Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

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Chavez urges US, Russia to denuclearize themselves
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:01:55 GMT
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A girl shares food with Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega (R) while Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez looks on, during a rally at the ALBA summit, Cochabamba, Oct. 17
Venezuela has called for the elimination of all nuclear bombs asking why powers that possess such weapons of mass destruction are not under pressure to disarm.

“What we propose is for nuclear bombs to be eliminated. Venezuela will never build a nuclear bomb,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told reporters in the central Bolivian region of Cochabamba on Saturday.

The Venezuelan president said his government is working with Russia to develop nuclear energy, stressing Venezuela would only use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

The president also confirmed an earlier announcement by his mining minister that Iranian and Venezuelan experts were working on a joint project to locate the Latin state's uranium reserves.

Earlier, Venezuela's Science and Technology Minister, Jesse Chacon announced Iran has assisted his country in discovering “deposits of uranium as well as gold, diamonds and coltan”.

Chacon added that the surveys are separate from efforts with Russia in developing nuclear energy.

“We're working with several countries, with Iran, with Russia. We're responsible for what we're doing, we're in control,” Chavez said as he addressed a gathering of several Latin American presidents.

Chavez, who is a leading critic of United States foreign policy, has established close relations with Tehran and Moscow in recent years.

MJ/SC/DT

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Obama threatens 'deceptive' insurance industry
Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:13:33 GMT
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US President Barack Obama mounted a frontal assault on the insurance industry over "deceptive and dishonest ads" aimed at derailing his health care legislation.
In an unusually scathing attack on the insurance industry, US President Barack Obama accuses the insurers of airing “deceptive and dishonest ads” to sink his health care overhaul.

President Obama strongly believes that the industry is willing to “bend the truth or break it” to stop him from reforming the system — one of his main promises during the presidential election.

“It's smoke and mirrors,” Obama said. “It's bogus. And it's all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, 'Take one of these, and call us in a decade.' Well, not this time.”

The sharp criticism, which reflects recognition of the possibility of failure in Obama's efforts on the health care, comes as the controversial debate moves from congressional committees to debates in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Earlier, the White House dismissed the study by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), an industry lobbying group in Washington, that concluded the Senate bill would raise annual premiums by nearly $4,000 for typical American families.

The report, which has been panned as misleading, argues that premiums would rise an extra 18 percent under provisions of the Senate bill, to an average of nearly $26,000 for families and $9,700 for individuals in 2019.

“The insurance industry is rolling out the big guns and breaking open their massive war chest to marshal their forces for one last fight to save the status quo,” Obama said. "But what I will not abide are those who would bend the truth — or break it — to score political points and stop our progress as a country."

The White House is concerned that the insurance industry and its powerful lobby will entice people to resist change just like it did with former US President Bill Clinton's health care overhaul efforts back in the 1990s.

“They're filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads. They're flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions. And they're funding studies designed to mislead the American people” complained the president about the insurers' attack on the legislation.

MSD/MD

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Bomb blasts kill 3 more US troops in Afghanistan
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:36:31 GMT
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Amid a rising number of causalities for US forces in Afghanistan, two separate bomb attacks have claimed the lives of three more American troops in the volatile country.

The NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said that two of the soldiers were killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, while another was killed in the south of the country the same day.

"Two US service members were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in eastern Afghanistan on October 16, and one US service member was killed in an IED attack in southern Afghanistan on the same day," ISAF said.

The incidents come just a day after four American soldiers were killed in a bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan.

This year has been the deadliest for NATO troops in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.

More than 400 international forces have been killed in the war-torn country in 2009.

JR/SS/MMA

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Guns to hit Saudi market for first time
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:58:00 GMT
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Saudis will be able to buy handguns and other personal firearms openly for the first time, the country's interior ministry has anounced.

The ministry also stated that it would license privately-owned gun shops.

Anyone over 25 with a clean criminal record and a bank guarantee of SR 500,000 (some US$133,000) can apply to open a gun store, Arab News reported.

The move is aimed at reining in the widespread illegal ownership of handguns and assault weapons, a Saudi official said.

Hunting and sport shooting weapons are currently sold in specialty stores in Saudi Arabia and all weapons have to be licensed.

The ministry has also announced its decision to give Saudis permission to run shooting clubs.

MGH/MTM/DT

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US to spend 1.3 billion USD on Afghan bases
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:53:35 GMT

US soldiers at the main US base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan
While Washington weighs its options on sending more troops to Afghanistan, the US military is spending billions of dollars on upgrading its bases in the country.

The Washington Post reported in its Sunday edition that the US military wants to spend 1.3 billion dollars on more than 100 projects across Afghanistan.

Some 30 million dollars of the money will be spent on the main US base located near the northern Afghan city of Bagram to build a passenger terminal and adjacent cargo facility to handle the flow of troops.

The move is aimed at ensuring that Afghanistan's infrastructure can support the US and NATO forces for years to come.

The US military has already spent roughly 2.7 billion dollars on construction in the past three years.

This comes as Washington says it closed its 2009 fiscal year with a record 1.4 trillion dollar budget deficit.

RZS/MTM/DT

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SRINAGAR – Like thousands of fellow farmers, Safder Hussain rejects government order to relocate from Kashmir’s Dal Lake. “I live here and I will die here,” Hussain told Agence France Presse (AFP) Saturday, October 17.
Hussein has been living on the banks of the iconic lake, around which Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar is built.

For years they have eked out a tough but decent living, growing vegetables and fruit on floating “fields” made of reeds and composted weeds.

But this left its touch on the breath-taking Lake, which is slowly choking to death on sewage, silt and weeds.

The blue color of the lake water run brackish green with the effluent flushed directly into the lake from hotels and houses on the shore.

The wooden houseboats, build in the mid-19th century by British colonial officials, which were once seen as a complement to the lake's beauty, stand now accused of accelerating its demise.

“Pesticides used by farmers find their way into the waters, causing colossal damage to fauna and flora,” said Ajaz Rasool, a government engineer involved in the preservation project.

“The dwellers also discharge all their waste into the water body.

“Shifting them is mandatory for saving this lake,” Rasool said.

The government issued orders for the 90,000 farmers and Lake dwellers to move from the area into new areas, citing efforts to preserve the lake.

It also allocated $230 million for the conservation effort, and the lion's share of that is earmarked for the removal and rehousing of the floating farmers.

“We will do whatever it takes to preserve this lake,” said Nasir Aslam Wani, minister for preservation of water bodies in Kashmir.

Where to?

But the farmers accuse the government of depriving them from their only source of living.

“They only gave us a piece of land, nothing else,” said Malla Begum, a widower with four children who was among one of the first to take up the government offer.

Sharing his misery with other 1,300 who accepted the offer, Begum cut his family off from their main source of income.

“They didn't give us a shop or a job,” said Begum.

“Our kids earn something and what little they earn, we eat at night.”

Seeing their fellows’ misery, remaining Kashmiris were more determined to reject the government relocation plans.

“Look, it's simple. If I leave this lake, I'll die of starvation,” said Mumtaz Hussain, a 65-year farmer.

“How will I earn? What will I eat?

“They should provide us jobs before moving us out,” he said.

Source: IslamOnline

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AHMEDABAD: Terming the killing of 95 Muslims in Naroda Patiya area of the city during 2002 riots as "unparallelled in modern society", the Gujarat

High Court has said such incidents "undermine the very foundation of law".

The observation was made recently by Justice Abhilasha Kumari while rejecting the bail application of Subhashchandra Darji, an accused in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case who was arrested by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in November last year.

"The present case is not comparable with any ordinary case. The background of the case and its effect on the public cannot be overlooked," the court said.

"In fact, it is a case of wanton, mass carnage, almost unparallelled, in modern society. Such offences invariably have a negative impact upon the larger interest of the public and the State and undermine the very foundation upon which the edifice of rule of law is built," it noted.

Darji was employed with the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) in 2002 and was working in its workshop at Naroda Patiya.

He is accused of throwing burning rags on residents of Hussain Nagar Chawl. Out of the 95 killed in the Naroda Patiya area, 58 were from the Chawl.

TOI

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Mixed messages in hunger report


ActionAid says a child dies of hunger every six seconds
Brazil and China have been praised for their efforts to tackle hunger, in a development charity's report released to coincide with UN World Food Day.
But the ActionAid report criticises India and others countries for not doing enough to alleviate the problem.
The agency also ranked rich countries, saying Luxembourg is trying hardest to end global hunger, while the US and New Zealand rank bottom.
Studies estimate that one billion people are malnourished globally.
That figure, given in studies by a number of think tanks and aid agencies, represents roughly one in seven of the world's population.
ActionAid's report, Hunger Free, says hunger is "a choice that we make, not a force of nature".
"Hunger begins with inequality," it says, and then grows because of "perverse policies that treat food purely as a commodity, not a right".
"It is because of these policies that most developing countries no longer grow enough to feed themselves, and that their farmers are amongst the hungriest and poorest people in the world," says ActionAid.
'Unacceptable'
Among the developing countries ranked, Brazil wins the top spot, with the aid agency praising President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's support for land reform and community kitchens for the poor.
ActionAid said Brazil's success shows "what can be achieved when the state has both resources and political will to tackle hunger".

BBC

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MUMBAI: A team of state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) team on Saturday reached Goa to question two of the suspects detained in connection with the explosion in Margao in Goa. The suspects belong to a right-wing outfit, Sanatan Sanstha.

One member of the outfit was killed in the blast on Friday, while another is battling for his life.

The deceased, Malgonda Patil, was riding a scooter with Yogesh Naik when the blast occurred. The two-wheeler belongs to another Sanstha member, Nishad Bakhale. He has also been detained.

"The ATS team will try to get more information about the case," said ATS chief Krishna Pal Raghuvanshi, adding that Naik hails from Sangli district. A police team also went to Naik’s house in Sangli for investigation. Senior ATS officials said they were probing if those detained or the deceased had any association with another organisation, Abhinav Bharat, members of which were arrested for the 2008 Malegaon blast.

The ATS in 2007 had arrested six members of the Sanstha for their role in bomb blasts at Thane, Panvel and Vashi. The six accused, two of whom were full-time sevaks of the outfit, had allegedly planned the blasts to protest against a Marathi play, Aamhi Pachpute. The had contended that the play was depicting Hindu gods and goddesses in poor light. The ATS had then said that the arrested Sanstha members were taught how to make bombs and had conducted a recce of the blast sites.

Margao town was abuzz with activity on Friday night as it hosted ‘Narakasur’ effigy competition, which is a tradition on the eve of Diwali. The blast took place close to the competition venue.

The police have recovered a cellphone and other gadgets from the place where the two deceased were staying. Goa police said in Sancoale near Vasco, another blast was averted.

TOI

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MARGAO: Five Hindu activists were detained on Saturday with Goa police, investigating the blast in Margao on Friday night, claiming strong signs of complicity of Sanatan Sanstha, a right-wing Hindu organisation, in the crime. Police claimed further damage was prevented as they managed to defuse three other explosive devices.
Meanwhile, Malgonda Patil succumbed to the injuries he received in Friday’s blast. The other injured, Yogesh Naik is critical and battling for life at the Goa medical college and hospital. Police have registered cases under sections 121, 122, 123 of IPC and Section 4 & 5 of explosive substances act against both, members of the Sanatan Sanstha, said DIG R S Yadav. "Four bombs were planted, of which one exploded and two were defused in Margao and another near the Shantadurga temple at Sancoale on Friday night itself in Vasco, about 20 km from Margao.

The materials used for the IEDs were similar and comprised of gelatin sticks to which small clocks and plastic boxes with circuits were attached. "Investigations have revealed that the bag containing one of the IEDs was placed in the scooter, which went off while the scooter was being parked. The involvement of the two persons who were critically injured in the blasts in carrying out the explosions has been established," said R S Yadav.

"We are questioning almost all the Sanatan Sanstha members as the duo belonged to the group," said SP Atmaram Deshpande, SP and PRO of Goa police. Police sources said five persons associated with Sanatan Sanstha, including Yogesh Naik’s brother Suresh and a certain Sandeep Shinde from Pune, were being interrogated. A team of the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad has reached Goa for investigations. The Sanatan Sanstha is linked to the Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (as reported by TOI on Friday).

The Margao blast was a part of a "larger conspiracy to endanger law and order situation in the state on the occasion of Narkasur effigy burning competitions held at various places across the state", said Yadav.
The police resumed its search on the premises of Sanatan Sanstha’s ashram at Ramnathi, Ponda, on Saturday and are learnt to have found some incriminating substances. "The raids started at 9 am and ended at 2.30 pm.

Altogether 30 rooms were searched and we have found some suspicious items like watches and some other electronic items. There were some 167 inmates, including some foreigners, residing at the ashram without any valid identity documents in violation of the law," a senior police official said. Sources said the Maharashtra police also conducted similar raids at the Sanatan’s Sangli and Miraj offices.

TOI