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Thursday, October 02, 2008
MAIL Online: The BBC has received more than 100 complaints after EastEnders showed a Muslim breaking their Ramadan fast by eating a snack on the soap opera.
It is believed that a large number of Muslims were angered by the recent storyline involving character Masood Ahmed claiming it insulted their religion.
The married Asian postman, played by Nitin Ganatra, was spotted by wheel-chair bound character Ian Beale having a bite to eat during the holy month.
During Ramadan, which ended earlier this week, Muslims are not meant to eat or drink between the hours of dawn and sunset.
The plot was meant to show the character's 'fallibility' according to bosses, but it seems to have backfired with a number of the soap's loyal viewers.
As a result of the short scene, aired earlier this month, the corporation received about 110 complaints amid claims it had been wrong and offensive.
Some complained that it had trivialised a very serious religious experience while others are understood to have said it was not realistic.
Now the BBC has been forced to issue a statement saying it did not mean to cause any offence by the storyline.
A BBC spokesman said: 'Although Masood is a practising Muslim he is not intended to be representative of the British Muslim experience.
'He's a fictional character with flaws who realises he has let himself down in a moment of weakness.'
The soap showed the character being repentant for what he had done. … [Source: Mail Online] By Paul Revoir | October 2, 2008
Comment and read the rest of the story (which is not related to Islam) here.
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THE INDEPENDENT: Britons have a reputation for their cosmopolitan culinary tastes, and rightly so. Many Indian dishes, albeit anglicised versions, have been assimilated into the national cuisine. Going for a Chinese or an Italian has long since passed from the exotic into the quotidian. Even supermarkets sell sushi. Yet Jewish cuisine, possibly the most varied in the world, has taken its time to catch on here in the UK with non-Jews. Chicken soup is seen as too simple for gastronomes, and dumplings and chopped liver are too stodgy or rich for the health-conscious. Now, though, its moment may have come.
As Jewish and Middle Eastern food writer Claudia Roden points out, Jewish cuisine has been influenced by every nook and cranny in which the Jewish diaspora has found itself. Her guide, The Book of Jewish Food, contains more than 1,000 recipes. "So many people who aren't Jewish tell me they cook all the time out of my book," she says this week, while preparing a New Year's dinner for 30. "It has everything from Italian to Indian and a huge variety of vegetable dishes."
Denise Phillips runs a Jewish cookery school in north London, and specialises in combining the kosher traditions of her 5,000-year-old religion with modern cooking techniques and trends. "Jewish cooking is the ultimate in fusion cooking," she says. "Jews have travelled all over the world fleeing persecution. What they've taken with them are their classic dishes, and they have merged them with whatever is indigenous to produce a cuisine that adheres to kosher."
The standard dishes often thought of as Jewish food, though narrow in their interpretation, are the favourites of the Ashkenazi communities who originated in the German Rhineland and have been migrating eastwards over the past thousand years, to settle in Hungary, Poland and Russia, and spreading as far afield as the United States, South Africa and Australia. Eighty per cent of the international Jewish community is Ashkenazi. New York, more than anywhere else, is thought of as home to the salt beef sandwich. Beyond the Bagel: Modern Jewish Dishes Are an Amazing Mix of Flavours and Cultures >>> By Sophie Morris | October 2, 2008
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ARAB TIMES | KUWAIT CITY : Kuwait Human Rights Society (KHRS) Chairman Dr Adel Al-Damkhi has asked the government to put pressure on the officials of ‘YouTube’ — a video sharing website — to delete all derogatory statements about Islam and Muslims from the site, reports Al-Seyassah. Urging the authorities to take the necessary legal action in case the website fails to erase the statements, Al-Damkhi stressed “uttering profanities against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the worst form of human rights violation in the world. Attacks on the values and tenets of Islam are extremely dangerous and unacceptable.”
Al-Damkhi pointed out the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) strongly condemns attacks on the holy prophets and religions. He confirmed KHRS recognizes the importance of freedom of conducting scientific research, exchange of information, and significance of the latest technologies and media on human lives, but it is against how ‘YouTube’ depicts Islam. He said this is an outright violation of the human rights of millions of Muslims all over the world. [Source: Kuwait Crime News: Arab Times]
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ARAB TIMES: Kuwait : Securitymen have arrested two homosexuals, who were engaged in immoral acts inside a commercial complex in Salmiya. According to sources, a team of securitymen on routine duty in the area arrested the suspects after noticing their ‘unusual’ behavior in the complex. A case was registered and the homosexuals were referred to the authorities for the necessary legal action. [Source: Kuwait Crime News: Arab News] |No Date or Journalist’s Name Available (NDJNA)
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ASSOCIATED PRESS: PARIS (AP) — Security officials from several European countries have developed a manual to help prison authorities prevent their jailhouses from becoming incubators for Muslim extremists.
The manual, developed by France, Germany and Austria, includes signs that may indicate that a prisoner was becoming radicalized, including the presence of a growing beard. A prison group feared the manual could stigmatize Muslim inmates.
The document was distributed at a two-day closed-door conference of European security experts that ended Wednesday. It will be given to prison personnel.
Prisons "can be a facilitator and an accelerator" of radicalization and inmates are often "strongly destabilized" and therefore malleable, said Christophe Chaboud, head of France's Anti-Terrorist Coordination Unit.
"It is not a question of religion but of confrontation with the West," Chaboud said in a telephone interview.
Islam is the second-largest religion in France and, while there are no official figures available, Muslims make up a large part of the inmate population — the majority in some prisons.
A disproportionate number of Muslims can be found in prisons in other European Union countries.
France, working with EU partners, found they shared problems of Muslim radicalization in prisons, Chaboud said. U.S. officials are also concerned about the potential for radicalization in their prisons.
The manual contains sensitive information drawn from experiences from European and other security officials, including New York City police, Chaboud said. For security reasons, there are no plans to make its contents public.
Experts say radicalization can range from an interest in religious books to hostility toward non-Muslims seen in a refusal to shower with them. Several top officials said new beards were one warning sign. Manual Outlines Muslim Radicalization in Prisons >>> By Elaine Ganley | October 1, 2008
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THE GUARDIAN: Serious Fraud Office investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering
British investigations into BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, appear to have revived today after it was disclosed that a key BAE agent has been raided.
Investigators from the Serious Fraud Office arranged for the agent, Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, to be raided in Austria.
Austrian prosecutors said the raids were carried out at the request of the SFO investigating allegations of bribery and money laundering.
The Austrian police seized a quantity of documents from the home and office of Mensdorff-Pouilly, who has been accused of receiving millions of pounds from BAE for promoting deals. He is the Viennese laird of a Scottish castle.
The SFO's investigations into BAE have been controversial as the government stopped its inquiry into Saudi arms deals. Critics have alleged that the government is soft on BAE and has placed the company above the law and effectively made it immune from prosecution - an accusation denied by ministers. Fraud Investigators Raid BAE Agent's Austria Home >>> Rob Evans | September 30, 2008
REUTERS:
RPT-Austria Raids Lobbyists in Jetfighter Bribery Probe >>> | September 30, 2008
WALL STREET JOURNAL:
Police Look for Bribery Evidence in Case Against BAE >>> By David Crawford and Daniel Michaels | October 1, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH:
Austrian Addresses Visited in BAE Serious Fraud Office Probe: Police in Austria have visited a number of addresses as part of a UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation into claims that defence company BAE Systems was involved in bribery to secure aircraft contracts in the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The police visited the Austrian home and office of Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, a lobbyist who owns a castle in Perthshire.
The SFO is thought to have asked the Austrian authorities for help with its continuing probe into the defence company. The lobbyist's lawyer, Harald Schuster, said any allegations of wrongdoing were groundless.
Despite abandoning its investigation into BAE's dealing with Saudi Arabia, the SFO has continued to look at the company's defence contracts in other countries, including South Africa and Tanzania. >>> By Russell Hotten | October 1, 2008
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THE TELEGRAPH: The controversial novel The Jewel of Medina may not be published in Britain after the firebombing of her publisher’s London home.
Author Sherry Jones had called on the British public to ensure that her book is published here, but Mandrake learns that the publication of The Jewel of Medina in this country has been postponed indefinitely.
The book concerns one of the prophet Mohammed’s wives.
Alan Jessop, the managing director of Compass, the external sales team of Jones’s publisher Gibson Square, says the publication is now in “suspended animation” after the attack on Martin Rynja’s house in London.
“He is in good spirits, but he is reflecting and taking advice on what the best way forward is,” says Jessop. “Everyone is going to have to be patient. This requires some careful thinking.”
The historical novel, in which Jones tells a fictionalised version of the life of Aisha, one of Mohammed’s wives, was due out in Britain on Oct 15. Its American publisher, Beaufort Books, said it intends to publish on that day.
Gibson Square’s London office remains closed. Jessop says Rynja will be talking to security forces, whose intelligence alerted them to the attack before it took place, and “people who might have an interest in the content of the book”. [Source: The Telegraph] By Tim Walker, Mandrake Editor | October 1, 2008
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THE TELEGRAPH: Panicked savers are moving billions of pounds from high street banks into accounts that guarantee their deposits amid fears that another financial institution could collapse.
The few banks that guarantee 100 per cent of their customers' savings have seen a significant surge in the number of people opening accounts in recent days.
In the wake of the enforced nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, the emergency takeover of HBOS and a series of banking failures in Europe and America, consumers are seeking security for their money.
Currently, only the first £35,000 of a saver's deposits are protected. Gordon Brown has promised to increase this to £50,000, but this new limit is unlikely to come in for several weeks.
The Irish government meanwhile, has moved to guarantee, for the next two years, all customers' money deposited into one of the six big Irish banks – including those with branches in Britain.
Currently, only the Post Office - whose savings accounts are run by the Bank of Ireland, the taxpayer-backed Northern Rock and National Savings & Investments - the Government's savings scheme - offer a similar guarantee.
As a result, they have seen a surge in interest from consumers, while the high street banking industry warns it is suffering as a result.
The volume of interest was so great yesterday that Northern Rock was forced to pull its most popular account, and Anglo Irish Bank was not able to answer any more customer calls.
This is despite Anglo Irish Bank, for instance, offering some of the highest rates in the UK, with some fixed-term savings accounts offering more than 7 per cent.
According to analysts, billions of pounds has left British banks and entered either one of the Irish banks directly or the Post Office. Financial Crisis: Call for All Savers' Deposits to Be Guaranteed to End 'Panic' >>> By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor | October 2, 2008
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Wednesday, October 01, 2008
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BELIEFNET: We recently received word of a landmark victory for religious freedom in a case we're handling in the United Kingdom. We represent a Syrian married couple who are both former Muslims who became evangelical Christians. The husband was training to be a radical Muslim imam, but in 2003, he became a Christian and informed his family of his conversion. His family members told him that, if he did not return to Islam, they would "wash their shame," meaning that he would be put to death. He left Syria for the United Arab Emirates and hid from his family out of fear that he might be found and harmed.
The couple received threats after beginning to share their Christian faith with Muslims on the Internet, including receiving a video of a beheading. The husband learned that his father and other people upset over his conversion to Christianity were looking for him and that his father had obtained a Syrian court order to the police to locate him. Due to the risk of death they both faced, the couple traveled to the United Kingdom, with the support of their local church, and sought asylum. They have continued to share their Christian faith during their time in the U.K.
If they were to be deported to Syria, they would face a clear risk of death under Sharia law due to their conversion to Christianity. Many converts from Islam to Christianity face great risk to their well being, including death, for accepting Christ and sharing their faith because apostasy--changing one's religion from Islam to another faith--is a crime punishable by death under Sharia law. In addition, the United States Department of State has documented the Syrian government's long and uninterrupted history of engaging in gross human rights violations including arbitrary arrest, forced disappearance, incommunicado detention, torture, and death. UK Judge Recognizes Grave Threat Posed to Converts from Islam to Christianity >>> By Jay Sekulow | October 1, 2008
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THE WHITE HOUSE: I send greetings to Muslims everywhere celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Breaking the Fast.
During the three-day festival of Eid al-Fitr, Muslims celebrate the completion of their fast and the blessings of a renewed faith.
On this special occasion, families and friends around the globe gather to share traditional foods and congratulate each other on meeting the test of Ramadan.
Our Nation has millions of citizens who practice Islam, and our country benefits from their many contributions. This holiday is also an opportunity for Muslims to reflect on Islam's vibrant culture, which has enriched civilization for centuries.
Laura and I send our best wishes. Eid Mubarak.
GEORGE W. BUSH [Source: The White House] | September 30, 2008
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THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION OFFICIAL WEBSITE: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has sent his greetings to Muslim communities for the festival of Eid ul Fitr, marking the end of Ramadhan. The Archbishop’s greeting celebrates the many positive examples of Christian Muslim encounter and engagement with the wider common good in the past year. He looks forward in the year ahead to further opportunities for ”opening doors into a renewed future which is the constant task for all people of faith".
The full text of the greeting is below:
To Muslim friends and co workers [sic] in the Common Good
It is a great pleasure once again to be able to send my warm greetings to friends and colleagues of the Muslim communities on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr and to wish you the joy of celebrating the breaking of the fast.
The celebration of Eid provides opportunities for putting the past behind and for opening doors into a renewed future which is a constant task for all people of faith. There are aspects of our society’s attitude to religious faith and practice which need to be addressed; and there are matters relating to religious freedom in some countries of Islamic governance that need to be challenged. Christianity and Islam can do much, together with other religions, to encourage an openness to a better future for all in these and many other respects.
A strong sign of such future possibilities was the prominent public witness in London this July of the Muslim and other communities of faith in support of the Millennium Development Goals; the growing collaboration of Muslim Aid, Muslim Relief and Christian Aid is another.
Furthermore, the co-operative working of our faithful, and of our scholars and religious leaders in the past year has also been notable in the work of the Christian Muslim Forum in this country; in the international discussions prompted by the Common Word initiative; in the dialogue meetings sponsored by the King of Saudi Arabia; in the continuing study and friendship within the Building Bridges Seminars; and in our ongoing encounters with the leadership of Al Azhar al Sharif. I rejoice in these signs of hope.
I look forward in the year ahead to pursuing together the many opportunities that are open to us to change for the better some of the perceptions that have clouded the understanding of religion in general and of Christianity and Islam in particular.
In the meantime I send you my congratulations on a faithful completion of Ramadhan, my wishes for a joyful celebration of Eid and my hopes for a just and peaceful year ahead. [Source: ACOW] Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace, Posted By : Admin ACO | October 1, 2008
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GALA.fr: Son statut de fashion victime, la garde des Sceaux a mis un trait (de rouge à lèvre) dessus. Séduire, faire tourner les têtes ou tomber les chemises, voilà bien le cadet de ses soucis. Rayonnante, resplendissante même, depuis qu’elle attend cet enfant qu’elle désirait tant, la future maman n’a plus besoin des artifices de la mode. Non, son bonheur suffit à Rachida Dati…
Certaines ont des envies de fraises, d’autres de bâtons de craie… La grossesse de notre ministre de la Justice lui donne des ailes et la conduit derrière les barreaux. Son planning des deux dernières semaines donnerait le tournis à n’importe qui: voyages en Bulgarie, en Israël et en Cisjordanie, permanences à Bruxelles et à La Haye, dîners officiels à Lille puis à Cannes, participation sportive au Famillathlon dimanche... Puis, dans la nuit de lundi, la célibattante doit quitter son lit pour se rendre à la Prison de Grenoble où l'on vient de commettre un meurtre sanglant. Mais pensez-vous que cet excès de zèle donne la nausée à notre future maman? (Bon)point du tout. Rachida Dati, 42 ans, a gagné en tonus, en maturité et en rusticité! Fini les essayages à rallonges dans les salons privés des grands couturiers. Les heures perdues pour dégoter une tenue en exclusivité. Seul compte aujourd’hui l’épanouissement de son ventre rebondi. Loin des diktats de la mode, la belle métamorphosée prend à cœur ses deux priorités: sa mission gouvernementale et plus encore, son bébé à venir, son trésor. La ministre de la Justice se rhabille... >>> Justine Boivin | Mercredi 1er octobre 2008
GALA.fr:
C’est officel: Bernard Laporte dément être le père de l’enfant de Rachida Dati: Après José Maria Aznar, c’est au tour du secrétaire d'Etat aux Sports de nier tout rapport avec la grossesse de la Ministre… >>> | Lundi 6 octobre 2008
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DIE PRESSE: Die EU hat in Georgien mit der Überwachung der Waffenruhe begonnen. Russlands Präsident erwartet unterdessen eine "neue Weltordnung". Die bisherige sei zusammengebrochen und eine neue Gerechtere müsse entstehen.
In Georgien hat die Europäische Union eineinhalb Monate nach dem Südkaukasus-Krieg mit der Überwachung der Waffenruhe begonnen. Nach Verhandlungen mit den im Land stationierten russischen Truppen durften die EU-Beobachter am Mittwoch in die sogenannte Pufferzone um das abtrünnige Gebiet Südossetien fahren. Der russische Präsident Dmitrij Medwedjew erklärte unterdessen, dass er nach den jüngsten Ereignissen im Kaukasus eine neue Weltordnung erwarte. Nach Georgien-Krise: Medwedjew will neue Weltordnung >>> | 1. Oktober 2008
My Essay:
A New World Order >>> Mark Alexander | June 27, 2007
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DIE PRESSE: Im Budgetjahr 2008/2009 sollen 80.000 Flüchtlinge aus aller Welt in den USA aufgenommen werden. Präsident Bush kündigte an, woher wie viele Flüchtlinge kommen werden. USA wollen bis zu 80.000 Flüchtlinge aufnehmen >>> | 1. Oktober 2008
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TAGES ANZEIGER: Der letzte sowjetische Staatschef Michail Gorbatschow und der russische Milliardär Alexander Lebedew steigen in Russland zusammen in die Politik ein.
Die Unabhängige Demokratische Partei welche die Beiden zu gründen planen, werde für «weniger Staatskapitalismus» und die Entstehung von unabhängigen Medien eintreten, teilte Lebedew mit. Die Initiative sei von Gorbatschow ausgegangen. «Er hat unserem Volk die Freiheit gegeben, aber wir lernen einfach nicht, wie man damit umgeht.»
Der 77-jährige Gorbatschow lehnte auf Anfrage einen Kommentar ab. Der Nobelpreisträger ist in Russland äusserst unbeliebt, weil ihm die Auflösung der Sowjetunion 1991 angelastet wird. Bei der Präsidentenwahl 1996 erhielt er nur ein halbes Prozent der Stimmen.
Aeroflot- und Zeitungsanteile
Lebedew kontrolliert mehr als 30 Prozent der Fluggesellschaft Aeroflot. Er und Gorbatschow halten Anteile an der Zeitung «Nowaja Gaseta», bei der die ermordete regierungskritische Journalistin Anna Politkowskaja arbeitete. [Quelle: Tages Anzeiger] (cpm/sda) | 30. September 2008
THE GUARDIAN:
Gorbachev Launches Political Party with Russian Billionaire: Former Soviet leader joins forces with businessman to campaign for legal and economic reform >>> Sadie Gray and agencies | September 30, 2008
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BBC: Blogging in Saudia Arabia can carry risks. The Saudi authorities detained one blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, for four months this year after he called for political reform.
But people are still speaking their minds online. Topics in this selection of posts include a fatwa, repressive Arab regimes, religion as empowerment, and menswear with a twist. Saudi Blogging Round-up >>> | October 1, 2008
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THE GUARDIAN: Shadow home secretary says government has been 'lax on fanatical preachers, silent on sharia courts'
The government was accused today by the Conservatives of being "silent" on sharia courts, which must be given no authority over criminal and family law matters in Britain.
Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, made the criticism as he warned that the government has neglected the threat of radicalisation.
"For all its tough talk on terrorism, the government is dropping the ball on security and radicalisation," Grieve said.
"Lax on fanatical preachers. Silent on sharia courts. Let me make our position clear. Sharia courts can be given no authority over criminal and family law matters in Britain. Our law must reign supreme. The next Conservative government will make sure it does."
Grieve, who told the Guardian last week that multiculturalism has downplayed the identity of "long-term inhabitants" and failed to provide a coherent identity for second and third generation immigrants, believes that sharia courts can have a role. He likens them to the Jewish Beth Din, which are acceptable because their rulings do not conflict with English law.
The shadow home secretary said that Jewish people are entitled to have "arbitration under Jewish customary law".
He added: "The same can perfectly properly comply to sharia law as long as the consequences are also not repugnant to English justice. That's very different from saying that you should allow sharia law to be applied to Muslims in Britain on say crime or domestic violence or anything else ... Somebody has been trying to suggest that they have that sort of imprimatur of respectability. And we have to be quite clear that we all live under one legal system." Government Has Neglected Threat of Radicalisation, Says Grieve >>> Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | September 30, 2008
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