Evening NEWS
DIGEST
29 Oct, 2015: 15 Muharram 37: Vol:7, No: 12
Muslim Personal Law Board to
oppose any move to alter family laws of Muslims
New Delhi : All-India Muslim Personal Law Board,
an organisation that lobbies for Shariah or Islamic law in family matters, has
said it would oppose any move to alter family laws of Muslims as it stands and
would approach the Supreme Court to be made a party in case such as move was
afoot. “If any move is being planned by the judiciary, we will obviously be a
party and appear before the court. On the face of it, I would say we can never
accept any tinkering of Muslim personal laws,” Maulana Wali Rahmani, acting
general secretary of the influential law board, told HT. India allows
communities to be governed by their religious norms in family matters such as
like marriage, inheritance and divorce. For Muslims, the Shariah Act of 1937
applies. One general concern is that some of these laws are discriminatory towards
women. Two judges of the apex court sought to set up a bench to examine parts
of Islamic law applicable to areas such as marriage and succession of property
with a view to ensure gender equality.HT
SC to examine validity of
Muslim divorce, polygamy
Polygamy in Muslim community
to be examined by SC: report
Law on equal right for
daughters over property is prospective: Supreme Court
No decision yet on SC’s poser
to Centre on Uniform Civil Code
New Delhi: The law ministry is yet to firm up
its stand on the Uniform Civil Code. Any decision is unlikely before the
conclusion of campaigning of the final phase of Bihar assembly elections. The govt
is facing a deadline to respond to a
Supreme Court poser on its stand on a common code. Though the NDA govt is in favour of a Uniform Civil Code, it is
not in a hurry to articulate its stand. A senior official said the govt will initiate a wider consultation with all stakeholders,
including all major political parties and personal law boards. As for its
affidavit to the SC, law minister Sadananda Gowda is likely to hold a
consultation with PM Narendra Modi and
other senior Cabinet colleagues in the first week of Nov.before finalizing the
Centre's stand.TOI
Kerala House beef row: Rajnath
placates Chandy, says ready to express regret
New Delhi:2 days after the Delhi Police raid on
Kerala House over beef exploded into a full blown war between the Kerala govt and the Centre, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on
Thursday finally broke his silence and said he was willing to express his
regret to Kerala CM Oomen Chandy. Singh said that he would meet Chandy after
his return from poll-bound Bihar.In an exclusive interview to India Today, the
Home Minister said, "I have advised Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi to
take stringent action against Hindu Sena leader Vishnu Gupta and have asked
Bassi and his team to be careful while acting out on such complaints in
future."IndiaToday
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah says
he will start eating beef from now on
Bengaluru: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has joined
the beef row contending that unnecessary issues are being raked under the leadership
of PM Narendra Modi."So far, I have not eaten beef. But I will start
eating beef from now onwards. So what's wrong in it? Who are you to question
me?" he said referring to the BJP leaders' objection to beef consumption
while interacting with the media in Bengaluru. Admitting that the situation
across the country had turned "insecure" with the kind of issues
taking centre stage, he said the focus of the Union govt should be on
development of the nation. Indiatoday
RSS should be banned for
fanning a sense of fear: Top Scientist Bhargava, preparing to return his Padma
Bhushan in protest
Chennai: Eminent scientist PM Bhargava, who is
preparing to return his Padma Bhushan in protest, has called for a ban on the
RSS alleging it is against minorities and dalits.“ RSS should be banned for
fanning a sense of fear among minorities and dalits,” Dr Bhargava said on
Thursday.The 87-year-old scientist, who is set to courier his plaque to Delhi
next week, received many congratulatory phone calls, and also a few abusive
ones, after he announced his decision.“The RSS chief and other Hindu
organisation leaders make dangerous statements from time to time that reveal a
dangerous design to rewrite the history of the country and also change the
country in a manner that is not acceptable to many people,” he said adding “the
RSS should be banned just like some minority organisations that engineer
communal strife.” Hindustan Times
Modi govt, RSS trying to
dictate what we eat and do: Scientist Bhargava
Scientist Bhargava latest to
return Padma Bhushan, protests against ‘attack on rationalism, reasoning’
Dadri lynching: Month after
Akhlaq murder, cops yet to file chargesheet
Noida: It has been a month since Akhlaq was
beaten to death by a mob, over rumours of consuming and storing beef, at his
house in Bisara village in Dadri district. Despite the arrest of some suspects,
the police are yet to file a chargesheet in the case.According to officials
associated with the probe, the statement of Akhlaq’s son Danish, the “prime
witness” in the case, was crucial for the chargesheet.So far, police have
arrested 10 suspects in connection with the case, including a juvenile.
However, the chargesheet in the case hinges on Danish’s recovery, said the
police.“Danish is a prime witness in the case…According to his doctors, he is
not yet in a position to speak. But his statement is important to file the
chargesheet,” said Anurag Singh, circle officer, Dadri. Danish’s recovery has
been slow, his brother Sartaj said, adding, “Doctors have told us that his
recovery has been 70%; it will take between 6 months and one year for him to
fully recover”. Indian Express
Sangeet Som charge-sheeted for
disturbing peace in Dadri
Meerut: UP police filed a charge sheet on
Wednesday in the case against controversial BJP leader Sangeet Som for
allegedly violating prohibitory orders imposed in Bishahra village in Dadri in
the aftermath of lynching of Akhlaq earlier this month.Som, MLA from Sardhana
in Meerut, was booked under Section 188 of the IPC for alleged violation of the
prohibitory orders in the first week of October. “The charge sheet has been
filed and the law will take its own course,” NP Singh, DM of Gautam Buddh Nagar
said. the hindu
Haryana education dept
magazine says beef source of iron: TOI
Chandigarh: A chapter in a magazine issued by
the Haryana education department has cited beef as one of the best sources to
enhance the body's iron absorption. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar is the chief patron of the
magazine while education minister Ram Bilas Sharma is the patron. Incidentally,
the state was the first in the country to pass a law mandating a 10-year jail
term for cow slaughter. The September issue of the monthly 'Shiksha Sarthi', in
a chapter titled 'Iron: Vital for Strength', has a list of iron enhancers and
inhibitors, which "directly affect the absorption of iron", on page
48. The magazine, published by the education department, is circulated among
students and teachers of all govt schools in the state. It also covers issues
related to school-children, food and nutrition, teaching methodology, database,
motivational stories and periodic activities and achievements of various
schools. According to the education department, there are around 14,500 govt
schools in Haryana and the magazine is circulated among most of them. Teachers
from various schools across the state and freelancers ar the main contributors
to 'Shiksha Sarthi'. Times of India
Mangalore: Riot breaks out after
Muslim barber refuses to shut shop on Tuesday
Bengaluru:A Muslim barber refused to shut shop
“as per custom”, triggering a riot by indignant members of the Hindu community
at Nelliyadi village, 70km from Mangalore, in Karnataka on Tuesday. Though the
violence was brought under control a few hours after it erupted around 4 pm,
dozens of people were injured and property worth lakhs destroyed in the melee. Bajrang Dal leader
Ravi Ballya told HT that the trouble started when the barber, Salman, refused
to “respect local sentiments” and keep his shop shut on Tuesdays. “It is
well-known that Hindus don’t cut their hair on Tuesdays. Salman was initially a
nice boy. He used to respect our wishes and close his shop then. But in the
last few weeks, he stopped doing that because some PFI leaders filled his head
with poison,” Ballya said.Kempi Mustafa, the head of the local masjid, said
this was not the first time Kumar and Ballya had stoked communal tension in the
area. Alleging that both are accused in criminal cases, he said this was just
the latest in a string of incidents aimed at disrupting the communal harmony of
coastal Karnataka. Meanwhile, the situation continued to be tense in at least 4 villages near Nelliyadi
– Kokkada, Patrame, Golithottu and Ballya. The police have so far arrested 9
men from both communities, and imposed curfew in the area. HT
Supreme Court Judgement on
Quota Draws Wrath
Kochi: Supreme Court’s direction to scrap
reservation in higher education has elicited sharp reactions with activists and
community organisations pointing out that the court was overstepping its
limits.Lashing out at the Supreme Court observations on reservation, Dr Fazal Gafoor,
chairman of the Muslim Education Society (MES), said that they are nonsensical
and amounts to playing with fire. “The judge was quoted as saying that ‘some
privilege remained unchanged 68 years after Independence,’ which is totally
wrong. They should read history more. In the case of OBCs, national level
reservation was implemented only in 2005,” the MES chairman pointed out. “The
judgement deceives ‘class thinking’ of the judiciary,” the MES chairman
observed.M Geetanandan of Adivasi Gotra Mahasabha, said that the judgment,
apart from being an unconstitutional one, would further strengthen the Sangh
Parivars’ Fascist ideology on reservation. New indian
express
Over 50 Leading Historians
Speak Out Against 'Highly Vitiated Atmosphere' in India: outlook
After writers, artists, filmmakers and
scientists, over 50 historians today came out strongly against PM NarendraModi
for not making any reassuring statement following concerns over "highly
vitiated atmosphere" prevailing in the country.A total of 53 historians
including leading names like Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, KN Pannikar and
Mridula Mukherjee have in a joint statement released by Sahmat raised their
serious concerns over recent developments."Differences of opinion are
being sought to be settled by using physical violence. Arguments are met not
with counter arguments but with bullets," the statement said referring to
the Dadri lynching incident and recent ink attack on Sudheendra Kulkarni during
a book launch function in Mumbai.
Academic historians express
serious anguish at prevailing conditions
Filmmakers join protest
against ‘intolerance’; Dibakar Banerjee, 11 others return national awards
New Delhi: Students at the FTII Wednesday ended
their 140-day-old strike — but the protest was taken forward by 12 filmmakers,
who announced that they would return their National Awards over the unresolved
FTII issue and the “rising intolerance” in the country.The students, too, said
they would return to classes but “continue to protest and resist the current
appointments in whatever peaceful and non-violent form we are able to”.Students
had gone on an indefinite strike on June 12 following the appointment of TV
actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as president of the FTII Society and
chairman of its Governing Council.They also expressed discontent over four
other “political” appointees who, they alleged, lacked the artistic and
cinematic expertise to secure a place in the FTII Society. Filmmakers who have
decided to return their National Awards are Dibakar Banerjee, Anand Patwardhan,
Paresh Kamdar, Nishtha Jain, Kirti Nakhwa, Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Hari Nair,
Rakesh Sharma, Indraneel Lahiri and Lipika Singh Darai. Earlier, in Pune, 2
FTII alumni, Pratik Vatsa and Vikrant Pawar, made a similar announcement.At a
press conference in Mumbai, the filmmakers read out a joint statement and said
they had decided to join protesting writers and Sahitya Akademi winners who had
returned their awards. Some of them also brought their National Award medals
with them. indian express
Urdu writers at lit fest join
protest, slam `fascist forces'
New Delhi: Writers at the first International
Urdu Literary Festival in Udaipur on Wednesday pledged solidarity with authors
and filmmakers who've been protesting against the free run to "fascist
forces" in the country and blamed the Centre for being soft towards such
elements. Urdu literary figures at the event, held under the aegis of Anjuman
Tarraqui Urdu(Hind), said that the 125-year old nationalist institution
espousing the cause of Urdu should take the initiative to ensure participation
of Urdu authors and writers in the ongoing struggle against rising intolerance.
JNU professor Khwaja Ikramuddin said all writers have to be progressive in the
circumstances simply because it's no longer possible for any Urdu writer worth
his salt to remain indifferent. "Being otherwise would be against Urdu's
DNA," Ikramuddin said. General secretary of the Anjuman, Ather Farouqui,
said no Urdu writer must remain silent in the prevailing atmosphere even though
there might be different ways of registering protest. TOI
Azamgarh youth lands in jail
for posting pro-Pakistan slogan on facebook 6yr back
Varanasi: A youth in Azamgarh district landed in
jail for posting pro-Pakistan slogan and flag on his facebook. He was booked
under section 66H of IT Act and relevant section of cyber terrorism. According
to reports, a youth Jaish Azmami, native of Dalaltola in Maharajganj police
station area of Azamgarh district had posted Pakistani flag and slogan
'Pakistan Zindabad' about 6 years back. He had also tagged some other people
with this post. Taking note of it the cyber crime cell of police started
collecting information about the youth. "youth was arrested on Oct.26,"
Maharajganj SO KD Tripathi told TOI over phone adding that the youth was booked
under sections of IT Act and cyber crime, and sent to jail. TOI
Haryana: CBI registers case in
burning of 2 dalit kids
Faridabad/New Delhi: CBI has registered a case
of murder against 11 persons in connection with the killing of two infants of a
dalit family in an alleged arson attack in Sunped village in Haryana on
Oct.20.CBI sources said as per the laid down procedure, the agency has taken
over the investigation in the FIR registered by the local police which had
named 11 persons in the case.A team of agency officials reached the crime scene
on Thursday and collected forensic evidence.The team headed by a DIG level
officer is in the process of understanding the circumstances of the
incident.PTI
Crimes against Dalits rising
in Haryana: Bhupinder Hooda
Owaisi arrested for Model Code
violation, gets bail
Purnia: Asaduddin Owaisi was on Wednesday
arrested on charge of violation of Model Code of Conduct and later released on
bail in Bihar’s Purnia district, an official said.Owaisi was allegedly making
an election speech at a religious place when a police team from Baisi police
station arrested him and brought to the respective police station where he was
booked in a case for holding public meeting without prior permission from the
authorities and under loudspeaker act, DM Balamurugan D confirmed. Owaisi,
however, denied that he had gone to the place for canvassing and claimed he
went there only to offer prayers and not for campaigning.PTI
BJP in Bihar: balancing
between Hindutva development
BJP’s poll calculations for Bihar have changed
quite swiftly. Now it believes that its development plank has not worked
because Nitish Kumar is a major challenge as a symbol of ‘vikas’ in Bihar and
the party has failed to convince voters of their “development agenda”. So party
is struggling with various alternative caste formulae – upper castes with EBC +
section of OBC or Upper Castes with MBC+ section of Dalits. indianexpress
Akhilesh Sacks 8 ministers,
reshuffles 9 others
Lucknow: CM Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday sacked
five cabinet ministers and three ministers of state from his council of
ministers, and withdrew existing portfolios of 9 other ministers. This is first
drastic shake up of the council of ministers since Akhilesh was sworn in as CM in
March 2012, and is seen as a decision in line with Samajwadi Party govt's poll
preparations for the 2017 assembly elections. New portfolio allotment and
swearing in of a fresh batch of ministers will be done on Saturday, Oct.31.
Among cabinet ministers shown the door after Akhilesh's meeting with UP
Governor Ram Naik on Wednesday,include stamp and registrations minister
Mahendra Aridaman Singh, Ambika Chaudhary, who was serving as minister for
backward and handicapped welfare, textile minister Shiv Kumar Beria, food and
civil supplies minister Narad Rai and technical education minister Shivkant
Ojha. Ministers of state sacked by Akhilesh on Thursday include Alok Kumar
Shakya (technical education), Yogesh Pratap Singh (basic education) and Bhagwat
Sharan Gangwar (with independent charge of small and medium scale industries. Times
of India
Indigo passenger not allowed
on flight over short dress
WORLD
Pakistan sold Iran nuke tech
in 1980s, ex-President Rafsanjani reveals: Praveen Swami's story
New Delhi: Ex-Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has confirmed that his
country received nuclear technology from Pakistan. The assertion, made in an
interview published on Thursday, undermines Islamabad’s long-standing claims
that its supply of technology and material to Iran, Libya and North Korea was
the work of a rogue network run by the country’s former nuclear czar, Abdul
Qadeeer Khan.In an interview published by website Iran’s Nuclear Hope,
Rafsanjani says “Abdul Qadeer Khan believed that the Islamic world had to have
a nuclear bomb… The Pakistanis agreed to help us somewhat”.“We were at war, and
we wanted to have such an option for the day our enemies wanted to use nuclear
weapons. This was our state of mind,” said the former Iranian president.The AQ
Khan network is suspected to have supplied Iran with designs for its P1-type
aluminium-rotor centrifuges, during a visit the scientist made to its Bushehr
nuclear facility in 1986, Later, in between 1994 and 1996, Iran received
components for 500 centrifuges, a deal that was followed up with designs for
the more advanced P2 centrifuges, which began operating from 2002.Iran’s
now-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Ali Khamenei, who has held the position since
1989, also travelled to Pakistan without success, Rafsanjani added.The timeline
revealed by Rafsanjani confirms reports that Iran-Pakistan nuclear cooperation
was sanctioned by military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq, who held power until his
assassination in 1988. Indian Express
US, world powers save space
for Iran at Syria talks
Washington: Iran could join international talks
over Syria’s future for the first time later this week, as the United States
declared itself ready to engage its long-time foe, if it might helps halt
Syria’s four-year civil war. Washington still waits to hear if Tehran will
attend the next round of discussions, expected to start Thursday and continue
till Friday in Vienna.Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov and several top European and Arab diplomats will be attending,
familiar cast that up to now hasn’t included any Iranian representatives. State
Dept. spokesman John Kirby said that the arrangements for Vienna were still
being finalized, but that “we anticipate that Iran will be invited to attend
this upcoming meeting.”While the US doesn’t approve of Iran’s “destabilizing
activities” in Syria, Kirby said American officials “always have recognized
that at some point in the discussion, moving toward a political transition, we
have to have a conversation and a dialogue with Iran.” On the other hand, all
previous international efforts have done nothing to stop the fighting, and
Kerry is trying to unite all sides with influence in the Arab country around a
common vision of a peaceful, secular and pluralistic Syria governed with the
consent of its people. President Barack Obama and Saudi King Salman spoke about
cooperating closely to fight the Islamic State and “establish the conditions
for a political transition in Syria,” according to a White House statement.
They vowed to build on recent diplomatic efforts. AP
Syrian opposition, rebels not
invited to Vienna talks
Syria's main political opposition body and
representatives of the armed opposition have not been invited to international
talks on the country's war, an opposition politician and a rebel leader
said.The Syrian govt in Damascus has
meanwhile yet to issue any official comment on the meeting in Vienna on Friday
that will bring together about a dozen countries including Saudi Arabia and
Iran, which back opposing sides in the conflict.The Syrian opposition has
objected to Iran's participation in the talks - the first time it has attended
such a meeting on Syria - because of its military support for President Bashar
al-Assad.George Sabra, a member of the Syrian National Coalition, told Reuters
the failure to invite Syrians showed a "lack of seriousness". Asked
whether the coalition had been invited to the talks, he said: "That didn't
happen."REUTERS
Iranian newspaper criticises
Iran’s military intervention in Syria, pro Assad policies
Iranian newspaper Bihar has for the first time
criticised the Iranian intervention in Syria, noting that the accelerated
developments in the Syrian battlefields have increased the number of deaths
among Iranian military leaders, Arabi21.com reported on Wednesday.“Iranian
military leaders went to Syria for military consultations,” the Iranian
newspaper said, “but we see that most of the Iranian military leaders were
killed in the battlefields in Aleppo.”The newspaper said that Russian
interference is playing a basic role in reinforcing the axis between Russian,
Hezbollah, Iran and Syria, but that the large number of casualties among
Iranians proves that the Syrian opposition is receiving arms and logistical
support from other players.It also expected that the Syrian crisis would not be
resolved soon, criticising the Iranian strategy based on simply protecting
Al-Assad. “If Iran needs to protect its interests in the region, and for this
must protect the Syrian regime, Iran could support a new regime without
Al-Assad,” the newspaper said.The newspaper criticised the red lines imposed by
Iran regarding the Syrian issue. “Putting red lines on the Syrian crisis closes
the road towards a political solution and makes [Iran] an obstacle in the face
of the political solutions,” the newspaper added.The newspaper concluded that
it is impossible to adopt the policy of supporting Al-Assad forever, because
this logic complicates the situation. middleeastmonitor
500 billion dollars stolen
under Maliki rule in Iraq: official
Istanbul: Iraqi Commission of Integrity (CoI)
spokesman Adil Nouri has claimed that half of the govt 's oil income and funds
for reconstruction were 'stolen' and 'vanished' from Iraq during the 8-year
period of office of former President Nouri Maliki.Speaking at the Iraqi
Parliament, Nouri said that around 500 billion dollars from govt coffers has "disappeared" and is
perhaps the greatest corruption in history.Underlining that Iraq's oil income
between 2006 and 2014 alone was only $ 822 billion, he said that the Maliki govt
had also received more than $250 billion
in funds from many countries, namely the US, used to pay the salaries and
pensions of Iraqi govt workers and for reconstruction projects.Within the scope
of corruption investigations carried out by the CoI, Nouri stated that former
defense minister Hazm Shalan, former trade minister Abdul-Fatah Sudani and
former electricity minister Aiham al-Sammarae were involved in graft during
their tenures and charged of corruption. Along with 53 other officials, a prosecution
against the Iraqi Red Crescent authorities was also brought and is still
continuing.Daily Sabah
Saudi Price Talal supports
Israel against Palestinians
Saudi
multibillionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal has said that he would stand with Israel
against the Palestinians if a new uprising was ignited, Kuwaiti media reported
on Tuesday. According to the AWD news website, bin Talal told the Kuwaiti
newspaper Al-Qabas: “I will side with the Jewish nation and its democratic
aspirations in case of outbreak of a Palestinian Intifada.”He also added: “I
shall exert all my influence to break any ominous Arab initiatives set to
condemn Tel Aviv, because I deem the Arab-Israeli entente and future friendship
necessary to impede the dangerous Iranian encroachment.”Regarding the foreign
policy of Saudi Arabia, bin Talal said that “[Saudi] must reconsider its
regional commitments and devise a new strategy to combat Iran’s increasing
influence in the Gulf States by forging a Defence pact with Tel Aviv.” Middleeastmonitor
JK Rowling Criticises Israel
Over Palestine Issue, Calls It 'Brutal', 'Unjust': outlookindia
London: Harry Potter author JK Rowling today
publicly criticised Israel for its "brutal" and "unjust"
treatment of the Palestinian people, but opposed a "cultural boycott"
of the Jewish state as it would "silence" voices that need to be
heard. Rowling, one of Britain's most successful female writers said she was
opposed to a wider cultural boycott of Israel after a number of her fans used
her Harry Potter characters to argue in favour of a total cultural boycott of
the nation.She wrote on Twitter: "Palestinian community has suffered
untold injustice and brutality. I want to see the Israeli govt held to account
for that injustice and brutality."Boycotting Israel on every possible
front has its allure. It satisfies the human urge to do something, anything, in
the face of horrific human suffering," the 50-year-old author said. Rowling
further said that Harry Potter fans had used her characters to make points
about the boycott.She said some readers pointed out that "talking"
did not stop the "Wizarding war" in her popular novels and drew
parallels between Harry Potter plot-lines and the conflict in the Middle East. Author
stressed: "What sits uncomfortably with me is that severing contacts with
Israel's cultural and academic community means refusing to engage with some of
the Israelis who are most pro-Palestinian, and most critical of Israel's govt.
Online campaign slams BBC's
'bias' against Palestine
Istanbul:BBC has come under criticism with an
online campaign over its coverage of Israel's aggravation against Palestinians.
The campaign by the NGO "The Friends of Al Aqsa" (FAO) -- launched on
Twitter with the hashtag #BBsee -- has asked the BBC a series of questions
about the news organization's "biased" coverage from the region."Why
do you highlight Israeli injuries and ignore the killing of Palestinian
children, youth and women?" was one of the questions of the campaign,
which quickly became a trending topic on the social media platform.Campaigners
asked, "Israeli forces killed 57 Palestinians and injured more than 2000!
Why aren't you reporting this?" and "There is concrete video evidence
of Israelis beating innocent Palestinians, why don't you show it
#BBSee?"Another tweet asked the media organization, "When will you
report the facts #BBSee?" Daily Sabah
Israeli forces accused of
killing unarmed Palestinian in Hebron
A Palestinian man was shot multiple times near
the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron on Wednesday.Israeli sources said that the
Israeli army managed to "neutralise" a Palestinian man near Kiryat
Arba after a stabbing attempt.However, eyewitnesses quoted by International
Solidarity Movement (ISM) based in Hebron disputed the army’s version of
events. According to the quoted eyewitness, Ibeidu was searched by Israeli soldiers
by the checkpoint and released, before orders were given to execute him. middleeasteye
Why Netanyahu Became a
Holocaust Revisionist: Josh Ruebner, Policy Director, US Campaign to End Israeli
Occupation
Newsnight editor 'concerned'
over seizure of BBC journalist's laptop under UK's anti terror law
Newsnight editor Ian Katz has spoken of his
concern over the seizure of a BBC journalist's laptop by police acting under
the Terrorism Act. Secunder
Kermani handed over the computer after officers secured a judge's order, BBC
has confirmed.They were responding to communications between Kermani and a man
in Syria who was publicly identified as an Islamic State extremist. The man was
not a confidential source, a BBC spokesman said. Katz said police use
of the act to access information shared between journalists and sources could
cause problems when reporting about Islamic State (IS)."While we would not
seek to obstruct any police investigation, we are concerned that the use of the
Terrorism Act to obtain communication between journalists and sources will make
it very difficult for reporters to cover this issue of critical public
interest," Katz said.BBC
Sydney most hostile to Muslims
in Australia, claims survey
Sydney :A new survey of national attitudes released on
Thursday by the Monash University in Australia has revealed that the city of
Sydney is the most hostile to Muslims, while Melbourne is seen as the most
tolerant towards members of that community.The survey, which appears in the
Sydney Morning Herald, further states that among a majority of Australians, the
spirit of multi-culturalism prevails and that there is barely any support for
calls from far-right groups to officially discriminate or reject would-be
migrants on the basis of religion or ethnicity.The survey identified broad
support for multiculturalism in mainland capital cities, but with differences
most pronounced in sentiment towards Muslims.Only 16 % of Melburnians reported a negative view of
Muslims, compared with 27 % in
Sydney.The findings in Sydney are closely matched in Adelaide, Perth and
Brisbane. Canberra is the only city close to Melbourne with 16.1 % negative.ANI
IS shuts down women's clinics
in Raqqa to prevent male gynaecologists treating female patients: The Independent
ISIS is believed to have ordered the closure of
all women's clinics supervised by male doctors in its Syrian heartlands, in the
latest assault on the health and rights of women in the territories controlled
by the militant group. According
to activists, ISIS has drastically restricted the work of male gynaecologists
in accordance with its leaders' belief that men and women should be kept apart
at all costs.Sources told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that all
women's clinics in Raqqa state overseen by men had been shut down.
Gynaecologists working in the province's larger hospitals had their involvement
in operations "confined".
Pakistan loses UN Human Rights
Council election
UN:
Pakistan failed to win a re-election to the top UN human rights body, garnering
just 105 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. General Assembly elected 18
members of UN Human Rights Council through a secret ballot.New members, who
will start their 3-year
terms beginning Jan.1
next year, are Belgium, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Georgia,
Germany, Kenya, Panama, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea,
Togo, Slovenia, Switzerland, UAE and Venezuela.PTI
Myanmar's 'Muslim-free'
election
Myanmar's main opposition party, led by the
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, deliberately bypassed Muslim candidates ahead
of the November election, a senior party member told Al Jazeera's Investigative
Unit.Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source said Suu Kyi ordered an
"Islamic purge" in the NLD to appease growing anti-Muslim sentiment
fuelled by hardline Buddhist nationalists.Not one of the NLD's 1,151 candidates
standing for regional and national elections is Muslim, despite there being
around five million Muslims - or between 4 and 10 percent of the population -
in the country.aljazeera
China ends one-child policy,
allows couples 2 kids
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