British Teenager, Andrew Ibrahim, Facing Terrorism Charges
Photo of Andrew Ibrahim, the British teenager facing terrorism charges, courtesy of the BBC
BBC: A 19-year-old Bristol man has been charged with terrorist offences relating to explosive substances.

Andrew Ibrahim, of Westbury-on-Trym, was arrested on 17 April. Three controlled explosions were later carried out at his flat.

He has been charged with possession of an explosive substance, the intention to commit terrorism and the possession of articles for terrorist purposes.

He will appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

Speaking ahead of his appearance in the London court, Mr Ibrahim's family spoke of their "shock" at the charges.

In a statement, his relatives said: "As a family we have been shocked and deeply distressed by the events of the past fortnight.

"We are still coming to terms with the news and trying to deal with this shock as a family. We therefore would ask that the media respect our privacy at this extremely difficult time." Teenager Facing Terrorism Charges >>>

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America’s War on Words
INTERNATIONAL ANALYST NETWORK: The Bush administration has launched a new “outreach” policy reflecting it’s reluctance to discuss jihadism in public. This time, it has targeted language. We are no longer at war with “jihadism”. Rather, we are engaged in a war against “extremism”.

In a document titled: "Words that Work and Words that Don't: A Guide for Counterterrorism Communication” released in March 2008, Federal agencies including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counter Terrorism Center will now be issued instructions on how not to describe "jihadists”, or the "mujahedeen", or to use any references relating to Islam, Islamic theology or Muslims in the context of our current war. Nor are these the only words to be struck from the government’s political lexicon. Words and phrases like “al Qaeda movement”, “Salafi”, “Wahhabist”, “Sufi”, “ummah” (the Muslim world), “Islamic terrorist”, “Islamist”, “holy warrior” and even “caliphate” are also to be removed from diplomatic discourse.

The erroneous rationale given is that these terms promote support for “extremism” among Arab and Muslim audiences by providing religious credibility to “extremists” while offending moderate Muslims. The directive states that the term “jihad” tends to “glamorize terrorism, imbues terrorists with religious authority they do not have and damages relations with Muslims around the world". The memo says the advice is not binding and does not apply to official policy papers, but should be used as a guide for conversations with Muslims and media.

This directive mirrors identical policy guidelines distributed to British and European Union diplomats last year to better explain the current war to Muslim communities there (as if they don’t already get it). Last summer, Prime Minister Gordon Brown prohibited his ministers from using the word “Muslim” in connection with terrorism. And in January this year, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith went even further, announcing that the British Government had dropped the terms “War on Terror” and “Islamic extremism” altogether. Civil servants now have to refer to Islamic terrorists merely as “criminals” without any reference to Islam in order to “prevent the glorification and incitement of terrorism”. Bat Ye’or would call these actions just another manifestation of creeping British “d’himmitude” [sic] (infidel submission to Islam), but the fact that the US government is now following the British lead (where fear under the guise of “outreach” is the motivating factor) is disturbing. America’s War on Words >>> By Mark Silverberg

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Peter Taylor: Algeria and the Rise of Islamist Extremism
BBC: Watch seven-year-old Abdelkahar Belhadj address a political rally
BBC: One of the most remarkable archive sequences we came across while researching the Age of Terror programme, features a seven-year-old Algerian boy called Abdelkahar Belhadj. He is seen addressing a political rally of thousands in 1991 with all the confidence and fire of a mature adult.

"There are a billion Muslims and we don't have a state that rules by God's Holy Law. Isn't that a dishonour and a shame on us?" he proclaims in the voice of a child.

He is cheered ecstatically and lifted on high. It was revelatory to hear the philosophy of jihad - the struggle to overthrow infidel regimes and replace them with Islamic states under Sharia law - emerging from the lips of one so young.

In 2007, 16 years later, we watched another clip, a propaganda video announcing the launch of al-Qaeda in North Africa featuring non other than Abdelkahar Belhadj, now a fully-fledged jihadi.

When I first saw the clip of the young Belhadj, I was instantly reminded of an interview I'd done in an IRA stronghold in Belfast in the mid-seventies with a little boy called Sean. I vividly remember he had the initials IRA inked on the back of his hand.

Sean told me he wanted to fight and die for Ireland. Years later I met him again, this time on an IRA wing inside the Maze prison. He had gone to jail after fighting for the cause he had embraced all those years ago.

Sean and Abdelkahar Belhadj illuminate the bigger picture of the Age of Terror: how the "cause", be it Islamist or Republican, Basque or Palestinian, flows from one generation to the next and on through the veins of history. Algeria and the Rise of Islamist Extremism >>> By Peter Taylor | April 29, 2008

BBC:
Age of Terror Website >>>

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Muslim Clergy Opposes Badawi's Proposal on Conversion
INDIA eNEWS: Senior Islamic leaders of Malaysia have rejected a proposal by Prime Minister Abdullah Amad Badawi that requires non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam to inform their family before doing so.

Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) director-general Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz said it was decided at a recent conference that met to streamline Syariah*, the Islamic laws and civil laws.

'Based on Syariah laws, there is no 'nas' (quotations from the Quran to prove or settle a point) compelling a person wishing to convert to Islam to inform the family before doing so,' Wan Mohamad said in a statement Monday.

The conference also decided that the need to inform loved ones should be left to the discretion of the person wishing to convert.

Wan Mohamad said present Syariah laws on conversion and related matters were sufficient and the present practices should be continued.

'Nevertheless, provisions for registration, custody and the education of converts need to be formulated in a more effective manner,' The Daily Star quoted him as saying Tuesday.

Wan Mohamad added under the Syariah laws, the duties and responsibility of the convert towards his non-Muslim parents did not stop after the conversion.

Badawi had said the government would introduce a regulation requiring non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam to inform their family before doing so.

He said this would prevent problems of families disputing the conversion of their loved ones when they die. Muslim Clergy Opposes Badawi's Proposal on Conversion >>> | April 29, 2008

*Shari’ah

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The History of Islam from a Muslim’s Perspective
Listening to this man speak about the ‘glory’ of Islam, one is left asking oneself the question: If this is all true, then why has the Islamic world fallen so far behind?


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"America's Chickens [Are] Coming Home to Roost," Says Obama’s Pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright
Photo of Jeremiah Wright, Barack Hussein Obama’s pastor, courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of the US presidential hopeful Barack Obama, has hit back at critics of his fiery sermons.

In two speeches, to journalists and African-American activists, Mr Wright said that attacks on him were attacks on the black church.

And he said that his six years of service in the military was proof of his patriotism.

Senator Obama rejected Mr Wright's language in a speech last month.

Publicity campaign

Mr Wright remained silent when old sermons containing politically charged remarks were circulated on television and online in March.

But he is now conducting a publicity campaign to defend himself against the criticisms that were made after the clips were aired. Obama’s Pastor Replies to Critics >>>

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Iran to Counter Fitna with Two Documentaries
INDIA eNEWS: Iran is to counter the anti-Islamic video Fitna (Discord) made by Dutch legislator Geert Wilders with two documentary films, Fars news agency reported Monday.

The Iranian films are titled Reply to Fitna and Beyond Fitna and aimed at what the filmmakers call neutralizing the 'plot' by the Dutch against Islam.

The two Iranian filmmakers have also declared their readiness to have a debate with Wilders over his film.

Tehran has condemned the anti-Islamic video, terming it 'insulting and anti-Islamic' and symbolic for the 'deep antagonism' of some Western states towards Islam and Muslims.

The Iranian foreign ministry last month summoned the Dutch ambassador to Tehran to lodge a protest against Wilders' video. [Source: Iran to Counter Dutch Anti-Islam Video with Two Documentaries]

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Tom Kent's Viewpoint: Canada Is Much More Than a Hotel
GLOBE AND MAIL: It was in 1947 that "Canadian citizen" replaced "British subject" as the legal description of a voting participant in this democratic society. One might think that by now the transition would be complete, the concept of our citizenship mature. It is not. It has not kept up with changes in the world around us. Canadian law on citizenship and immigration is in need of another radical revision.

Most of us are proud to belong to a nation welcoming diverse peoples and accepting many cultures. But present law permits, even encourages, confusion of loyalties and plurality of citizenship. The sense of a Canadian identity is increasingly diluted. It need not be.

In the beginning, in the 1867 escape from colonies to nation, what it meant to be Canadian was plain. It was to be different from American. As the United States emerged from its bloody civil war, and found purpose in the manifest destiny of rolling west and potentially north, determination to have no part of it was equally strong in the British and the French.

The BNA Act was soon supported by the National Policy of tariffs and the railroad. That was not enough, however, to build an economy from sea to sea. Farmers from a cold climate were needed to break the Prairie sod. It was immigration from central Europe that made it possible for Quebec and the old British colonies to grow into a nation state. We remained a dynamic economy. In the mid-twentieth century, particularly, remarkable and diversified growth called for many new workers. At first they came from Britain and Europe, but prosperity there soon diminished those sources. The temper of the 1960s in any case called for openness to all peoples, who have since come especially from south and east Asia.

It is, however, a new imperative that calls for them. Canadians have become much less productive of offspring. Our fertility rate is barely two-thirds of the population replacement level. We are, of course, far from unique in that respect. But our population is already slight in relation to our resources. Smaller numbers would damagingly increase the burden of infrastructure overheads imposed by our geography. They would reduce the economies of scale possible for an economy whose manufacturing and service sectors are already challenged by growth elsewhere. Much as the world as a whole will eventually benefit from lower birth rates, it will be a long time before both economic and social pressures cease to call for migration to Canada, migration substantial in relation to our otherwise declining population. Canada Is Much More Than a Hotel >>> By Tom Kent

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Nicolas Sarkozy en visite d'Etat de 48h en Tunisie
LE POINT: Nicolas Sarkozy entame lundi en Tunisie un séjour de quarante-huit heures largement voué au développement de la relation politique et économique très étroite qui unit la France et son ancienne colonie, à peine perturbée par l'entêtante question des droits de l'Homme.

Après le Maroc et l'Algérie l'an dernier, le président, accompagné de son épouse, conclut chez son homologue tunisien Zine El Abidine Ben Ali sa première tournée des pays du Maghreb. Nicolas Sarkozy en visite d'Etat de 48h en Tunisie >>> Par Philippe ALFROY | 28. 04. 2008

LE MONDE:
Nicolas Sarkozy place sa visite à Tunis sous le signe de l'économie et de l'Union de la Méditerranée >>> | 28. 04. 2008

LE FIGARO:
Méditerranée : Sarkozy défend son projet à Tunis >>> Par Alain Barluet | 28. 04. 2008
Alain Barluet

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Sarkozy: ''Regieren ist einfacher als ich dachte''
DIE PRESSE: Einen Monat vor dem ersten Jahrestag seiner Amtsübernahme hat der französische Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy eine höchst positive Bilanz seiner bisherigen Regierungszeit gezogen. "Ich will nichts beschönigen, aber regieren ist einfacher als ich dachte", sagte Sarkozy in einem Interview mit der Zeitschrift "Le Point" [Quelle]
Zur Gallerie
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Fitna Still Causing Outrage in Pakistan
AFP: KARACHI — Thousands of Pakistani women rallied here Saturday to protest against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed and a Dutch film said to insult Islam, witnesses said.

The women shouted "death to Denmark and death to Netherlands," as they marched about a kilometre (less than a mile) on a busy street.

Police said up to 4,000 women, mostly from an Islamic party, took part in the noisy demonstration, venting anger against the Internet release of a 15-minute film last month by far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders and publication of the Prophet caricatures.

In a resolution the rally urged the government to cease diplomatic ties with Denmark and the Netherlands and expel their envoys.

"We will defend the honour of our prophet and our religion at the cost of our lives," the fundamentalist Jamaat-i-Islami party said.

The Pakistan foreign ministry last month summoned the Dutch ambassador and lodged a "strong protest" over Wilders's film, which it said "deeply offended the sentiments of Muslims all over the world."

The cartoons originally appeared in a Danish newspaper in September 2005, sparking anger and protests across the Muslim world. Five people died in Pakistan in February 2006 during violent protests against the drawings.

At least 17 Danish dailies reprinted one of the cartoons in February, vowing to defend freedom of expression a day after police in Denmark foiled a plot to murder the cartoonist. [Source: Pakistani Islamic Women Protest 'Anti-Islam' Film, Cartoons]

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Last Friday's Gathering Storm Weekly Storm Report

Secular Islam Summit

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The Demise of Turkey’s Pork Butchers
Watch BBC video HERE
BBC: The role of Islam in Turkish society is a subject of continual debate. Secularists are protesting against what they see as the government's increasingly Islamic agenda, and as Sarah Rainsford found out, the latest battleground could be across the butcher's counter.

"We're going filming at a pork butcher's and a pig farm," I told my Turkish cameraman in a text message. Slightly anxious, I added: "Is that OK with you?"

A moment later a message from Gokhan flashed back.

"Yes," he wrote. "I like a good pork steak!"

He is not the only one.

Another Turkish friend told me that eating pork, which is forbidden by Islam, is increasingly popular in secular high society here.

She described this as an act of defiance by some Turks who fear religious dictates have begun creeping into their lives since a government led by devout Muslims took power.

But those people could soon be looking for a new way to rebel because Turkey's pork industry is on the brink of extinction. The Demise of Turkey’s Pork Butchers >>> | April 26, 2008

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The Jailed Saudi Blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, Is Released
BBC: A popular Saudi blogger who was detained by the authorities in December has been set free.

Fouad al-Farhan had used his website to criticise alleged corruption and call for democratic reforms in his country.

No official explanation was given for either the detention or the decision to free him.

Mr Farhan's detention had sparked protests from fellow bloggers. International human rights groups had been campaigning for his release.

Unlike most bloggers in Saudi Arabia, he wrote under his real name.

He used the blog to expose problems in Saudi society and campaigned on behalf of jailed Saudi liberals.

Correspondents say the whole affair surrounding the arrest Mr Farhan is part of a wider internet phenomenon issue in the Arab world.

With most governments in the region tightly controlling the activities of the official media, young people are increasingly turning to the internet to express dissent. [Source: Saudi Blogger Released from Jail]

Fouad Is Free >>>

CNN Report: The Detention of Fouad al-Farhan in Saudi Arabia >>>

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Race Question Hangs Over Obama’s Campaign
THE SCOTSMAN: IT IS the question that has hung over Barack Obama's presidential primary campaign: why has he been unable to win over enough working class and white voters to wrap up the Democratic nomination?

Lurking behind that question is another: is the Democratic Party hesitating about race as it moves to the brink of nominating an African-American to be president?

Obama remains ahead of Hillary Clinton in delegates, in the popular vote and in national polls, and Clinton certainly has her own problems trying to herd Democrats into her corner.

But just when it seemed that the Democratic Party was close to anointing Obama as its nominee, he lost yet again – in Pennsylvania, a big general election state – dragged down by his weakness among blue-collar voters, older voters and white voters. The composition of Clinton's support – or looked at another way, the makeup of those voters who have proved reluctant to embrace Obama – has Democrats wondering, if not worrying, about what role race may be playing. Race Question Threatens to Derail Obama >>> By Adam Nagourney | April 27, 2008

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Hugh Fitzgerald: Mosques in the West
JIHADWATCH.ORG: A Jihad Watch poster recently asked incredulously, “There's a mosque in The Hague?"

Yes, there is a mosque in The Hague. And all over Rotterdam, and Amsterdam, and in Paris and Marseilles and Lyons and Toulouse, in London and Manchester and Birmingham and Leeds, in Rome and in Milan, in Berlin and Hamburg and Frankfurt, and in thousands of other cities and even small towns all over Europe. The Saudis and other rich Arabs fund them, just as they pay for the land, and the construction, and the maintenance, of mosques all over this country, from Boston to sunny California. Most of the mosques in the Western world are not paid for by the locals, but by very rich foreign Muslims -- governments, institutions, individuals.

After all, not all of that ten trillion dollars in oil revenues that Muslim states have received since 1973 alone goes for arms purchases, and palaces for the boys, and wages for those millions of non-Muslim wage-slaves who keep Saudi Arabia and the smaller sheikdoms going, and gambling in London and Monte Carlo, and call girls (the Arabs especially contemptuous of the West for allowing "their women" to be bought and used in such a way, by their sworn enemies, the Arab Muslims), and endless shopping in the funfair-cum-brothel of Europe.

Occasionally local opposition can stop the building of a mosque, but not because the mosque has been paid for by sinister foreigners, nor because mosques are far more than merely religious establishments but politico-religious outposts of the Army of Islam, and inevitably, unless subject to constant round-the-clock monitoring, will tend to have khutbas based on the almost-unavoidable subject with which the Qur'an and Hadith are full: to wit, the permanent state of war that exists between Believers and Infidels, and the need for Muslims to work to remove all obstacles to the spread, and dominance, of Islam. Fitzgerald: Mosques in the West >>> By Hugh Fitzgerald | April 26, 2008

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Peter Boyles on Bardot
COLORADO MEDIA MATTERS: After reading from what apparently was an April 15 Reuters article stating that French actress Brigitte Bardot was charged for the fifth time with "inciting racial hatred" over her "controversial remarks about Islam and its followers," Peter Boyles exclaimed on his April 23 630 KHOW-AM broadcast, "I love her more now than I did when I was 15 years old." Boyles on Bardot's Anti-Muslim Remarks: "I Love Her More Now than I Did When I Was 15 Years Old" >>>

AUDIO CLIP: Boyles on Bardot

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Egypt’s Islamists Wait for Power
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: It is not easy to find the headquarters of Egypt's largest opposition movement. The unremarkable building overlooking the Nile in Manial in central Cairo has no sign.

Only a nod from the security guard when you ask "al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun?" reassures you that you have arrived at the office of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Nowadays the Islamist organisation - which is officially banned - has more reason than usual to keep a low profile.

In recent weeks the Egyptian government has stepped up its crackdown on members ahead of local elections on 8 April. More than 800 have been arrested.

"It looks like the ruling National Democratic Party is not able to compete fairly with the Muslim Brotherhood," the Brotherhood's Deputy Chairman, Mohammed Habib, tells me.

"Therefore it is resorting to odd and exceptional measures."
In 2005, Brotherhood candidates - running as independents - clinched more than a fifth of seats in Egypt's parliamentary elections. Mr Habib says the government wants to prevent a repetition of that success.

"They felt scared and panicked when they saw the result. Afterwards they changed their strategy and tried to marginalise and undermine the Muslim Brotherhood." Egypt Islamists Wait for Power >>> By Yolande Knell, BBC News, Cairo

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Tension Rises in the Gulf: US Navy Fires at Iranian Boats
THE TELEGRAPH: The United States navy fired warning shots at two Iranian boats in the Gulf yesterday in the worst confrontation yet in the world's busiest oil shipping lanes.

A US forces security team on a chartered transport ship used loudhailers, radios and flares to warn off two small Iranian boats acting in an "unclear" manner.

But the boats ignored the warning and the Americans opened fire, unleashing several bursts of live ammunition. The incident took place in the early morning near the international boundary in an area designated by the US navy as the Central Arabian Gulf. 

The boats turned away but the US vessel, the Westward Venture, was asked to identify itself by the Iranian coastguard minutes later.

The incident heightened fears over the stability of a key energy artery, helping propel the price of Brent crude to a record high in late afternoon trading.

A spokesman for the US navy in Bahrain said the security team used.50-calibre machineguns and M-16 assault rifles to warn off the boats. Cdr Lydia Robertson said: "The small boats left the area a short time later. We were able to avoid a serious incident by following the procedures that we use." US Navy Fires at Iranian Boats as Tension Rises in the Gulf >>> By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | April 26, 2008

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”A Response to … Fitna”
Demonstrators in Istanbul outside the Dutch embassy, protesting against Geert Wilders. Photo courtesy of Reuters
REUTERS: DUBAI - An al Qaeda-linked website has posted a 10-minute film showing civilians killed or maimed in U.S. and Israeli air strikes as an answer to an anti-Koran film released by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders last month.

The video, billed as a "response to the film called 'fitna' produced by the hateful crusader Wilders", is dedicated more to criticizing the U.S.-led "war on terror" than Wilders himself.

Wilders' film, titled "fitna" or "strife" in Arabic, warns that Muslim immigration is undermining Western values and urges Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" verses from the Koran. It mixes images of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and other bombings with quotations from Islam's holy book.

Muslim nations condemned Wilders' film as offensive and the Dutch government distanced itself from him to avert the kind of backlash Denmark faced over the publication of cartoons lampooning Islam's Prophet Mohammad.

The response, posted on an al Qaeda-linked website that has carried videos from Osama bin Laden, paints U.S.-led wars as modern-day Crusades led by President George W. Bush, a devout Christian whose two terms in office were won with strong backing from the religious right. Islamist Video Responds to Dutch Film and War on Terror >>> By Lin Noueihed | April 25, 2008

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Sarkozy Gives Live TV Interview in France
It is heartening indeed to learn that Nicolas Sarkozy has re-affirmed his opposition to Turkey joining the European Union. Keep it up, Monsieur le Président!

Watch BBC Video Here
Read the story HERE

THE OBSERVER:
Why French Lost Their Faith in the People's President: Nicolas Sarkozy came to power a year ago promising radical change. Now even his supporters are disillusioned. Jason Burke journeys through France's heartland to chart the end of an infatuation >>> By Jason Burke | April 27, 2008

JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE:
Fillon: "Fidèle, pas courtisan" >>>

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Iran ‘Stepping Up Arms to Iraq’
BBC: The most senior US military official has accused Iran of increasing the flow of weapons to Iraqi insurgents.

Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said Iraqis were being trained in Iran to fight against US troops.

But he said there was "no smoking gun" proof that the highest Iranian leadership was involved.

Tehran has previously accused the US of itself bringing terrorism to the region following the 2003 invasion.

Washington has frequently accused Iran of sending weapons to Iraqi insurgents, but Adm Mullen said the rate of delivery was steadily increasing, and was affecting not just Iraq but other countries in the region. Iran ‘Stepping Up Arms to Iraq’ >>>

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Chambres à gaz,
 Le Pen persiste
«J'ai dit que les chambres à gaz étaient un détail de l'histoire de la seconde guerre mondiale : ça me paraît tellement évident», explique Jean-Marie Le Pen.

LE FIGARO: Le président du Front national emploie de nouveau le terme «détail» qui lui a valu plusieurs condamnations judiciaires, dans une interview au mensuel «Bretons». Interview dont il affirme avoir «interdit» la publication.

Le président du Front national Jean-Marie Le Pen répète dans une interview au magazine régional «Bretons» paru vendredi qu'il lui paraît «tellement évident» que «les chambres à gaz étaient un détail de l'histoire de la Seconde Guerre mondiale». Sa première utilisation de ce mot date de 1987 sur l'antenne de RTL. En 2005 déjà, dans un entretien à la BBC, Jean-Marie Le Pen avait de nouveau employé ce mot.

Dans la suite des échanges avec le journaliste de ce mensuel diffusé en Bretagne et en région parisienne, Jean-Marie Le Pen rappelle le nombre de morts total de la seconde guerre mondiale, en avançant le chiffre de «50 millions de morts». Mais le journaliste l'interrompt, lui disant que «le problème n'est pas de savoir le nombre (de morts) mais la manière dont ils ont été tués», et que l'on a «déporté des gens pour les amener dans des camps juste pour les faire tuer». «Mais ça, c'est parce que vous croyez à ça. Je ne me sens pas obligé d'adhérer à cette vision-là. Je constate qu'à Auschwitz il y avait l'usine IG Farben, qu'il y avait 80 000 ouvriers qui y travaillaient. À ma connaissance, ceux-là n'ont pas été gazés en tout cas. Ni brûlés», répond le président du FN. Chambres à gaz,
 Le Pen persiste >>> De Jérôme Bouin | 25/04/2008

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Interpol warnt vor Terroranschlag bei Olympischen Spielen
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Peking - 25. April 2008 Die Internationale Polizeibehörde Interpol hat vor einem möglichen Terroranschlag von Al Qaida und gewalttätigen Tibet-Protesten während der Olympischen Sommerspiele in Peking gewarnt. Ein Anschlag sei „eine reale Möglichkeit“, sagte Interpol-Generalsekretär Ronald Noble am Freitag in Peking bei einer Konferenz über die Kooperation im Sicherheitsbereich. „Wir müssen uns auf die Möglichkeit vorbereiten, dass Al Qaida oder eine andere terroristische Gruppe versuchen wird, einen tödlichen Anschlag während der Spiele zu verüben.“ Interpol warnt vor Terroranschlag bei Olympischen Spielen >>>

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Priests Sign Huge Record Deal
Watch BBC Video Here
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US Blocks Genetic Discrimination
Photo courtesy of the BBC
BBC: The United States Senate has unanimously passed legislation banning discrimination on the basis of people's genetic details.

The proposal, which passed 95-0, still needs approval from the House of Representatives before it becomes law.

It would allow only patients and their doctors to access data obtained through genetic testing.

Employers, unions and health insurance companies would be forbidden from discrimination via genetic information.

The Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy called it the "the first new civil rights bill of the new century".

He added: "Discrimination based on a person's genetic identity is just as unacceptable as discrimination on the basis of race or religion."

The bill would forbid health insurers from refusing coverage, or raising premiums, for healthy people based on genetic information.

Insurers would also not be allowed to require people to take tests which might show a predisposition to a disease.

And employers would be prohibited from using genetic information in decisions over hiring, firing, promoting or compensating employees. US Blocks Genetic Discrimination >>>

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Supreme Commission for Tourism Plans Islamic Heritage Museum
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH — Prince Sultan bin Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT), announced plans to establish an Islamic heritage museum in Makkah and a Qur’an museum in Madinah.

He said the two museums would be established in cooperation with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The project is significant as it targets nearly 10 million foreign pilgrims who visit the Kingdom every year to perform Haj and Umrah.

“We’ll establish six new museums in different regions this year and renovate 12 others,” the SCT chief said. He also disclosed plans to establish a large museum in Jeddah, which attracts more than two million tourists and visitors annually.

The Jeddah museum will be located at Khozam Palace, Prince Sultan said, adding that it would be similar to the National Museum in Riyadh. SCT Plans Islamic Heritage Museum >>>

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