Iran tutup kedai patung Barbie

TEHERAN – Polis Iran bertindak menutup berpuluh-puluh kedai yang menjual patung Barbie sebagai sebahagian daripada usaha menyekat budaya Barat.
Agensi berita Mehr melaporkan, polis merampas patung-patung Barbie itu kerana etika pemakaiannya yang mengenakan pakaian renang dan skirt pendek, sedangkan wanita di negara ini perlu memakai purdah.
Larangan penjualan patung Barbie telah dikuatkuasakan di Iran sejak pertengahan 1990-an.

– AGENSI

Karam bagai Titanic

ROME- Sebuah kapal persiaran mewah karam di persisiran Tuscany, menyebabkan sekurang-kurangnya lapan maut dan memaksa 4,165 penumpang dipindahkan dengan bot penyelamat ke pulau berhampiran semalam, kata pengawal pantai Itali.
Kira-kira 69 orang masih hilang selepas helikopter dikerah mengangkut 50 mangsa yang terperangkap di atas kapal Costa Concordia ke tempat selamat, kata Komander Pengawal Pantai, Francesco Paolillo.

China kills Muslim activists, calls them 'terrorists'

BEIJING, Dec 30: China said Thursday a police operation to free hostages in the restive Xinjiang region had left seven "terrorists" dead, but an exile group described the incident as a protest by local Uighurs.

Muslims in Xinjiang province have in the past complained of systematic persecution from Chinese authorities (file pic)

The incident is the latest reported violent confrontation in the region -- home to roughly nine million mostly Muslim Uighurs who have long bristled under Chinese rule -- since three deadly attacks in July left dozens dead.

The Xinjiang government said on its official Twitter-like weibo account that a "violent terrorist group" kidnapped two people in the northwestern region's remote Pishan county late Wednesday night, prompting a stand-off with police.

Clashes as Jewish group seeks to impose gender segregation

JERUSALEM, Dec 27: Clashes erupted on Monday between police and several hundred of extremist Jews from a town near Jerusalem who are campaigning for men and women to be segregated.


FOR HIM ONLY ... Jews seeking gender segregation are turning violent

Israeli police had stepped up their patrols in Beit Shemesh following unrest sparked by discrimination against women imposed by a radical fringe of the town’s religious Jews.

Muslim duo sue US airlines for discrimination

CNN

WASHINGTON, Dec 20: Two Islamic religious leaders from Tennessee filed a lawsuit against two airlines Monday, claiming they were discriminated against and not allowed to fly on a plane in May because of the way they looked. Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul, both imams, request a jury trial in the suit, filed in federal court against Delta Air Lines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines. In the suit, the two said they arrived at the Memphis, Tennesseee, International Airport on May 6, wearing traditional Muslim attire, including religious garb and headgear. The two were headed from Memphis to Charlotte, North Carolina, to attend a conference on anti-Muslim bigotry. Rahman is an Arabic-language adjunct professor at the University of Memphis and originally from Pakistan. Zaghloul is a religious leader at the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis and originally from Egypt.

Turkey tells France to face 'your own bloody history'

Today's Zaman

ISTANBUL, Dec 19: Turkey has slammed France for what it calls attempts to judge Turkish history before coming to terms with its own “dirty, bloody past” and repeated warnings of consequences in response to a bill the French legislature is readying to vote on that would criminalize denial that the Ottoman-era killings of Armenians in 1915 was genocide. “Today, nobody talks about the 45,000 Algerian deaths in 1945, or the role of France in the massacre of 800,000 people in Rwanda in 1994,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (pic) said of France on Saturday with a bitter criticism as he urged the country to face its own history before judging the history of others with strictly political motives.

Jewish and Muslim volunteers help make Christmas bright

ST LOUIS (US), Dec 19: Apart from the good food, time with family and watching children tear through wrapping paper, the holidays are also a season of volunteerism and charity. From the ringing of Salvation Army bells to delivering food for Meals on Wheels, many people take extra time during the season to do good in their communities.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS ... Wrapping presents are (from left) Abbas Ali, Hilary Cedergreen. Eliza Cedergreen, Nasreen Bibi and Chloe Cedergreen.
One effort in St Louis has more than altruism as a goal. On Christmas Day, a Jewish and Muslim Day of Service will use volunteerism to bring people of different faiths and backgrounds together. These volunteers will work at various agencies so that their Christian staffers can stay home and celebrate Christmas with their families.

"There's always a beauty in seeing people from different backgrounds, cultures and faiths working together," said Gail Wechsler, director of domestic issues and social justice for the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis. "This is a great example of people coming together."

Islamists leading again in Egypt's second round of voting

Almasry Alyoum

CAIRO, Dec 19: Turnout in the second round of Egypt’s parliamentary election reached 67 percent, according to Abdul Moez Ibrahim, the head of the supreme election committee. Ibrahim was speaking at a news conference on Sunday. DECISION TIME ... Egyptians casting ballots for the second round of the elections The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) claim to have received 40 percent of the votes. Over 12 million voters cast their ballots on Wednesday and Thursday in nine of the country's 27 provinces.The total number of eligible voters is almost 19 million. He added that almost a million votes were invalidated in the governorates of Giza, Beni Suef, Monufiya, Sharqiya, Ismailia, Suez, Beheira, Sohag and Aswan.

South Korea on high alert following Kim's death

Xin Hua

SEOUL, Dec 19: South Korea is put on high alert Monday following the death of Kim Jong Il (pic), the North Korean leader. Immediately after the DPRK's KCNA news agency reported Kim's death, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak convened the National Security Council (NSC) to discuss follow-up measures with Cabinet ministers. Lee reportedly ordered all government employees be put on emergency alert. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), meanwhile, put military on emergency alert and called an emergency meeting. The JCS has stepped up border surveillance, but no unusual activity has been detected yet, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

Iran tiru, bina pesawat kawalan jauh Amerika

Tehran yakin miliki senjata baru canggih tak lama lagi

TEHRAN- Iran akan meniru sistem kejuruteraan pesawat kawalan jauh Amerika Syarikat atau ‘drone’ yang dimilikinya dan kini dalam ‘peringkat akhir’ mendapatkan rahsia perisikan senjata canggih itu bertujuan menghasilkannya dengan lebih banyak pada masa depan.
Ketua Jawatankuasa Keselamatan Kebangsaan Iran di Parlimen, Parviz Sorouri, memberitahu semalam: “Tindakan kami berikutnya adalah untuk meniru sistem kejuruteraan pesawat itu,” kata Parviz yang dilaporkan laman web televisyen tempatan Iran.
“Pada masa akan datang, kami akan berupaya mengeluarkannya secara besar-besaran. Jurutera Iran tidak lama lagi akan membangunkan sebuah pesawat canggih sama seperti pesawat Amerika,” katanya lagi.
Iran berkata, ia memiliki pesawat canggih Amerika berbentuk kelawar yang melakukan misi pengintipan diberi nama RQ-170 Sentinel pada 4 Disember lalu ketika ia berada di ruang udaranya.
Iran menyatakan, sebuah unit perang siber Pengawal Revolusi menggodam kawalan penerbangan pesawat pengintip itu.

Cheney says US should destroy downed drone, Obama wants it back

PressTV

WASHINGTON, Dec 13: Former US Vice President Dick Cheney has criticized the US President Barack Obama for failing to destroy the spy drone recently downed in Iran. Iranian army officials have said they would tweak the drone's technology to serve Iranian needs Cheney said in an interview with CNN on Monday that Obama should have ordered an airstrike to quickly destroy the downed high-tech unmanned aerial aircraft to prevent the Islamic Republic from subjecting it to examination. He also said Obama was presented with three options for recovering or destroying the UAV, but he rejected all of them. "The right response to that would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it," Cheney said, adding, "You can do that from the air. You can do that with a quick air strike.”

Up to two million British workers to go on strike

BBC

LONDON, Nov 30: Up to two million public sector workers are staging a strike over pensions in what is set to be the biggest walkout for a generation. READY TO WALK OUT ... Staff from the University and College Union preparing for the strike, Nov 30. Schools, hospitals, airports, ports and government offices will be among sites disrupted, as more than 1,000 demonstrations are due across the UK. It would "achieve nothing", Downing Street said, calling for more talks. Unions object to government plans to make their members pay more and work longer to earn their pensions.

Woman who groped male steward escapes jail

A teacher who admitted being drunk on a plane and groping a male air steward has been spared jail after a London court was told of her battle against alcoholism.
The Cape Times newspaper reported Tuesday that Katherine Goldberg, 25, was on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Johannesburg to London when she drank nearly 500ml of whisky and then made "strong sexual advances" to the man, grabbing his groin.
Last month, the South African woman, who is a teacher, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and being drunk on a plane following the August flight, but magistrates decided the case was too serious to be dealt with in a lower court.
As part of her sentencing, she was fined £1,500 (RMA South African woman who admitted being drunk on a plane and groping a male air steward was spared jail on Monday after a London court was told of her battle against alcoholism.

Egypt polls kick off amid unrest and division

Al Ahram

CAIRO, Nov 28: Egypt’s first post-Mubarak parliamentary polls open Monday amid severe political divisions and street protests against the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) and its embattled government. The first stage of elections, which will last until 5 December, includes nine governorates: Cairo, Alexandria, Fayyum, Assiut, Luxor, the Red Sea, Port Said, Damietta and Kafr El-Sheikh. Of the 168 seats up for grabs in the first round, 56 will go to independents and 112 to candidates running on party lists.

150,000 missiles await you, Iran warns Israel

PressTV

TEHRAN, Nov 28: Iranian Defense minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi says Iran will teach Israel a good lesson if the entity tries to attack the Islamic Republic. Vahidi said on Sunday that Israel will not have a minimal chance of survival after venturing a military attack against Iran, as Iranian armed forces will pound all of Israel with thousands of missiles, Fars News Agency reported. “The enemy must answer this question, if it attacks Iran, for how long a battle and losing how many of its warships and vessels has it prepared itself?”

Ulama sokong demo

KAHERAH- Ketika ribuan penunjuk perasaan membanjiri Dataran Tahrir bagi menuntut tentera menyerahkan kuasa kepada orang awam, Imam al-Azhar mengambil langkah luar biasa dengan menyatakan sokongan terhadap desakan itu.
Melalui tindakan yang tidak pernah diambil sebelum ini, Imam al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb dilaporkan menyokong dan mendoakan kejayaan penunjuk perasaan di pusat bandar raya Kaherah itu.
Pembantu kanan Sheikh Ahmed, Hassan Shafie, berkata pegawai tertinggi Universiti al-Azhar yang dilantik kerajaan itu memang mengharapkan desakan orang awam terhadap pemerintah tentera Mesir mencapai kejayaan.
Tidak cukup dengan itu, ulama terkenal juga mengetuai ribuan penunjuk perasaan mendirikan solat di dataran yang menjadi simbol kejayaan Mesir menyingkirkan Hosni Mubarak sebelum mendesak kuasa pemerintahan diserah kepada kerajaan awam.

Adidas to launch $1 shoe in India

Adidas, the German sportswear and equipment maker, is to launch a shoe costing one dollar a pair in India, boss Herbert Hainer said, despite the failure of a similar venture in Bangladesh.
He told the Sunday newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag that unlike in Bangladesh mass production would be possible to supply the growing Indian market.
"The shoe will be sold in villages through a distribution network," Hainer said, adding, "We want the product to be self-funding."
He gave no indication of when or where it would be launched.
Adidas had announced plans to sell a one dollar shoe in Bangladesh last year, but Hainer said it had not worked as expected.

'All of Israel within Iran missile reach'

PressTV

TEHRAN, Nov 24: A senior Iranian military official describes missile shields deployed in the region to protect Tel Aviv as “inadequate”, saying all of Israel is within the Iran's missiles reach. “These missile shields which they have deployed in Turkey, occupied Palestine, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates cannot hit all our missiles,” Brigadier General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, who is also senior military adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatullah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday.

Man raped girl, then had family lunch

AN Ipswich man sat down and enjoyed a family lunch moments after raping his step-granddaughter, a court has been told.
The Brisbane District Court was told the man, then aged between 35 and 40, sexually abused the girl over a four year period from the time she was nine.
The man, now aged 41 and who cannot be named to protect his step-granddaughter's identity, was today jailed for three-years after pleading guilty to six sex offences committed between January 1, 2006, and April 22 last year.
However, the man is likely to spend less than a year behind bars after the sentencing judge ordered the three year term be suspended after he has served 10-months in actual custody.

MP's sex confession: I used male prostitutes

A FORMER MP has today admitted to hiring male prostitutes during sentencing submissions after he was convicted for sex crimes against a 12-year-old girl yesterday.
Terry Martin will be sentenced by Justice David Porter next Tuesday after yesterday being convicted of having sex with a person under the age of 17 and of producing child exploitation material.
The former member for Elwick in Tasmania's Legislative Council was found guilty of the crimes against a 12-year-old girl prostituted by her own mother.