplies
Earlier on October 29, PTI had similarly threatened to choke Nato supply routes to fghanistan if the federal government failed to announce a schedule of talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) by November 7.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/625165/will-stop-nato-supplies-if-drone-attack-occurs-during-taliban-talks-imran/
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'Magnificent Delusions' of US-Pakistan relations
Oct 31 2013
Even as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani was one of the most eloquent critics of Pakistan's military, the nuclear-armed country's most powerful institution.
Haqqani, once derided at home as Washington's ambassador to Pakistan for his pro-Western views, has taken a step further, accusing the government of directly supporting militant groups in his latest book "Magnificent Delusions".
Now a professor of international relations at Boston University, he was ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011, a turbulent time in US-Pakistan relations that culminated in a raid by US special forces in May 2011 that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1053123/magnificent-delusions-of-us-pakistan-relations
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Pakistan-India tit-for-tat policy must end: Nawaz
Oct 31 2013
LONDON: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that a tit-for-tat policy between Pakistan and India must end now so that the condition of the people of the two countries could be ameliorated.
Talking to newsmen, Nawaz said he had discussed the issue of Line of Control during his US and UK visits. He said India should have no objection to third party mediation on the Kashmir issue in line with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. “I have a realistic approach to the issue and if there is third party mediation, there should be no hesitation on part of India,” he added. The prime minister said Indian stance on the issue offered no solution as it had proved futile in resolving the issue, and caused three wars between the neighbouring countries in the last 65 years.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\10\31\story_31-10-2013_pg1_1
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‘No Musharraf role in cleric killing’
PTI | Oct 31, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police have cleared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf of any direct involvement in the death of a cleric of the radical Lal Masjid during a 2007 military operation, according to a media report today.
Musharraf was not named as one of the main accused in a police report after a joint investigation team completed its probe into the killing of cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his mother, Express News channel reported.
The former President was named only in Section II of the report, which pertains to those accused of assisting in a crime as opposed to having directly perpetrated it.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/No-Musharraf-role-in-cleric-killing/articleshow/24965100.cms
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Mideast
Death toll in attack on Salafi-held town in Yemen rises to 24
Oct 31, 2013
(Reuters) - The death toll from a Houthi Shi'ite attack on a mountain town in northern Yemen held by their Salafi Sunni Muslim rivals has risen to 24, a Salafi spokesman said on Thursday, as the two sides fought for a second day.
Abu Ismail al-Hajouri said more than 100 people were also wounded in Damaj, which he said the Houthi rebels, who dominate the northern province of Saada, had besieged for weeks.
He said most of the casualties had been inflicted in the past two days when rockets and tank shells hit a mosque and dormitories for students at a nearby religious school. He said Salafis were fighting back with light automatic weapons.
Full report at:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/uk-yemen-violence-idUKBRE99U0NO20131031
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Dozens of Jewish fanatics storm Aqsa to perform rituals
Oct 31 2013
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Dozens of Jewish fanatic settlers stormed the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday morning amidst tight security measures.
Mahmoud Abu Ata, information director at the Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage, said in a press statement that more than 30 Israelis broke into the holy site in groups.
He added that the settlers toured the mosque’s various plazas and tried to perform Talmudic rituals but the presence of hundreds of students and their shouts of Allahu Akbar prevented the settlers’ from completing their rituals.
Full report at:
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/dozens-of-jewish-fanatics-storm-aqsa-to-perform-rituals/
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'Qaeda' gunmen kill 3 in Yemen attack: Official
31 October 2013
Suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen shot dead on Thursday two soldiers and a civilian in an attack on an army checkpoint in the southern province of Abyan, a local official said.
The assailants opened fire at a checkpoint in the Ahwar area, and sped away in their car," said the official, adding that the attack left also three people wounded.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/85227/World/Region/Qaeda-gunmen-kill--in-Yemen-attack-Official.aspx
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Turkey needs second generation of reforms: President Gül
Oct 31 2013
Structural transformations in Turkey have yet to be completed and the country needs a “second generation” of structural reforms that privilege raising the quality of education, President Abdullah Gül said during the opening ceremony of the 5th İzmir Economic Congress on Oct 30.
Gül stated that amid the global financial crisis environment, balances had been reshaped in many countries and states, adding that the international and regional conjuncture offered a golden opportunity for Turkey to close the human and welfare gap with developed countries.
In order to use this opportunity, the country needs to benefit from the dynamics that will boost political and economic stability, strengthen diplomatic gains and assure fast sustainable growth, he said, noting that this would be possible based on demographic, democratic, peace and information developments.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-needs-second-generation-of-reforms-president-gul.aspx?pageID=238&nID=57117&NewsCatID=344
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Closer links a must among Islamic bloc: TOBB head
Oct 31 2013
Trade barriers should be removed among Islamic countries in order for them to realize their own economic potential, according to the head of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Rifat Hisarcıkoğlu.
“The 57 Islamic countries have a vast array of rich economic resources at their disposal, around 65 percent of the world’s oil and gas reserves, but a majority of us unfortunately have not been able to make use of this potential. The share of Islamic nations in the world economy is no more than 11 percent. We should aim to be completely integrated into the world economy, using rich natural resources for the sake of the region and the world,” said Hisarcıklıoğlu, speaking in Tehran at a meeting of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA). He also holds the position of vice-president of the ICCIA.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/closer-links-a-must-among-islamic-bloc-tobb-head.aspx?pageID=238&nID=57113&NewsCatID=344
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Knesset prepares to raise legal marriage age from 17 to 18
Oct. 31, 2013
Ultra-Orthodox MK implies bill would hurt his sector, which traditionally marries young.
The Knesset Constitution Committee Wednesday approved for a final vote a bill that would raise the legal age for marriage from 17 to 18. But when a dispute arose in the committee over who should have the power to authorize underage marriages in exceptional cases, Justice Ministry professionals appeared to be at odds with their minister, Tzipi Livni, on the matter.
Full report at:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.555391
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Foxman slams Kerry remarks as White House courts Jewish leaders on Iran
Oct 31 2013
ADL National Chairman Abe Foxman has slammed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s “inappropriate” remarks rejecting “fear tactics” supposedly being employed in order to dissuade the Obama Administration from pursuing a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear impasse.
Reflecting assumptions that Kerry’s pointed remarks were aimed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foxman told Haaretz: “Those remarks were inappropriate. They were not conducive to the relationship between the two countries. If Kerry had any criticism of Israeli positions, he should have made them privately,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/.premium-1.555205
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Africa
Kenya crackdown on militants troubles Muslims
By Reuters
October 31, 2013
MOMBASA: A Kenyan police crackdown on militants is fueling Muslim resentment and moderate preachers say it undermines their efforts to counter recruiting by al Qaeda militants with links across the border in Somalia.
Smashing militant recruitment networks among its Muslim minority has become a priority for Kenya, however, as it tries to end attacks by Somali militants bent on punishing it for sending troops over the frontier to fight al Shabaab rebels.
The cost of failure was laid bare in September when al Shabaab gunmen, one of whom police say is a Kenyan from the port of Mombasa, raided the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. At least 67 people were killed.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/625145/kenya-crackdown-on-militants-troubles-muslims/
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'Bodies of 87 migrants found in Niger desert'
AFP | Oct 31, 2013
NIAMEY: The bodies of 87 migrants were found on Wednesday in Niger's desert north after they died of thirst just a few kilometres from the border of Algeria, their planned destination, sources said.
The corpses of the seven men, 32 women and 48 children were in addition to five bodies of women and girls found earlier, a security source said.
All died in early October after a failed attempt to reach Algeria that began in late September, the source added.
Almoustapha Alhacen, from local aid organisation Aghir In'man, confirmed the death toll and gave a graphic account of discovering the bodies.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Bodies-of-87-migrants-found-in-Niger-desert/articleshow/24988716.cms
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Australia
Biggest Islamic school in Australia faces closure
World Bulletin / News Desk
Oct 31, 2013
The Malek Fahd Islamic School in New South Wales, Australia, is about to be closed down after inspectors said its registration not be renewed in 2014.
Adrian Piccoli, the New South Wales Education Minister, told ABC News that he was "gravely concerned" about the attendance, curriculum, educational quality, and safety standards of the school.
The New South Wales Board of Studies will meet on 10 December to discuss the school’s future. More than 2,500 students may have to look for a new school if the school is denied registration.
Full report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=121880
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/political-parties-urge-khaleda-sever/d/14237