Page 202 of 212 FirstFirst ... 102152192200201202203204 ... LastLast
Results 2,011 to 2,020 of 2112

Thread: Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

  1. #2011
    China suspends military ties with US
    Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:48:25 GMT

    China says it will impose sanctions on US companies that sell weapons to Taiwan.
    China suspends military exchanges with the US and threatens to impose sanctions on US arms companies over a Washington decision to sell weapons to Taiwan.

    China's Defense Ministry suspended military exchange visits with the US, saying the suspension was "in consideration of the serious harm and impacts [of the 6.4-billion-dollar US-Taiwan arms deal] on Sino-US military relations."

    Chinese Foreign Ministry also threatened to impose sanctions on US firms that sell weapons to Taiwan amid straining relations between Washington and Beijing.

    "China will also impose corresponding sanctions on US companies that engage in weapons sales to Taiwan," the ministry said on Saturday.

    "The United States must be responsible for the serious repercussions if it does not immediately reverse the mistaken decision to sell Taiwan weapons," Chinese deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei told the US ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman.

    The arms sale includes Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, mine hunter ships and information technology.

    US Congress has 30 days to comment before the plan goes forward. Lawmakers traditionally have supported such sales.

    Saturday's measure is the second such suspension, since the former Bush administration in 2008 announced a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan.

    Relations between the two countries have been strained as President Barack Obama plans to meet with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, later this year.

    More complications could affect President Hu Jintao's expected visit to the US this year, as well as talks on human rights that Obama and Hu had agreed to continue, a Press TV correspondent reported.

    AGB/MMN

  2. #2012
    China threatens as US defends Taiwan arms deals
    Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:43:31 GMT

    The proposed US arms deal with Taiwan, which is not recognized as an independent country by neither Beijing nor Washington, includes 60 Black Hawk helicopters, seen here.
    China on Sunday renewed a warning to the United States over its arms deal with Taiwan, after Washington defended the five arms sales transactions worth $6.4 billion.

    "China firmly opposes and is strongly dissatisfied with arms sales to Taiwan by the United States," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement Sunday, Al Jazeera reported.

    China says the deal — which includes 60 Black Hawk helicopters, a pair of Osprey mine-hunting ships, 114 advanced Patriot air defense missiles, advanced Harpoon missiles and loads of advanced communications technology systems — will seriously harm American-Sino ties.

    The fresh warning comes after the Obama administration sparked a diplomatic row with the Communist regime by notifying Congress of its plan to proceed with the proposed arms deal on Friday.

    In an unusually broad series of retaliatory measures on Saturday, China postponed a very important arms control meeting and suspended plans for visits between the Chinese and US military.

    It also announced plans to impose sanctions on certain US arms makers.

    Washington defended the deal and expressed regret about China's reaction.

    "We regret that the Chinese side has curtailed military-to-military and other exchanges" said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell, according to Reuters. "We also regret Chinese action against US firms transferring defensive articles to Taiwan."

    The State Department describes the arms deal to Taiwan — which neither China nor the United States recognizes as an independent country — as a way to guarantee security and stability, despite China's strenuous objections.

    "Such sales contribute to maintaining security and stability across the Taiwan Strait," said Laura Tischler, a State Department spokeswoman.

    MSD/MD

  3. #2013
    Historical differences remain between Japan, China: Study
    Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:55:47 GMT

    Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of Japan is expected to increase his government's cooperation with China.
    Chinese and Japanese scholars have released the result of a three-year joint study showing differences between the two nations on controversial modern events, including the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, remain unresolved.

    Ten historians from each country had gathered to review the history of relations between China and Japan for over the past 2,000 years.

    The investigation, a government-backed project aimed at soothing strained ties, was launched in 2006. It showed that both sides agreed the 1937-1945 Sino-Japanese War was an "act of aggression" waged by Japan.

    However, the study noted different views on the number of Chinese killed by the Japanese army after it seized Nanjing.

    The Chinese side said more than 300,000 were massacred when Japanese troops murdered, plundered and raped Chinese people, while the Japanese pointed to "various estimates" such as 20,000 and 40,000 and up to 200,000.

    The study might expose "differences in views, especially in modern contemporary history" said Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada. "But I think common understanding can gradually be nurtured through repeated meetings."

    The report comes at a time when the new Japanese government is poised to decrease its reliance and economic cooperation with Washington, and turn to Beijing instead.

    MSD/MD

  4. #2014
    8 people killed in Mexico's war on drug cartels
    Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:39:55 GMT

    At least eight people, including two civilians, have been killed in shootouts between Mexican security forces and suspected drug traffickers.

    Violence erupted in the Gulf of Mexico City of Tampico on Friday when soldiers tried to stop a vehicle with suspected gangsters, officials say.

    The alleged drug traffickers threw grenades as they raced through the port city's streets.

    Two civilians and a suspect were killed, while several soldiers were injured, some critically.

    Police also said that armed men attacked a federal police convoy, killing five officers in the troubled areas of western Mexico.

    In a separate incident on Friday, Mexican police discovered six decapitated bodies and severed heads in the western state of Michoacan.

    The victims, found in the town of Acahuato, could not be identified.

    Police blame the notorious La Familia cartel for their signature beheadings, meant to serve as warnings to those who might collaborate with law enforcement.

    More than 15,000 people have been killed throughout Mexico since 2006 after President Felipe Calderon declared a major campaign against drug cartels.

    GHN/MB

  5. #2015
    Cash-strapped US denies entry to quake-hit Haitians
    Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:36:26 GMT

    The US military puts a stop to Haitian earthquake victims entering America for medical attention, due to cost concerns over the victim's treatments.

    Officials say the decision follows some government concerns about who will be footing the medical bill for the quake victims.

    They say Florida and Georgia have made it clear that they cannot afford hosting quake victims without federal help.

    "Florida stands ready to assist our neighbors in Haiti, but we need a plan of action and reimbursement for the care we are providing," said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for Florida Governor Charlie Crist.

    While Crist's request does not clearly state the cost of medical care for the earthquake victims but according to Reuters the cost will amount to millions of dollars.

    The airlift operations from Haiti were suspended on Wednesday.

    American rescue services say medical facilities have been set up in Haiti and offshore to treat the injured.

    "The fact that medical flights aren't taking place does not mean that Haitians who need care aren't getting it," said Navy Captain Kevin Aandahl a spokesman for the US Transportation Command, which manages the military's medical emergency airlifts.

    "We have the medical facilities again on the island as well as offshore."

    The devastating magnitude-7.0 earthquake that rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation on January 12 killed at least 170,000 people.

    MSD/HGH/MMN

  6. #2016
    Kingdom’s real estate market likely to exceed SR82 billion
    Md Rasooldeen | Arab News


    RIYADH: The Kingdom’s real estate market is likely to exceed SR82 billion during the next three years with expectations of the volume of investments to reach SR484 billion, according to Fahad Al-Sultan, secretary general of the Council of Saudi Chambers. He also announced that the Saudi Arabian International Real Estate Conference (SAIRE) would be held in Riyadh from Feb. 28 to March 2.

    He indicated that the real estate sector was the Kingdom’s most important sector after oil. “It has 92 related active industries linked to one another in the sector. It contributes about SR55 billion to the national GDP (gross domestic product) of the Kingdom.”

    Sultan said that according to the data of the development plan, the gross national product of the real estate sector in the Kingdom rose by 50 percent during the period from 1999 to 2008 with an average annual growth of five percent.

    Speaking about the conference, Sultan said it will be held under the patronage of Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah Zainal Alireza with the title “Real Estate Investment: Sustainable Development. He expected the conference to be a brainstorming session with active participation of those connected to real estate in the public and private sectors and the media.

    The official said that following the conference, the participants were expected to call for the establishment of a government authority to look after the Kingdom’s real estate business. Sultan said the local market needed 164,000 to 200,000 housing units per year, pointing out that it required the construction of 2.62 million housing units by 2020.

    “The volume of real estate transactions has doubled to reach some SR1 trillion, and will continue to grow if approved mortgages and real estate financing facilities become a reality in the Kingdom.”

    Hamad Al-Showair, president of the National Committee for Real Estate, said the keynote speaker at the conference would be Prince Mansour bin Miteb, minister of municipal and rural affairs.

  7. #2017
    'Obama shares ancestral ties with 7 ex-US presidents, including George Bush'
    IANS, 1 February 2010, 08:50am IST

    NEW YORK: After finding that seven previous US presidents, including George W Bush and Bill Clinton, are his distant kin, President Barack Obama has now discovered that the nation's newest senator Scott Brown is also his distant cousin.

    The New England Historical Geological Society (NEHGS), which has since 1845 traced the ancestry of Americans of English descent, says Obama is a long-lost cousin of Scott Brown.

    A Republican, Brown created ripples in US politics Jan 19 by winning the Massachusetts senate seat long held by the late Edward Kennedy of the Democratic Party. His win has upset the President's health reform agenda as Obama's Democratic Party has lost the 60-mark filibuster majority in the 100-member Senate.

    In a statement, the Boston-based New England Historic Genealogical Society says it has "uncovered family lines that link President Barack Obama with Scott Brown, the newly elected Republican senator from Massachusetts.''

    The society says Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, and Brown's mother, Judith Ann Rugg, both are descendants of Richard Singletary of Haverhill, Massachusetts, who died in 1687 at the age of 102.

    "President Obama descends from Richard's eldest son, Jonathan Singletary, who later changed his surname to Dunham. Scott Brown descends from Jonathan's brother, Nathaniel Singletary. This kinship makes Obama and Brown 10th cousins,'' the society statement says.

    Like his illustrious descendants (Obama and Brown), Singletary too held public office during his time, serving as town selectman in both Salisbury and Haverhill, Massachusetts, in the 1650s, the statement says.

    In 2008, the society made the startling discovery that Obama is related to seven former presidents, including George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman, and James Madison, as well as actor Brad Pitt.

    Reacting to his family links to Obama, Brown has been quoted in the media as saying that he is happy about his family ties "such distinguished company.''

    The society has also discovered that Brown too is related to six other presidents, including George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Rutherford Hayes.

    With their common ancestry, will Brown make common cause with cousin Obama on health reforms? Unlikely, say political experts.

  8. #2018
    Tony Blair: Poodle or Bulldog?
    By Marwan Bishara in
    on January 29th, 2010

    Watching Blair answering questions of the Iraq public inquiry commission was fascinating for the same reason it was frustrating. It's British.

    Fascinating, because of the precise and disciplined way the five member commission probed the former prime minister about the way in which he arrived at the decision to go to war along side the United States and how he co-managed it with President Bush.

    Frustrating, because the commission is an internal British inquiry with limited mandate - not an international court of justice - one that is commissioned to review and reconstruct the political process behind the war, or the politics behind the policy.

    They stayed focused despite repeated attempts by Blair to turn the inquiry into passionate rhetoric about leadership, judgment and good intentions.

    The commission kept steering the outspoken prime minister away from the macro-strategic to the micro-political.

    In the process, Blair who clearly was conscious he was heard on live television to audiences within the UK and internationally, reiterated his convictions and arguments about post 9/11 threats and risks and about Iraq, Saddam and WMD.

    Alas, the former prime minister spoke for so long, but said very little that is new. Worse, he made gross generalisations about Iraq before and after the war and about the international perception of the war.

    But because the commission wasn't about to enter into a political discussion with the former PM, they, at times, interrupted his diatribes in order to steer him back to the particulars of their inquiry.

    Revealing probe

    Unlike Blair's answers, the commissioners' questions were quite telling. One can detect five main lines of questioning:

    * Did the prime minister commit the UK to a US war of choice in Iraq a year earlier?
    * Did he exploit the inconclusive (fabricated!) intelligence to advance the cause of the war.
    * Did he initiate military cooperation with the US and later the deployment without a clear legal mandate?
    * Did he poorly prepare for the aftermath of the invasion?
    * Did prime minister's relationship with Washington allow the Bush administration to take the UK for granted especially when it took major decisions in Iraq such as disbanding its army?

    At various junctures in the inquiry, it was clear that the well-prepared and patient commissioners have much doubt about the premier's motives, logic, and judgment.

    One needs to wait for the final report to understand the dynamics leading to war and Blair's responsibility, but one can already detect scepticism about the unapologetic and unrepentant premier who has no regrets.

    Tension in the inquiry

    Throughout the long day of questioning, the Commission and Blair had two different strategies.

    Blair tried to emphasize the soundness of the intelligence to go to war, the Commission questioned whether it was suspicious and wasn't sufficient for a UN inspection team or to go to war.

    He underlined the strategic relationship with America, the commission questioned whether the UK had committed itself too early and too hastily to war and subsequently ignored by Washington.

    He stressed how he sincerely pursued a UNSC resolution before war, the commission wondered why he made serious military commitments very early in the process.

    Blair claimed that he was going through the normal political and diplomatic process, and the commission questioned why the attorney General Peter Goldsmith changed his mind and why Blair went to war when all his government's international legal advisors believed the war decision was illegal.

    Last but not least, Blair insisted that it was all about judgment not deception or conspiracy, and the commission highlighted the discrepancies and contradictions in the decision making process behind the judgment.

    Blair was of course the prime minister of a country with long democratic tradition- not a totalitarian state - where judgment is based on transparent, accountable and democratic process.

    Risks and judgments

    Tony Blair based most of his argument to go to war on post 9/11 strategic thinking where threats were harder to predict and risks harder to calculate.

    But answering the commission's questions about the poor planning and preparation for the invasion's aftermath, the prime minister seemed oblivious to the very mindset he was underlining in the argument to go to war, the known unknowns.

    It was clear that neither Iran nor al-Qaeda, nor most Arabs, for that matter, would look kindly or positively at the US/UK invasion. Turkey, the NATO member, and Syria were no less skeptical.

    How could Blair think that the Islamic Republic would be helpful when the Bush administration invaded Iran's two neighbours Afghanistan and Iraq while threatening regime change in Tehran?

    Blair lumped dangers from Iraq and al-Qaida, even though Iraq is a republic that had everything to lose from sanctions, chaos and invasion - all of which benefit al-Qaeda, despite the fact that there were no relations between the two.

    Throughout the day, Blair tried to resell his stale justifications for fighting Bush's war in the public (world) platform provided by the Iraq inquiry, and the latter tried to make him answer some very important questions about the soundness of his leadership and judgment.

    Although he got away with making bombastic and passionate statements and warn that Iran is no different from pre 2003 Iraq, the commission left the door wide open on whether Blair was indeed Bush's poodle.

  9. #2019
    Saffron split: RSS takes on Sena, puts BJP in a spot
    TNN, 1 February 2010, 12:39am IST

    JABALPUR/MUMBAI: The saffron spectrum stood divided over the "Mumbai for Maharashtrians" campaign with Shiv Sena taking on RSS over the Sangh's call to oppose discrimination on the basis of language and violence against "outsiders". The Sena on Sunday said RSS must remember that priority must be accorded to Marathi speakers in Mumbai. ( Watch Video )

    The spat has put BJP, the Sena's alliance partner in Maharashtra, squarely in the cross-fire as it will find it difficult to go against the Sangh line -- all the more so as it was RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who called on his organisation's volunteers to protect north Indians from any bodily harm from the Sena's aggressive "Marathi manoos" credo.

    The war of words is likely to see BJP drawn in on the same side as the Sangh, pitting it against the Sena and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Faced with MNS making a successful grab for its Marathi constituency, the Sena has sought to get back into the Marathi sweepstakes.

    The RSS and BJP have a larger arena to play to in north India, not least in Bihar where elections are due later this year. BJP has observed an uncomfortable silence so far, avoiding a proactive stance on the "Mumbai for natives" campaign. The party realises that there is a salience to MNS's sectional appeal, but BJP has also wooed migrants in the city.

    The BJP may now find it difficult to maintain ambiguity with RSS functionary Ram Madhav reiterating Bhagwat's comments on Sunday, saying, "The Sangh parivar has asked its volunteers in Maharashtra to try and prevent the spread of anti-north Indian and anti-Hindi feelings."

    In response to RSS's remarks, Shiv Sena leader and former CM Manohar Joshi said, "The time has come to remind RSS that Mumbai belongs to Marathi people only and they should get priority here." Mumbai's glory was due to the hard work of Marathi people and they have full rights over the city, said Joshi, echoing Sena chief Bal Thackeray who, after being jolted in the Assembly elections last October, has tried to outdo MNS, even taking on cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.

    In its bid to play the Marathi card, Sena has criticised filmstar and owner of Kolkata Knight Riders IPL team Shahrukh Khan for saying he would have liked to have selected Pakistani players for the T20 tournament.

    On Saturday, Bhagwat had said, "Mumbai is for all Indians. People of all languages, communities, tribes are children of India... Nobody can prevent Indians from moving to any part of the country in search of employment."

    BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who is in Bangalore, declined to be drawn into a discussion on the perceived divergent views on the migrants issue between RSS and Shiv Sena, saying, "I'll first study and verify the statement (of Bhagwat) before reacting."

    A Sena MP, who preferred anonymity, said, "If the BJP subscribes to Bhagwat's line, then the Sena will have to rethink its ties with the BJP."

    The relationship between the two saffron outfits has already been under strain with the BJP supporting statehood for Vidarbha and the Sena vehemently opposing it.

  10. #2020
    Punjab sect declares new religion
    I P Singh, TNN, 1 February 2010, 03:17am IST

    JALANDHAR: In a step that could create a major impact on the socio-political space in Punjab and possibly other parts of the country, Dera Sachkhand Ballan announced a new religion, Ravidassia Dharm, at Seer Gowardhanpur in Banaras, the birthplace of Guru Ravidass, late on Saturday. The occasion was the 633rd birth anniversary of Ravidass, a saint of the Bhakti movement.

    It was also announced that the community would have its separate religious book, Amrit Bani Guru Ravidass, containing 240 hymns of Guru Ravidass, a separate symbol 'Har' and a separate motto 'Jai Gurudev'.

    The move to create a separate religious identity for Ravidassias has been led by Dera Sachkhand Ballan after the killing of Sant Ramananad, the deputy of dera head Sant Niranjan Dass, in Vienna on May 24 last year in Ravidass Temple there. Sant Niranjan Dass was injured in the attack allegedly carried out by some Sikhs. The motive behind the attack is still not known and Austrian police are still investigating the case.

    The move has triggered debate among religious, social and political sections, especially in Punjab. While Sant Surinder Dass Bawa, who is at the centre of the move spearheaded by Ravidassia NRIs, remained unreachable for comments, his aide, identified as Sonu from Kuwait, said that the religious book was released in the presence of dera head Sant Niranjan Dass, other members of the Sant Samaj of the community and delegates from abroad in the presence of thousands of devotees.

    It may be recalled that prior to the Vienna attack on the temple, the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, was recited in Ravidass gurudwaras as the voice (baani) of Guru Ravidass. After the attack, Dera Ballan, making a major departure from tradition, did not place the Bir (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib during the Antim Ardas of Sant Ramanand and read only 40 hymns and one 'sloka' of Guru Ravidass, which is part of the Sikh holy book. A photo of late Sant Sarwan Dass, who founded the dera, was placed in the palanquin.

    Shortly after that, a move to shift the Birs from other Ravidass temples began. The move created a controversy as some sections of the community opposed it. In some temples, the Birs were reintroduced.

    Interestingly, Shiromani Akali Dal and SGPC had been bending over backwards to please the Dera. But, apparently, nothing worked. Not only an Akhand Path was organized at Akal Takht in the memory of Sant Ramanand, an unprecedented step, but SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar also visited the dera. However, he was not allowed to meet dera head Sant Niranjan Dass.

    The move is said to have had the silent approval of some Congress leaders and administrative officials close to the dera.

    Earlier, only 40 hymns and one 'sloka 'of Guru Ravidass, which were part of the Guru Granth Shaib, were treated as his compositions. Now 200 other compositions, believed to be his work, have been included in the new granth. A dera follower, who witnessed the proceedings at Banaras, said that detailed directions about keeping the new religious book were also mentioned in the congregation.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •