Iran Unveils New Missile, Says Seeks Peace through Strength

REUTERS.COM: Iran on Saturday unveiled a new surface-to-surface missile it said could strike targets with pin-point accuracy within a range of 500 km (310 miles) and it said military might was a precondition for peace and effective diplomacy.

The defense ministry's unveiling of the solid-fuel missile, named Fateh 313, came little more than a month after Iran and world powers reached a deal that requires Tehran to abide by new limits on its nuclear program in return for Western governments easing economic sanctions.

According to that deal, any transfer to Iran of ballistic missile technology during the next eight years will be subject to the approval of the United Nations Security Council, and the United States has promised to veto any such requests. An arms embargo on conventional weapons also stays, preventing their import and export for five years.

But Iran has said it will not follow parts of the nuclear deal that restricts its military capabilities, a stance reaffirmed by President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday. » | Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Gareth Jones | Dubai | Saturday, August 22, 2015

Is Christianity in the Middle East Coming to an End?

Christian communities being driven out by ISIS

Dschihadisten-Offensive: IS-Terroristen in Libyen auf dem Vormarsch

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die Friedensverhandlungen in Libyen laufen zäh. Der "Islamische Staat" nutzt das Chaos und weitet sein Einflussgebiet mit blutigem Terror aus. Warnungen vor einem "neuen Somalia" werden laut.

Mehr als zehn Monate hat der Uno-Sondergesandte Bernardino León zwischen den zwei zerstrittenen Fraktionen in Libyen vermittelt, ein Friedensvertrag soll bald unterzeichnet werden. Doch nun eskaliert die Lage, sodass Italiens Außenminister Paolo Gentiloni vor einem "neuen Somalia" warnt.

Denn der "Islamische Staat" (IS) ist auf dem Vormarsch. Dessen Kämpfer töteten innerhalb einer Woche bis zu 200 Salafisten und Bewohner der Stadt Sirt, von denen ein Dutzend geköpft oder gekreuzigt zur Schau gestellt wurden. Der IS hat nun die volle Kontrolle über die nordlibysche Hafenstadt, damit ist auch der Weg frei zu dem östlich gelegenen "Ölhalbmond". » | Von Mirco Keilberth | Freitag, 21. August 2015

The Muslim George Galloway?

Frenzied Armed Riots in Migrant Camp after Man Tears Up Koran and Throws Pages in TOILET

EXPRESS: RIOTS broke out in an overcrowded German refugee camp after a resident tore pages out of a Koran and threw them in the TOILET.

At least 17 people were injured when 20 Syrian refugees chased down an Afghan man after he ruined and discarded the Islamic holy book.

But the situation turned nasty when the crowd turned their anger to the camp's security guards as they protected the alleged offender.

More than 50 men armed themselves with steel rods and began hurling rocks at the guards and police.

The migrants smashed car windows, ransacked buildings and demolished the walls, which divide the shelter in Suhl, Thuringia, in a rampage which lasted several hours. » | Rebecca Perring | Friday, August 21, 2015

Cameron's 'Knee-jerk' Policies Will Fail to Root Out Hate Preachers, Blasts Muslim Leader

EXPRESS: GOVERNMENT proposals aimed at cracking down on extremism in the UK are “knee-jerk” and have allowed hate preachers to radicalise thousands of young British Muslims, a senior faith leader has claimed.

Speaking ahead of the country’s biggest annual gathering of Muslims this weekend, Naseer Dean, the London head of the influential Ahmadiyya Muslim group, launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May.

He argued that Tory ministers had allowed for the radicalisation of 4,000 young British Muslims by failing to grasp the scale of the problem of religious extremism.

He accused the media regulator Ofcom of being “reactive” rather than proactive and attacked the Home Office for cutting off funding to vital services aimed at monitoring extremist preachers.

And he called on the Government to “educate itself” about Islam so that "they have a better handle of what is going on in the mosques".

Shortly after the General Election, the Prime Minister announced plans for tough new rules to tackle extremism, claiming Britain had become a “passively tolerant” society.

They included “closure orders” brought in to shut buildings used by extremist preachers and a ban on radical clerics mixing with vulnerable young Muslims.

But, in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Mr Dean rubbished the proposals as “a knee-jerk reaction”.

“They are expecting the local authority and everybody to be monitors and to snoop, which is not the way to go,” he said.

“They need to find out what is going on in the mosques and a lot of the clerics that are coming to the United Kingdom are being allowed to come here.” » | Tom Batchelor | Friday, August 21, 2015

The Threat of ISIL in Saudi Arabia

After a number of recent attacks, ISIL claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed at least 15 at a Saudi mosque.

North Korea - South Korea: Kim Jong-un Promises 'Indiscriminate Strikes' and Places Country on 'War Footing' after Artillery Shots Fired

THE INDEPENDENT: Tensions arose following South Korea's use of loudspeakers on DMZ

Kim Jong-un has put North Korea on a war footing and threatened "indiscriminate strikes" against the South if it doesn't agree to halt propaganda broadcasts by Saturday evening at 5pm.

Mr Kim claimed North Korea’s soldiers were in a “quasi-state of war” and ordered them to prepare for battle, according to state news outlet KCNA.

The country has threatened action unless South Korea stops its anti-Pyongyang broadcasts over the heavily fortified North-South border by 5pm (local time) on Saturday.

South Korea's defence ministry has warned that the nation will "strongly retaliate against any kind of North Korean attacks". » | Rose Troup Buchanan | Friday, August 21, 2015

Catholic Monastery in Syria 'Destroyed by Isil Bulldozers'

THE TELEGRAPH: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seized Al-Qaryatain town and monastery Mar Elian earlier this month, kidnapping local Christians

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants have destroyed a historic monastery seized in their latest advance across central Syria.

Photographs appeared online of fighters from Isil with bulldozers at the Mar Elian monastery in Al-Qaryatain, in Homs province.

The monitoring group Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said the Catholic monastery was then destroyed "on the pretext that it was used for worshipping others than God". » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Editor | Friday, August 21, 2015

Arnoud van Doorn: Why I Converted to Islam

London 'Draw Mohamed' Exhibition Cancelled due to 'Real Possibility People Could Be Killed'

THE INDEPENDENT: Organiser Anne Marie Waters has branded Britain 'a frightened nation' in response

A planned 'Draw Mohamed' exhibition has been cancelled in London after counter-terrorism police warned that people could be killed if it went ahead.

Organiser Anne Marie Waters, Sharia Watch director and former UKIP candidate, revealed that security services had reason to believe the event might be attacked, with a "very real possibility that people could be hurt or killed - before, during and after".

Organisers asked more than 200 galleries to host the exhibition but their requests were almost universally refused, with even the gallery that eventually agreed later pulling out.

Waters says police did not force her to shelve the exhibition, but it was clear that Britain had become a "frightened nation" afraid of exhibiting controversial Mohamed cartoons.

"We need an international campaign comprising all who seek free speech protection, particularly from Islam," she wrote for Breitbart London. » | Jess Denham | Thursday, August 20, 2015

Etats-Unis: un touriste touché par la peste au parc Yosemite

L’EXPRESS: Il s'agit de la seconde personne à avoir contracté la maladie après un séjour au célèbre parc californien qui accueille 4 millions de personnes chaque année.

Faut-il craindre le retour de la peste? Un touriste a contracté la maladie dépeinte par Albert Camus après avoir visité le parc du Yosemite en Californie, l'un des plus populaires des Etats-Unis.

Le patient, originaire de Géorgie, dans le sud-est des Etats-Unis, s'était rendu en vacances dans le Yosemite et le massif montagneux de la Sierra Nevada avant de tomber malade, selon le services de santé publique de Californie (CDPH). "Les avertissements sur la peste diffusés par les autorités californiennes ont été très utiles jusqu'en Géorgie (car ils ont) permis à ce patient de recevoir rapidement l'attention médicale nécessaire pour se remettre de cette maladie", a déclaré le docteur Karen Smith, directrice du CDPH dans un communiqué. » | Par LEXPRESS.fr avec AFP | jeudi 20 août 2015

Greek Bailout: Alexis Tsipras to 'Step Down and Call Snap Elections'

Alexis Tsipras insisted that accepting tough reform demands
is the only way to ensure Greece remains in the eurozone.

THE GUARDIAN: Prime minister set to make imminent announcement, with 20 September predicted as most likely date for a poll

The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has decided to step down and call snap elections for 20 September, government officials said.

As the debt-crippled country received the first tranche of its new €86bn (£61bn) bailout, Tsipras was set to make the formal announcement later on Thursday, government sources told Reuters.

Once he submits his resignation the prime minister would be replaced by the president of Greece’s supreme court, Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou – a vocal bailout opponent – who would oversee the elections as the head of a transitional government. » | Jon Henley | Thursday, August 20, 2015

Former President Jimmy Carter to Be Treated for Brain Cancer

REUTERS.COM: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Thursday that he will start radiation treatment for cancer on his brain later in the day, adding that his fate was "in the hands of God" barely a week after announcing he had undergone surgery for liver cancer.

Appearing calm and lucid, Carter, 90, told a news conference that he will cut back dramatically on his schedule to receive treatment every three weeks after doctors detected four "very small spots" of melanoma on his brain. » | David Beasley | Atlanta | Thursday, August 20, 2015

The Watchman: Sunni And Shia Jihadists Battle

On this week's edition of The Watchman, we sit down with leading Middle East analyst Elliot Chodoff to discuss the ongoing battle between Sunni and Shia jihadists in the region and what it means for America and Israel.

The Moral State Of America

North American Jews Return To Israel

CBN NEWS: Prophecy Fulfilled: N. American Jews Return to Israel » | Julie Stahl | CBN News Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, August 20, 2015

Schwere Krawalle in Flüchtlingsheim

SPIEGEL ONLINE: In der Erstaufnahmestelle für Flüchtlinge in Suhl ist ein Streit zwischen Asylbewerbern eskaliert. Polizisten, die einem Mann zur Hilfe kommen wollten, wurden mit Steinen beworfen. Mindestens zehn Menschen wurden verletzt.

In einem Flüchtlingsheim im thüringischen Suhl ist es am Mittwochabend zu Ausschreitungen gekommen. Nach Angaben der Polizei attackierte eine Gruppe von 20 Asylbewerbern einen Mitbewohner wegen eines Streits um Glaubensfragen. » | syd/dpa/AFP | Donnerstag, 20. August 2015

Cairo Blast: Isis-linked Group Claims Responsibility

THE GUARDIAN: Car exploded outside national security agency building, injuring six police, in attack claimed by Sinai Province of the Islamic State

Isis-affiliated militants in Egypt have claimed responsibility for an explosion at a Cairo security building that left six police wounded.

The claim came in a message circulated on social media by the Sinai Province of the Islamic State, which has claimed a series of similar bombings in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt.

The blast happened just before 2am close to the national security agency building in Shubra al-Khaima, a neighbourhood on the northern edge of the Egyptian capital. The sound of the explosion echoed across Cairo, rattling windows and waking residents miles from the blast.

Egypt’s interior ministry said in a statement that a car had exploded outside the security compound. The assailant fled the scene on a motorcycle, it said. » | Jared Malsin in Cairo | Thursday, August 20, 2015

Isil Murders Scholar Who Hid Treasures of Palmyra

Khaled Asad, the Director of Antiquities and Museum in Palmyra

THE TELEGRAPH: Isil extremists behead revered antiquities scholar Khaled al-Asaad in ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, says government official

Militants from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have killed a revered archaeologist in the Syrian city of Palmyra, after he refused to give up the secrets of its ancient treasures.

Syrian state antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim said on Tuesday that 82-year-old Khaled al-Asaad, longtime director of the Palmyra museum, was beheaded in a local square before his body was placed on display in public.

The archaeologist had been detained and interrogated for over a month by Isil, Mr Abdulkarim told Reuters. The jihadists had wanted to extract information about the whereabouts of precious Palmyra antiquities which had been removed as the extremist group advanced on the city. » | Louisa Loveluck | Wednesday, August 19, 2015