Pakistan Begins Military Offensive against Taliban
DAWN: ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces began an offensive on Sunday to stop the Taliban’s creeping advances in Lower Dir, Reuters reported a military spokesman as saying.

The operation in Pakistan’s troubled north came amid growing worries in the United States about the stability of its nuclear-armed ally after militants began extending their clout.

‘Intense exchange of fire is going on in Lower Dir,’ a military spokesman told Reuters. >>> By Zeeshan Haider | Sunday, April 26, 2009

Man Accused of Beheading Wife Arraigned
Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan, the founder of Bridges TV, the man who beheaded his wife in Buffalo, USA, pleaded “not guilty” on Friday. Photo of the Pakistani who wanted to bring his barbaraian ways to civilization courtesy of Newsday
NEWSDAY: BUFFALO - The founder of a Muslim-American television station pleaded not guilty Friday to beheading his estranged wife.



Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan, 44, is charged with one count of second-degree murder for the Feb. 12 death of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan at the offices of Bridges TV in the suburb of Orchard Park.



The Pakistani-born businessman, who has been in custody since reporting his wife's death soon after it happened, remained held without bail.



"The proof of guilt in this case is strong," prosecutor Colleen Curtin Gable told Erie County Judge Thomas Franczyk. She cited alleged admissions, forensic evidence and "strong motive evidence." Aasiya Hassan was stabbed multiple times and decapitated less than a week after having her husband served with divorce papers.

"We believe he would and could flee the jurisdiction if released," Gable said in arguing against bail.



Defense attorney James Harrington did not oppose the position.



Hassan did not speak during his brief arraignment, except to tell the judge he understood the proceedings.



Harrington declined to comment afterward.



The case against Hassan is striking in its irony. Muzzammil and Aasiya Hassan launched the Bridges TV network in 2004, saying they wanted to counter negative stereotypes and media portrayals of Muslims.



Harrington has dismissed suggestions by some that the beheading was a so-called "honor killing," rooted in cultural notions about women's subordination to men.



District Attorney Frank Sedita said Muzzammil Hassan's two teenagers by a previous marriage and the two young children he had with the victim are living with relatives.



Bridges TV was off the air in the days following the killing, but has since resumed broadcasting. [Source: Newsday] The Associated Press | Friday, March 13, 2009

Hat tip: Jihad Watch >>>>

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‘Islam Can Be Used to Curb Tobacco Use’
SINDH TODAY: Mumbai – An Iraqi cancer specialist’s view that the teachings of Islam can be used to curb tobacco consumption has found favour with experts from several nations, especially those with Muslim majorities, who attended the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health here.

“Islam can be used as an effective tool for tobacco control among Muslims, who constitute 22 percent of the world’s population,” Lath Yahya Ibrahim Mula Hussain, an oncologist from Iraq, told IANS.

“It is a hard fact that most Muslims have fallen prey to tobacco. Islam is a powerful tool that can be used to guide the lives of Muslims across the globe but it ought to be used effectively,” said Hussain.

He added that a large number of Muslim scholars and clerics are not convinced about tobacco being dangerous and hence haven’t taken steps to prohibit it. >>> ik/sh/jg | Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
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