Thursday, March 12, 2009

Lord Ahmed Freed

THE GUARDIAN: Lord Ahmed was involved in an accident that left a man dead on the M1 near Rotherham

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Lord Ahmed was freed from prison today. Photo courtesy of The Guardian

The Labour peer Lord Ahmed has been freed by the court of appeal today from a 12-week jail sentence for dangerous driving.
Ahmed, 51, was sentenced for sending and receiving texts on the M1 near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, shortly before he was involved in a fatal crash in darkness on Christmas day in 2007.

Martyn Gombar, a 28-year-old Slovakian, was killed after Ahmed's Jaguar hit his Audi car, which had stopped in the fast lane. Subsequent tests revealed that Gombar, a father of two, had been drinking before his vehicle clipped the central reservation of the motorway and spun around. Gombar was attempting to retrieve his mobile phone from the car at the time of the collision.

Records showed that Ahmed, whose wife and mother were also in the car, had sent and received five text messages with a journalist while driving at over 60mph.

He was jailed by Sheffield crown court last month after admitting driving dangerously, and was banned from driving for 12 months.

Although the judge in the trial, Justice Wilkie, described Ahmed's texting as "prolonged, deliberate, repeated and highly dangerous," he said the text messaging had finished before the accident took place and was not connected with the crash.

Allowing Lord Ahmed's appeal today, Lady Justice Hallett said it was important to state that Ahmed's offence was one of dangerous driving, not of causing death by dangerous driving. >>> Jo Adetunji and agencies | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Anjem Choudary & Majid Nawaz in Debate on Islam


Part 2

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Afghanistan: 20-Year Sentence for Journalist Upheld

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Politicized Case Shows Grave Threat to Freedom of Expression

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Afghan policemen escort Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh after he leaves court in Kabul. © 2008 Reuters

(New York) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai should issue a pardon for Parwez Kambakhsh, a student and part-time journalist, whose 20-year prison sentence for blasphemy has been upheld by the Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch said today. The Supreme Court decision was the final stage in a highly politicized case that has repeatedly flouted Afghan and international law and highlighted the lack of professionalism among the Afghan judiciary.

The court upheld the sentence on February 11, 2009, without informing Kambakhsh or his lawyer, or allowing the lawyer to submit arguments in Kambakhsh's defense. On March 7, the lawyer, Azfal Nooristani, discovered that the decision had been made.

"The Supreme Court represented the last hope that Parwez Kambakhsh would receive a fair hearing, but once again justice was denied," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Kambakhsh has committed no crime. Now it is up to President Karzai to act on principle and free him." >>> | Tuesday, March 10, 2009

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH:
Afghanistan: Overturn Death Sentence of Jailed Journalist – Blasphemy Case Illustrates Failings of Legal System >>> | Saturday, January 31, 2009

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Nigerian Bill Defines Gay Roommates as "Married," Inflicts Prison Penalty

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Anti-gay Anglican leader Peter Akinola. Photo courtesy of TDGE Boston

EDGE Boston: Under a proposed new law in Nigeria, same-sex marriage would consist of gays simply living together--and would be punishable by three years in prison.

The law would extend new powers to the police to crack down on anyone thought to be gay, reported the BBC in an article posted online Mar. 11.

Advocates of the country’s gay and lesbian population stood against the bill, with the Queer Alliance of Nigeria’s Rashidi Williams addressing a government committee with plea not to enhance the nation’s existing anti-gay legislation with a law that would essentially make it a crime for gays to share living space by defining the sharing of housing as "gay marriage."

Existing law in the Christian part of the country penalizes gays with 14 years in prison, while in Muslim areas gays face being stoned to death for their sexuality. >>> By Kilian Melloy | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Melanie Phillips: Persistently Validating Extremism

THE SPECTATOR: Policy Exchange has produced yet another extremely important pamphlet on radical Islamism and the grievous and indeed lethal errors in government policy towards it. Entitled Choosing Our Friends Wisely by Shiraz Maher and Martin Frampton, it is a devastating critique of the centrepiece of that policy, a strategy called Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). Recently, it was reported that there was a strong feeling in parts of the security establishment that this strategy had been a disaster; defining the problem as only ‘violent’ extremism’, the government had failed to grasp that the core problem is actually religious/ ideological extremism which produces a continuum of divisive, antisocial or threatening views which provides the sea in which violence swims. The strategy should therefore be changed to ‘Preventing Extremism.’

This is a case I have made many times, not least in my book Londonistan. It is not clear whether or how this argument has resolved itself within government – although from a speech made recently by the Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, it looked as if the PVE camp had succeeded in fending off the PE proponents. No surprise there – a change to Preventing Extremism would take clarity of vision and a great deal of courage. Now, though, the Policy Exchange pamphlet has dissected the disaster that is the Preventing Violent Extremism strategy – which, through its unbelievably stupid belief that non-violent extremists can be used as the antidote to violent extremists, is actually radicalising a new generation of Muslims, sometimes with the very funds that are supposed to be countering radicalisation. It says:
Non-violent extremists have consequently become well dug in as partners of national and local government and the police. Some of the government’s chosen collaborators in ‘addressing grievances’ of angry young Muslims are themselves at the forefront of stoking those grievances against British foreign policy; western social values; and alleged state-sanctioned ‘Islamophobia’. PVE is thus underwriting the very Islamist ideology which spawns an illiberal, intolerant and anti-western world view.

Political and theological extremists, acting with the authority conferred by official recognition, are indoctrinating young people with an ideology of hostility to western values. This strategic error on the part of officialdom is born of a poverty of aspiration: the belief of the authorities that they cannot reasonably ask angry Muslims for much more than a pledge not to use violence in Britain. The effect has been to empower reactionaries within Muslim communities and to marginalise genuine moderates, thus increasing inter-community tensions and envenoming the public space.
>>> Melanie Phillips | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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Texas College Offers Courses on How to Be a Proper Woman


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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

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Texas Students Take to the Turban!

THE DALLAS MORING NEWS: The line outside the University of Texas at Arlington's library this week wasn't for intramural sign-up, a spring break travel package or even hot dogs sold off the grill for a fraternity fundraiser.

It was for turbans.

Sikh volunteers swirled blood-red, neon orange and aquamarine cloth around the heads of students as they explained why an item intended to distinguish the Sikh religion has threatened its identity.

UTA is one of five North Texas college campuses where Sikh students tied turbans and debunked myths for their spring break.
Billed as "Sikh Turban Week," the event is intended to clarify the misconceptions ignited after Sept. 11, detail the significance of the turban for Sikhs and showcase one of the region's fast-growing communities.

"It's nothing to do with Osama bin Laden or terrorism," said Jaipreet Singh Suri, the president of Southern Methodist University's Sikh Student Association and organizer of the event. "The message we want to go out is that the majority of people who wear turbans are Sikh and not Hindu or Muslim."

The SMU students recruited additional volunteers from the region's five gurdwaras – the Sikh place of worship – and raised about $7,000 from among the 5,000 Sikhs who live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Most Sikhs originally come from the Punjab region in northwest India. North Texas College Students Try on Turbans, New Perspectives >>> By Jessica Myers | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Somalia to Get Sharia-based Law

AL JAZEERA: The Somali cabinet has voted to make Islamic law the basis for the country's legal system.

Tuesday's move was an attempt to isolate more extreme armed groups by agreeing to a demand supported by much of the Somali population.

Farhan Ali Mohamed, the information minister, said implementing sharia, or Islamic law, would help end attacks by the militias.
The bill must still be approved by parliament, which is expected to hear it within days, and the ministry of justice would still select judges and police would have the power to detain suspects, the minister said.

Several armed groups have said they will stop fighting the government if sharia were implemented. >>> | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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Obamalism


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Westerners Help Financial Jihad Along

TIMES ONLINE: Sharia-compliant finance is prospering in Britain. But how can it stay insulated from the credit crunch?

As the credit crunch has mutated inexorably into a recession, with bankers having eclipsed politicians, lawyers and even journalists as public enemy number one, the growing number of Islamic finance institutions in Britain might just be sitting pretty.

The UK now has five fully Sharia-compliant banks and another 17 financial institutions have set up special branches or firms. They include the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), with its London-based European Finance House in Berkeley Square, and the Islamic Bank of Britain, which has headquarters in Birmingham.

Both have answered Gordon Brown’s call of two years ago for Britain to become the global centre for international Islamic banking; a report by the International Financial Services London even says that Britain’s Islamic banking sector is now bigger than that of Pakistan.

Islamic banks, says Steven Amos, the Islamic Bank of Britain’s head of marketing, are prospering. “Our core business will always be Muslims but the numbers of non-Muslims are really picking up. We’ve had massive interest — and that’s down to a number of reasons, all of which have kept us insulated from the credit crunch.”

He alludes to the nuances of Islamic banking — specifically that Islamic finance has to be Sharia, or Islamic law, compliant. Sharia is taken from the Koran, one of whose central tenets — that money has no intrinsic value — might sound alien to the denizens of the City.

One British businessman believes that adopting Sharia principles might be just what the West needs. Roger Smee, a former professional footballer and now businessman, says the West has “lost the plot. All we have as a success guide is a number of rich lists. Instead of looking down on what we are quick to reject as cumbersome legal restrictions, we should take a page out of the Middle East’s book and use the principles of Sharia to begin building real and sustainable economies.” Crossing Over to Islamic Banking >>> Alex Wade | Thursday March 12, 2009

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Iraqi Jailed for Bush Shoe Attack

BBC: An Iraqi journalist hailed as a hero in the Arab world for throwing his shoes at former US President George W Bush has been jailed for three years.

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Muntadar al-Zaidi, the shoe-thrower. Photo courtesy of the BBC

Muntadar al-Zaidi pleaded not guilty as his trial resumed in Baghdad, telling the judge:"My reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi."

He could have been jailed for 15 years for assaulting a foreign leader on an official visit. >>> | Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Otan : les Etats-Unis «ravis» du retour de la France

LE FIGARO: Le secrétaire général de l'organisation a également accueilli chaleureusement l'annonce d'une possible réintégration de la France dans le commandement intégré de l'Alliance.

Les Etats-Unis sont «ravis» de la décision de la France de rejoindre le commandement militaire intégré de l'Otan, quitté par Paris il y a 43 ans, a indiqué mercredi le département américain de la Défense. «Nous sommes ravis qu'après 43 ans d'absence, la France soit de nouveau à sa place dans la structure de commandement de l'alliance qu'elle a contribué à créer», a ainsi déclaré le porte-parole du Pentagone Geoff Morrell.

«Même si leurs soldats ont combattu bravement au côté des nôtres en Afghanistan, leur retour complet dans tous les aspects militaires de l'Otan est une nouvelle bienvenue», a-t-il ajouté. Par ailleurs les Etats-Unis se réjouissent de «travailler encore plus étroitement avec (les Français) dans les décennies à venir», a developpé le porte-parole. «La France, un allié important» >>> Flore Galaud (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Jeudi 12 Mars 2009

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Al-Qaida-Video: Islamisten rufen zu Anschlägen in Deutschland auf

WELT ONLINE: Schon wieder hat das Terrornetzwerk al-Qaida eine Video-Botschaft speziell an Deutschland gesendet. Darin rufen zwei deutsch-marokkanische Brüder zu Anschlägen gegen die Bundesrepubik auf. Das Bundeskriminalamt hat die Spur der beiden zurückverfolgt.

Zwei deutsch-marokkanische Brüder aus Bonn rufen nach einem Bericht der „Bild“ in einem neuen Droh-Video zu Selbstmord-Anschlägen gegen Deutschland auf. 



„Entscheidet euch für das Leben nach dem Tod. Leistet euren Beitrag, wo immer Ihr euch befindet. Es gibt keine Ruhe mehr“, sagten die beiden Männer in dem im Internet verbreiteten Video in deutscher Sprache. 



Die in Tarnanzügen auftretenden Männer bezeichneten sich als „Abu Adam aus Deutschland“ und „Abu Ibraheem aus Deutschland“, berichtet die Zeitung. >>> dpa/ab | Donnerstag, 12. März 2009

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Er kann die Wallstreet nicht beruhigen

TAGES ANZEIGER: Vom Auftreten her ein Diplomat, von der Arbeitsweise her ein Technokrat: US-Finanzminister Geithner hat Mühe, sich als Krisenmanager durchzusetzen.

Was immer der 54-jährige Timothy Geithner zu erklären versucht: Stets wirkt er besorgt und an sich selbst zweifelnd. Diese Eigenheit, die seine Freunde seit seiner Jugend kennen, macht ihm heute – mitten in der gröbsten Finanzkrise seit 80 Jahren – die Arbeit schwer. Nur sechs Wochen nach Amtsantritt ist der Finanzminister bereits umstritten. Kritiker von links und rechts sehen ihn gar als Fehlbesetzung, nicht zuletzt, weil er im Netz der Old Boys an Wallstreet hängen geblieben scheint.

«Das Problem von Tim ist nicht, dass er die Schwere einer Krise nicht erfasst oder nicht stets die beste Lösung will», sagt eine Vertraute, die ihn seit der Hochschule am Dartmouth College gut kennt. «Seine Schwierigkeit war und ist, dass er besorgt erscheint, auch wenn er es gar nicht ist und lieber grübelt als sich öffentlich zu erklären.» Geithner ist in seinem Habitus viel mehr Vermittler als ein harter, schnell entscheidender Krisenmanager. >>> Von Walter Niederberger, San Francisco | Donnerstag, 12. März 2009

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USA – Kuba: Washington stößt die Tür zu Castro-Regime auf

DIE PRESSE: Die USA lockern Embargo gegen die Karibikinsel – ein Signal der Öffnung. In Kuba hofft das Regime auf weitere Signale der Öffnung aus Washington.

WASHINGTON. Seit der „Schweinebucht-Aktion“, dem von John F. Kennedy initiierten und grandios gescheiterten Putschversuch gegen Kubas Staatschef Fidel Castro 1960, hat niemand an der Doktrin der US-Außenpolitik gegen die Karibikinsel gerüttelt. Ob Republikaner wie Richard Nixon oder Ronald Reagan oder Demokraten wie Jimmy Carter oder Bill Clinton: Alle US-Präsidenten hielten an dem 1962 beschlossenen Handelsembargo fest, um so den Kommunismus in ihrem Hinterhof auszuhungern. Und die exilkubanische Gemeinde in Florida, meist hartgesottene Republikaner, sorgte dafür, dass das Lüftchen aus Washington nicht zu lau wurde.

Seit 45 Jahren ist John F. Kennedy nun tot, und der so oft totgesagte Fidel Castro erlebt in seinem krankheitsbedingten Ausgedinge als Politrentner bereits den zehnten US-Präsidenten. Im Gegensatz zu Kennedy jedoch, der sich in den ersten Monaten seiner Amtszeit zu dem abenteuerlichen Staatsstreich hinreißen ließ, setzt Barack Obama auf eine sanfte, schleichende Veränderung. Washington stößt die Tür zum Castro-Regime auf. >>> Thomas Vieregge | Mittwoch, 11. März 2009

LE MONDE: Obama allège les restrictions sur les voyages à Cuba

Des dissidents cubains ont qualifié, mercredi 11 mars, de "positif" l'allègement des restrictions sur les voyages à Cuba pour les Cubains américains, disant espérer que ce geste de Washington sera suivi d'une réponse similaire de la part de La Havane. "C'est une bonne nouvelle pour le peuple cubain, cela va contribuer à son unité", a déclaré l'économiste modéré Oscar Espinosa Chepe.

Le Sénat américain a voté mardi soir un vaste projet de loi qui comprend l'allègement de restrictions sur les voyages et l'envoi d'argent de Cubains américains vers l'île communiste des frères Castro, sous embargo américain depuis 1962. Les Cubains vivant aux Etats-Unis pourront notamment désormais visiter leurs proches restés à Cuba une fois par an plutôt que tous les trois ans et dépenser jusqu'à 179 dollars par jour sur l'île au lieu de 50. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec BBC News et AFP | Jeudi 12 Mars 2009

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Labour's Disastrous Policy Is Radicalising a Whole New Generation of Muslims

MAIL Online: The repellent spectacle of Muslims demonstrating in Luton against the British soldiers returning from Iraq does more than turn our stomach.

It tells us in graphic form that this country has not only utterly failed to combat a threat to itself from within but - astoundingly - turns not against those who threaten it but against those who seek to defend it.

When the returning troops of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment paraded through Luton they had to run the gauntlet of Muslim protesters waving placards saying: ‘Anglian soldiers: Butchers of Basra,’ and ‘Anglian soldiers: cowards, killers, extremists.’

Not surprisingly, this enraged the rest of the crowd of decent, patriotic people who had turned out to welcome the troops home. Yet the only arrests made were among those who objected to the Muslim provocation, including a man who shouted something at them.

Talk about getting things back to front! The police turn a blind eye to gross and offensive provocation which clearly poses a threat to public order, while arresting instead those who are thus provoked!

Among the protesters was a group of burka-clad women with their faces wholly concealed except for slits for the eyes. Given the menacing nature of the protest, the fact that their identities were thus concealed was highly relevant.

Yet if anyone objects to any of this, they are called ‘Islamophobic’. Just think what the reaction would be if, say, a group of Ku Klux Klansmen in full regalia took part in a demonstration by neo-Nazis in a heavily ethnic minority area. Does anyone imagine that such a direct threat to public order would be permitted?

But when it comes to Islamist extremists, it is those who protest at such gross provocation - and, indeed, treachery against their own country - who are arrested as a threat to public order while the extremists are left free to preach their hatred.

Moreover, this demonstration appears to have been organised by an extremist group directly linked to Omar Bakri Mohammed, who now preaches to his followers from Lebanon via videos posted on websites after he was barred from Britain.

Omar Bakri led the extremist group al Muhajiroun which is now banned in Britain. But one of yesterday’s protesters was Sayful Islam, the leader of the Luton branch of an organisation that has the same beliefs as al Muhajiroun, and who said ‘They can’t come here and parade where there is such a Muslim community.’ Why are the police turning a blind eye to this?

Today, the extremist preacher Anjem Choudary not only praised yesterday’s protesters but, in an inflammatory message posted on an Islamic extremist website, viciously mocked the member of the returning regiment who had been killed by friendly fire in Iraq.

Why is Anjem Choudhary still at liberty to preach such inflammatory hatred? He leads a group formed after al Muhajiroun was banned called Islam For The UK which wants Britain to be an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law. >>> Melanie Phillips | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

YOUTUBE: "The Butchers Of Basra?"



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Feeling Sorry for Yourself as the World Depression Begins to Bite? Don’t! Spare a Thought for the World’s Poor Billionaires!

THE TELEGRAPH: The number of billionaires across the globe slumped by almost a third in the last 12 months as many of the world's richest men and women fell victim to the economic recession.

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Photo of Bill Gates courtesy of The Telegraph

Those worth over £1billion fell from 1,125 in 2008 to just 793, as a combined $2.4 trillion (£1.74 trillion) was wiped off the value of their collective 2008 $4.4 trillion fortune.

As a result, the average billionaire saw their net worth fall from $3.9bn to $3bn in the year, as the value of investments, property and other assets all plunged.

The annual survey of who's who and who's worth what in the upper echelons of the world's entrepreneurial classes, the just-released Forbes 2009 World Billionaires list reveals the damage that has been wreaked on the fortunes of many.

Warren Buffett, the richest man in the world last year with a fortune of $62bn, lost $25bn as a result of declines in the value of his investments, many of which are in the insurance and financial sectors which have been hardest hit by the global recession.

Taking his crown is Bill Gates, who, in spite of reclaiming the top spot in the annual Forbes survey after a year's absence, still saw his Microsoft fortune fall by almost a third, down $18bn to $40bn. Number of World Billionaires Slumps by a Third >>> By James Quinn in New York | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

leJDD.fr:
Galerie de photos: Les riches deviennent moins riches: Comme chaque année, le magazine Forbes publie son classement annuel des grandes fortunes mondiales. Le crû 2008 a un petit air de crise. >>> | Jeudi 12 Mars 2009

BBC:
Watch BBC video: Billionaires Drop Off Rich List: The financial crisis is taking its toll on the world's richest people, wiping 332 names off the Forbes Magazine's 'rich list' of world billionaires. >>> Caroline Hepker | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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Shari'ah Spreads

CHRISTIANITY TODAY: Islamic laws creep into half of Indonesia's provinces.

As candidates hit the campaign trail in preparation for July's presidential election, Indonesian rights groups have voiced strong opposition to an increasing number of Shari'ah-inspired laws they say discriminate against religious minorities and violate Indonesia's policy of the Pancasila, or "unity in diversity."

With President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono likely to form a coalition with Islamic parties for the election, such laws could become a key campaign issue.

Although Aceh is the only province governed by Shari'ah, more than 50 regencies in 16 of Indonesia's 32 provinces have passed some 600 Shari'ah-influenced laws following the Regional Autonomy Law of 2000.

The laws vary widely. Legislation in Padang requires both Muslim and non-Muslim women to wear headscarves, while a law in Tangerang allows women found "loitering" on the street after 10 p.m. to be arrested for prostitution. Other laws include stipulations for Qur'an literacy among schoolchildren and severe punishment for adultery, alcoholism, and gambling. >>> Compass Direct News | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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Turkey's Science Council Under Fire for Censoring Darwin

AFP: ANKARA — Turkey's main science council came under fire Wednesday after a magazine it publishes was reported to have been forced to scrap a cover article on Charles Darwin under pressure from managers.

Newspapers and academics slammed the incident as meddling by the Islamist-rooted government, which has long been accused of favouring religious-minded loyalists for senior posts at the council.

The mass-selling Hurriyet daily described the incident at the Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) as "a typical spectacle of cosying up to the government," while the popular Vatan said it was "a scandalous example of censorship that will go down in science history." >>> | Wednesday, March 11, 2009

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