Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

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Oil prices predicted to reach triple-digit level
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:12:01 GMT
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Oil prices spiked to a one-year peak of 82 dollars amid plunging US gasoline reserves and the weakening dollar.
A Deutsche Bank economist predicts oil prices to reach $100 a barrel sometime in the next two quarters as the US dollar continues losing value against the euro.

"We think the dollar could weaken further to $1.60 against the euro and it implies pushing oil prices to that threatening triple-digit level," Adam Sieminski told Reuters on Sunday.

A fragile dollar could signify that "oil prices have even further to run," Deutsche Bank said in a research note adding that a surge to $100 a barrel may hurt a global economic recovery.

"We believe that $80 oil is not high enough to derail the global recovery, but our economics team would start looking for weaker overall consumption at $100 a barrel prices," the note said.

Last week, oil prices spiked to a one-year peak of 82 dollars amid plunging US gasoline reserves and the weakening dollar.

The falling greenback makes dollar-priced oil cheaper for buyers holding stronger currencies, and therefore tends to stimulate crude demand and prices.

Meanwhile, OPEC members would be willing to control the oil price by raising output, although it is a hard decision to implement considering their refinery capacities.

"OPEC may want to calm the market with more crude, but it's not clear that refiners have an appetite to take it," Sieminski wrote.

Iran's OPEC governor said Tuesday that the oil-producing group is unlikely to raise output unless demand sees a rise before it meets in December.

"There's no shortage of oil in the market," he said, adding that OPEC was unlikely to increase production in a bid to push down prices.

OPEC members are scheduled to meet in Angola in December to decide on their future quotas. The 12-member body last met in September and decided to leave output unchanged as prices were at satisfactory levels.

MVZ/SC/DT

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Death toll rises to 147, Baghdad to mourn 3 days
Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:31:19 GMT

Iraqis gather at the site of a massive bomb attack at the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25.
The death toll in the double bombing that hit Baghdad on Sunday has risen to 147 and Iraq has declared a three-day national mourning period.

There have been no claims of responsibility so far.

Thirty-five employees of the Ministry of Justice and at least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council were among those killed. 721 people were injured, including three US contractors.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited the site of the twin blasts shortly after the incidents, walking among the mangled and blackened cars that lay in front of the blast walls. Al-Maliki said he holds Baathists and al-Qaeda responsible for the attacks.

The fact that two government buildings were hit shows that the terrorists are still capable of launching major attacks, and many fear such attacks will only increase in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, which are scheduled to be held in January.

Many pundits say the terrorists' double bombing was meant to paint the Iraqi leader as incapable of providing security to the beleaguered city and to undermine his political support.

Other analysts say the terrorists are trying to make Iraqis too afraid to vote in the parliamentary elections.

FTP/SS/HGL

The result of American controlled democracy

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Germany to send back US nuclear weapons
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:07:28 GMT


New Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister designate Guido Westerwelle at Sunday's meeting of the German Free Democrats (FDP)
Incoming German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has said Berlin will seek the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons based in Germany in support of Washington's fervor for a world free of nuclear arms.

"We will take President Obama at his word and enter talks with our allies so that the last of the nuclear weapons still stationed in Germany, relics of the Cold War, can finally be removed," Deutsche Welle (DW) network quoted Westerwelle as saying.

Westerwelle made the comments Sunday at a meeting of his business-friendly FDP party — which became a partner of reelected Chancellor Angela Merkel's new coalition government after reaching an agreement with Merkel's Conservatives.

"Germany must be free of nuclear weapons," he said, adding that he would personally make efforts towards that purpose.

Merkel confirmed that the goal was shared by both partners in the coalition and that the two sides would approach NATO and the US to remove the weapons, without 'any independent action'.

Meanwhile, the new government, which is due to take office on October 28, stormed a day of criticism on Sunday, with opposition leaders and the media complaining of a fiscally reckless and socially unjust plan.

Some 20 US atomic warheads are believed to have been deployed to Germany during the United States' nuclear weaponry rush in the 1950s, but no official information is available to public on the whereabouts of the weapons.

Some of the missiles are believed to be stationed at the Buechel airbase in the western German state of Rhineland- Palatinate, DW said on its website.

ZHD/AKM

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Russia, US ready to renew START treaty
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:47:46 GMT

Russia and the United States hope to have a legally binding document renewing a key agreement on limiting their nuclear arsenals by the beginning of December.

The two sides started talks in Geneva last week on the renewal of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires on December 5.

"Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama are counting on preparing a legally binding document on the START agreement by the beginning of December," the Kremlin said in a statement after the presidents had a phone conversation.

The latest round of talks took place in Geneva earlier this week.

Washington and Moscow agreed earlier this year to draft a new nuclear deal to succeed START, marking the first tangible step in the thaw in US-Russian relations heralded by the advent of the Obama administration. START, signed in 1991 just before the break-up of the Soviet Union, bound both sides to deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals.

Negotiations have been dogged by bargaining over the deployment of the US missile defense shield in former Soviet bloc states in Eastern Europe, a project that has angered Russia.

START 1 obliged the two countries to reduce nuclear warheads to 6,000 and their delivery vehicles to 1,600 each. In 2002, a follow-up agreement on strategic offensive arms reduction was concluded in Moscow. The document, known as the Moscow Treaty, envisioned cuts of up to 1,700-2,200 warheads by December 2012.

SG/SS/HGL

JOKE?, START a treaty signed to cut nuclear heads in 1991 will be expiring on December 5 of 2009, and instead of decreasing they have piled and multiplied there arsenal's, & now the joke is that they are reviewing the treaty.

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Karadzic trial to begin Monday
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:22:51 GMT

Radovan Karadzic faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, now in custody on genocide charges, is due to stand trial at the international tribunal of The Hague.

The 64-year-old ex-president will be tried at The Hague on Monday over his supervisory role in Europe's worst atrocities against former Yugoslav Muslims and Croats since the World War II.

Over 100,000 people were slaughtered and 1.8 million others displaced between March 1992 and November 1995 after Karadzic's administration waged war against the then independence-seeking Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina following the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, the families of the victims have been heading towards the international court in the Netherlands, demanding justice to be delivered to the war criminal.

Serbia's first leader Slobodan Milosevic, also accused of crimes against humanity, died in custody in October 2000 before a court ruling could be delivered against him.

Serbia's former Army General Ratko Miladic, still at large, is also another top commander charged with genocide and ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Europe.

GHN/AKM

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Karadzic boycotts start of trial

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has failed to appear at his trial on 11 charges including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Mr Karadzic denies the charges, which relate to the Bosnian war of the 1990s.
The judge adjourned the court for one day, and requested Mr Karadzic, who is representing himself, to appear.
However, a legal adviser for Mr Karadzic told the BBC he would not appear as he still needed at least nine months to prepare his defence.
Mr Karadzic, 64, was taken to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague last year, after 13 years in hiding.

When you speak to a woman who tells you that 21 members of her family have been assassinated, you can easily measure the importance of this trial
Serge Brammertz
ICTY Chief Prosecutor

Karadzic faces his day in court
Secrecy still shrouds Srebrenica
Profile: Radovan Karadzic
His legal counsel in Belgrade said he would not attend on Tuesday unless the lengthy delay was granted, and he would also reject any counsel imposed by the court.
Judges' options
Judges began the trial, which has already been put back twice, at The Hague on schedule on Monday, with the prosecution present.
Judge O-Gon Kwon adjourned proceedings less than 30 minutes after the court opened.
"We request Mr Karadzic to attend so that his trial is not further obstructed," he added.
The judge said the court could impose a defence lawyer on Mr Karadzic, among other measures, should he display "consistently obstructive behaviour".

AT THE SCENE

Peter Biles, The Hague
There was a sense of anti-climax as the judges and the prosecution team entered the trial chamber. The chair reserved for Radovan Karadzic was empty. And he had no legal representation in court. The prosecution made it clear that they're ready for this trial to start. They said there was a choice to either allow Mr Karadzic to represent himself, and frustrate the proceedings, as he has done on Monday, or assign legal counsel to represent him, if he refuses to appear. After 15 minutes the judge adjourned the proceedings until Tuesday afternoon.
The prosecution called for the tribunal to impose counsel on Mr Karadzic.
Survivors of the conflict were shocked at the delay.
Admira Fazlic had watched the brief proceedings from the public gallery.
"Radovan Karadzic is making the world and justice ridiculous. He is joking with everybody," she was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
Mr Karadzic is not due to give his opening statement until next week.
The former president of Republika Srpska, head of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and commander of the Bosnian Serb Army has refused to enter pleas, but says he will co-operate with the court to prove his innocence.
Wide-ranging attacks
He was indicted in 1995 on two counts of genocide and a multitude of other crimes committed against Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb civilians during the 1992-1995 war, which left more than 100,000 people dead.
The charges relate to several events, including the campaign of shelling and sniper attacks on Sarajevo during the 44-month siege of the city, in which some 12,000 civilians died.
Mr Karadzic is also accused of being behind the massacre of more than 7,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and youths in Srebrenica in July 1995, and of attacks on more than a dozen Bosnian municipalities in the early stages of the war.
"The prosecution alleges that Karadzic committed all of these crimes together with other members of a joint criminal enterprise with the aim to permanently remove Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat inhabitants from the territories claimed to be a part of the so-called Serbian Republic," the ICTY said in a statement.

THE CHARGES
Eleven counts of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities
Charged over shelling Sarajevo during the city's siege, in which some 12,000 civilians died
Allegedly organised the massacre of up to 8,000 Bosniak men and youths in Srebrenica
Targeted Bosniak and Croat political leaders, intellectuals and professionals
Unlawfully deported and transferred civilians because of national or religious identity
Destroyed homes, businesses and sacred sites

Q&A: Karadzic on trial
At a glance: Hague tribunal
Mr Karadzic faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Correspondents say the judges want to complete the trial by 2012, conscious that the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic ended without a verdict after four years when he died in custody.
Prosecutors have abbreviated the scale of their case, which Mr Karadzic says depends on more than a million pages of testimony, and will call fewer witnesses and include alleged crimes in fewer locations.
"This trial is important for the victims who will finally see justice being done," chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz told AFP news agency.
"When you speak to a woman who tells you that 21 members of her family have been assassinated, and for some of them she even has no idea where the bodies are, you can easily measure the importance of this trial."
Mr Brammertz said his only regret was that the former Bosnian Serb military leader, Ratko Mladic, would not be in the dock on Monday.
When Mr Karadzic was found living disguised and under a false name in Belgrade in July 2008, some officials claimed that Gen Mladic would be next. But more than a year on, Gen Mladic is still at large.

BBC

Already old enough to die, still he is not being arrested for his massacre's of muslims, even if convicted then he might spend a year or two in jail for killing more than 100,000 people. Most probably he will die before his conviction.

Saddam was hanged for killing 600, but here as a christian has killed muslims therefore no need to hurry of convict them, even for name sake they convicts then they will do it after hsi death or for a year or two in prison for killing 100,000 innocent human beings, this is justice, democracy and freedom for which the west cries

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CAIRO – Britain became the latest European country to join the furor over burka, an outfit covering the whole body from head to toe, after a college banned a Muslim student from entering the class over the wearing.
“We do require all students of Burnley College to have their faces visible when at the college,” principal John Smith told the Telegraph Saturday, October 24.

“We are determined to maintain the highest standards of teaching and learning in Burnley College.

“It is not possible to maintain this essential full communication of the face of any student is not fully visible,” he said.

Shawana Bilqes was barred by the college from enrolling for the Access course for an HE Diploma.

The 18-year-old Muslim student was sent a letter by the college rejecting her enrollment.

“I tried to compromise but they wouldn't,” Bilqes said.

“The college sent me a letter to say I could continue with my course if I stopped wearing the veil.”

The college defended its decision to ban the Muslim girl.

“Where individuals are able to comply with these reasonable requirements, which apply to all students equally, we would be very pleased to admit them to Burnley College,” Smith said.

“Where individuals decline to comply, then I am afraid that we cannot accommodate them.”

The majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands.

They say that it is up to every woman to decide whether to take on the face-cover or not.

Personal choice
The Muslim student defended her right to wear burka on campus.

“It is my choice to wear the veil,” Bilqes said.

“I live around the corner from the college in an area where there are so many practicing Muslims.”

Burka has been making headlines in the West since France’s Communist MP Andre Gerin proposed a parliamentary probe into what he describes as the rising number of Muslims wearing the outfit.

The call was followed by a proposal by Italy’s far-right Northern League party to prosecute women wearing burka.

Earlier in 2006, the leader of Britain’s House of Commons, Jack Straw, caused a controversy when he suggested that Muslim women should abandon wearing the face-veil because it was a "visible statement of separation and difference".

Straw’s call sparked outcry across the European country and across the Muslim world.

“We are in the 21st Century and we get people from all walks of life,” Bilqes said.

“I'm in the police cadets as well and yet it's not a problem wearing the veil there.”

Source: IslamOnline

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WASHINGTON — America’s Muslim community is celebrating 15 years during which the Council on American Muslim Relations (CAIR) had many achievements and faced many hardships in defending and advancing Muslim rights and civil liberties. “The organization and the community have grown tremendously, in terms of size and influence, compared to zero size and influence at the time we established CAIR,” Nihad Awad, co-founder and executive director of CAIR, told IslamOnline.
“Muslims now feel that there is a Muslim organization that can defend their rights.”

CAIR celebrated on Saturday, October 24, its 15th birthday in a ceremony attended by hundreds of Muslims from all walks of life who came to show support to the group.

A galaxy of US Muslim leaders and activists, government officials and Congressmen also showed up to share the special moment, themed “Leading the Change…15 Years of Service.”

Representatives of other faith communities were also present, including leading rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, a key speaker, and Rabbi Steven Jacobs.

Established in 1994, CAIR is a non-profit grassroots organization headquartered in Washington DC, with 35 offices and chapters across the US and Canada.

It strives to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

“It was the right thing to do at the time,” CAIR Chairman and North Carolina Senator Larry Shaw told IOL.

“It was what is needed to organize the aspirations of Muslims in this country.”

Though there are no official figures, America is believed to be the home of nearly 7-8 million Muslims.

“We are in a better position to go forward to the next level,” asserts Senator Shaw, the longest-serving Muslim elected official in the US.

Challenges

But Awad notes that the Muslim organization has been through many challenges during these years. “The road was never rosy,” a smiling Awad said.

Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s Communications Director and one of its founders, agrees.

“There has been a lot of water under the bridge since our first day standing in front of a hotel which fired a woman for wearing hijab, to the hundreds of thousands of cases, editorials and media interviews that we have done,” he told IOL.

CAIR processed nearly 2,500 civil rights discrimination cases on behalf of Muslims in 2006, and more than 9,500 in the past decade.

Awad recalls that the first challenge they met was the reluctance of many Muslims to be engaged and their lack of confidence that the system can work for them.

“We have proved them wrong over the years that the system can work for them, but they have to show up and they have to be organized, and to take action.”

CAIR executive director says another challenge along the way was dealing with the media.

“We have shown that we can work with the media effectively. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but I think American Muslims understand the media culture now.”

Hooper asserts that to do that CAIR conducted hundreds of seminars nationwide on how Muslims can write press releases and organize actions.

“Fifteen years ago we were the only ones who can issue press releases or work with the media,” he recalls.

“Now after we trained so many people and people become more mature, spokesmen for small mosques all around the country can make press releases and contact the media and work with government officials.”

“Not Intimidated”

But the media also had shown another face to CAIR in recent years, with fierce attacks by right-wing media outlets over Funding and alleged ties to terrorist organizations. “They attack you when you are effective,” Awad contends.

“They feel that the growth of Islam and the development of the Muslim community are threatening their agenda.”

Just a few days before the 15th anniversary, a new book, “The Muslim Mafia”, accused CAIR of trying to infiltrate Congress through interns on the Judiciary, Intelligence and Homeland Security Committees.

Four House Republicans formally requested an investigation to determine if CAIR is a security threat.

Even the FBI decided earlier this year to server cooperation with CAIR on the pretext of its links to some radicals.

Awad lamented that the attacks have intensified in the wake of the 9/11 attacks as the media joined hands with far-right groups.

“They exploited unfortunate incidents that were done by some Muslims who are not from our community, and tried to generalize, bash and cash.”

But he is confident that CAIR would overcome such hardship.

“We are not afraid and we are not intimidated. The pressure should not deter us from doing what is right.

“CAIR is a firefighter. It has to continue to fight the fires of hate and ignorance, and reach out to people with the mercy that our religion advices us with.”

Source: IslamOnline

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CAIRO — A mob of English racists, neo-Nazis, right-wingers, football hooligans and racist thugs are planning a huge anti-Muslim march in Glasgow, near Scotland’s biggest mosque, the Sunday Mail reported on October 25. "A lot of the different firms down here seem to have buried the hatchet and are sickened by the rising tide of Islam," said Stephen Gash, an English businessman and a member of the Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) group.
“Whether or not that is the case in Scotland, we will have to see.”

A group calling themselves the Scottish Defence League made and then withdrew an official application to stage a march on November 14 in Glasgow.

"There will not be an appropriately organized or licensed public procession," a Glasgow City Council spokesman told the Mail.

Yet behind the scenes, preparations are underway for a huge demonstration on that date, undercover Sunday Mail investigators have discovered.

Expected to show up for the anti-Muslim rally are English racists, neo-Nazis, far-right trouble makers, football hooligans and right-wingers, including senior activists of the British National Party (BNP).

They include Essex security boss Leisha Brookes, BNP activist Chris Renton, Aston Villa fan Richard Price and Jeff Marsh, a 44-year-old convicted football hooligan.

“Glasgow may well be the biggest march yet,” said Gash has helped organize similar protests in Harrow, Middlesex which descended into chaos.

"In Scotland, we will be demonstrating the strength of our support, which, across the UK, is growing at rate of almost 1000 a month,” said Brookes, 42.

Senior police officers and politicians fear the flare-up of violence, especially that the illegal march is expected to take place near Glasgow Central Mosque.

There are more than 50,000 Muslims making up less than one percent of the Scottish population, according to the Scottish Islamic Foundation.

Muslims are the second largest religious group in Scotland, which has thirty mosques, including twelve in Glasgow.

Racist Invasion

The Sunday Mail asserts that most of the protestors would be coming from England, not Scotland.

"There will be a lot of English guys travelling up for the Glasgow march from all over the place - Bristol, Luton, Birmingham,” said Gash.

“A lot of the football firms like Aston Villa get involved. I have a lot on but I will be going to Glasgow.”

The same trend happened in a recent similar anti-Muslim rally in Swansea held by the Welsh Defence League eight days ago.

"In Swansea, the vast majority of protesters were actually English and that will be the same in Glasgow,” said Taha Idris, of Swansea Bay Racial Equality Council.

"It was quite obvious that a lot of people had come from elsewhere for the rally.

“They are basically a rent-a-mob and a bunch of troublemakers. There are serious football hooligans attached to these people."

Source: IslamOnline

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S Korea clone scientist convicted


Hwang Woo-suk was a hero in South Korea until the revelations of fraud
A South Korean court has convicted the disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk of fraud over his stem cell research.
He was given a two-year sentence suspended for three years.
The 56-year-old scientist's work had raised hopes of finding cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's.
But his research was declared bogus in 2005, and he was put on trial the following year for embezzlement and accepting money under false pretences.
Hwang's research made him a South Korean hero until revelations that it was false shocked the nation.
"He was guilty of fabrication," the Seoul court said, adding that Hwang illegally diverted a portion of the money he received for research for his personal use.
Prosecutors had demanded a four-year prison term but instead the court suspended his two-year sentence, saying "he has shown he has truly repented for his crime".