Netanyahu to travel with Mossad agents

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JNN 14.08.10 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been forced to seek Mossad’s help on organizing his Greece visit as Israeli’s foreign ministry staff are currently on strike.

Foreign ministry employees in Israel are on strike in protest at the low pay and benefits they receive compared with the Mossad, Shin Bet and other government agencies with missions abroad. As a result, some 100 Israeli embassies throughout the world are refusing to go to work.

The unusual decision by the prime minister sparked anger among foreign ministry officials, who accuse Netanyahu of trying to break a legal strike by using another body.

Israeli diplomats have also vowed to cut off contact with all units of the Mossad, which is preparing Netanyahu’s Greece visit through its network of residents abroad who have close contacts with government officials and security agencies in the host country.

Meanwhile, the employees of Israel’s Athens embassy have boycotted Netanyahu’s trip.

“The ambassador will not meet the prime minister at the airport and nobody from the foreign ministry will lift a finger for this trip,” a foreign ministry workers’ committee source said.

“It is unacceptable that the prime minister would use another body, which is strictly in charge of security matters, to break a strike,” the source added.

According to Israeli media, the Athens visit is too important to be delayed as it is intended to strengthen ties with Greece after Israel failed to repair its once strong relations with former regional ally Turkey.

Netanyahu is due to travel to Greece on Monday for talks with Prime Minister George Papandreou and other leading officials.

US rabbi to hold anti-Israel rallies

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JNN 14.08.10 A rabbi has sharply criticized the Israeli regime for its crimes against Palestinians, saying Tel Aviv is not the representative of Jewish people.

In an interview with IRNA in New York, David Feldman, an anti-Zionist campaigner, also announced plans to organize protest rallies in several countries against Israeli violence on Palestinians.

The rabbi noted on Saturday that the protesters intend to raise public awareness that Israel is an anti-Semitic regime and it should lift its siege on the impoverished Gaza Strip.

Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the coastal enclave since 2007. The 1.5 million population of Gaza have endured severe conditions, constantly suffering from lack of basic living supplies.

Feldman emphasized that rabbis have always been opposed to Zionism and Israel, adding that the demonstrators will be carrying posters at their rallies to express anger toward the regime.

He said that his organization had held several demonstrations in Canada and the United States so far.

The rabbi also said that the people around the world are not aware of Israeli crimes against the innocent people of Palestine and it is our responsibility to expose the crimes committed by Israel.

Hezbollah shares Hariri case evidence

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JNN 14.08.10 Hezbollah says it is ready to hand over evidence proving Israel’s involvement in the murder of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri to Lebanese authorities.

Hezbollah officials said on Friday that since the resistance movement does not trust the tribunal investigating Hariri’s assassination, they would pass the sensitive material to the Lebanese judiciary.

“What Lebanon’s jurisdiction asks for we will provide, and what they do with that is their responsibility,” State Minister for Administrative Development Mohammed Fneish told AFP.

“Our position has not changed, however. Our evidence is in the hands of the Lebanese government… but that does not alter our view of the tribunal, which is that it has no credibility,” the Hezbollah minister added.

Hezbollah lawmaker Nawaf Mousawi also said that it is up to Lebanese authorities to give the information to the UN tribunal.

Hezbollah’s Friday decision came after the UN tribunal probing the murder of former Lebanese premier called on the Shia group to submit all the information it has and assist the inquiry.

Some political analysts, however, believe Chief prosecutor Daniel Bellemare’s request was “merely an attempt to enhance the credibility of the tribunal.”

Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday presented new indications of Israeli involvement in the killing of Hariri in a massive car bomb explosion in 2005.

The evidence included footage from Israeli spy drones of routes used by Hariri and recorded confessions by Israeli spies substantiating that the assassination of Hariri was carried out on orders from Tel Aviv.

Imam Khamenei Commends Enthusiasm for Quran

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World Shia Leader recommended that people make an attempt to understand the concepts in the Quran and abide by them in addition to reciting the holy book.

Imam Khamenei further pointed out that mastery of Quran translation would lead to a better understanding and interpretation of the teachings of Islam’s holy book.

The Leader made the comments on August 12 during a ceremony on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Iran.

Muslims observing Ramadan fast between sunrise and sunset.

Another Young Shia Martyred while the Death toll in Karachi unrest tops 1000

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JNN 11.08.10 Another Young Shia Man Zakir Hussain s/o Mutawali Ali , aged 34 , working for a Tea Supply Co. , was gunned down by the terrorists in the early hours of the day, near Tariq Road .

The Deceased was the resident of A . B. Cinea Lines Area , while all his family members were in Nagar Khas , A Town of Gilgit , Baltistan. A new Province , from the northern Area of Pakistan.

Clashes between rival ethnic groups , and the target Killing of the Sectarian terrorists have left at least 1,000 people dead in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi over the past seven months, officials say.

Karachi police chief, Waseem Ahmed, told reporters on Thursday that hundreds were victims of targeted killings.

The police official added that over 300 localities of the port city have been declared sensitive, a JNN correspondent reported.

The unrest has prompted the authorities to arrest 40 suspects and deploy extra troops to control the situation in Karachi.

The government has blamed pro-Taliban militants and the banned group of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan for most of the deaths in recent days.

Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, is also home to numerous ethnic groups ands sectarian groups while the city has been wracked by clashes between rival ethnic and political factions for much of the 1990s.

Prominent Shia Businessmen Martyred in the Ongoing Target Killing in Karachi.

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JNN 10.08.10 Karachi: In the early hours of the day prominent Shia Businessman Agha Abid Shirazi s/o Ahmed Shirazi , aged 58 years , Brother of Asghar Shirazi ( trustee of Imam Bargah Bargah Aza Khana e Zehra), Owner of ZCL Construction Company was gunned down by the terrorist of Banned Outfits Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan , on his way to his office near Duty  free Shop ,Baloch Colony.

The Namaz e Janaza of the Shaheed Abid Shirazi will be performed today after Zohrain at Imam Bargah Aza Khane Zehra. and his burial will take place at Wadi e Hussain Grave Yard.The deceased has left behind a widow and Three kids , 2 sons and a Daughter .

The Government of Sindh has lost the control of the Alarming Detouriating Situation , of the high rate of Target Killing in the province

Even after the admittance of the Interior Minister of Pakistan Mr. Rehman Malik , regarding the presence of  Taliban and and Terrorist of Banned Outfits like SSP , LoJ , Jundullah , TTP and other allied terrorists groups , which are working in nexus with each other , and are more united than the government Intelligence agencies , as even with such a high rate of target Killing in Karachi , All the Federal and the Provincial Intelligence agencies have not been able to break the terrorists network and till now have not been able to have some major crack down on the terrorist ,except of Big claims of curbing the menace and giving statements on the Media of giving more powers to the security agencies which till now have not fetched any results .

The Killing of Shia community members have been always an alarm of rising terrorist activities in the country , and specially in the parts where such activities take place . As the past has told us that the Suicide attacks on Shia Mosques  in Karachi was the beginning of Killing the Muslim worshipers all around the country , which led to the attacks on Holy Places like attack on Parade Lane Mosque in Islamabad , or the double suicide attack on Data Darbar , if these networks which tries to paint there suicide attacks on the Shia community members as of sectarian nature are actually not of sectarian nature , but they are actually against Islam and the Integrity of Pakistan . As these terrorist Organisations are heavily funded by the enemies of Islam and Pakistan , which includes the names of American CIA, Israeli Mossad,Indian RAW, and Saudi Funded Taliban.

The Government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan should take immediate and serious action against the ongoing Killing of Shia Community members as the patience on these community members and the family members of these Martyrs is a sign of revolution , which will sweep the whole nation , and cleanse the system , with all the devilish forces working against its Integrity of Pakistan and Islam . As the recent example of revolution by the same community members in the brotherly countries of Lebanon, Iraq and Iran should be an eye opener for the Govenrment.

The Government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan should seriously take notice of these Killing of the Shia community members , as these people are the founders of Pakistan , and the patience of the whole community on these Killings is itself saying that a revolution is in the offing which will cleanse the whole society .

As the Injustices against the same community have led to revolutions in countries like Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran .

Gob Bless Pakistan ,and save the Innocent People of Pakistan from the devilish Plans of the Evil Froces. Ameen

Hezbollah exposes Israeli hit men

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JNN 10.08.10 Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has presented evidence proving that Israel masterminded the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

At a press conference in Beirut on Monday night, the Lebanese resistance movement’s secretary general presented video materials captured by Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) as well as recorded confessions by Israeli fifth columnists substantiating that the February 14, 2005 assassination of Hariri in the capital was carried out on orders from Tel Aviv.

The Lebanese network Al-Manar aired the speech and incorporated the evidence, showing intercepted footage of Hariri’s house in the lead-up to the massive car bombing which killed him and claimed the lives of 22 other people.

Al-Manar also produced film footage showing Israeli espionage agents acknowledging their roles in the assassination.

One of the Israeli operatives, Ahmad Hussein Nasrallah, “gave false information to former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri through someone who worked with Hariri in the security area,” the Al-Manar narrator stated, and added, “He said that Hezbollah wanted to assassinate Rafik Hariri.”

Afterwards Al-Manar showed the agent admitting to the ruse.

Syria was accused of being behind the plot to assassinate Hariri, which undermined the tenuous ties between Damascus and Beirut and eventually led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

The Hezbollah leader said Ahmed Nasrallah had sought to frighten the late Lebanese premier with the allegations as part of a larger plot to drive Syria out of Lebanon

US financial elite destroy the dollar

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JNN 10.08.10 The value of the US dollar is crashing intentionally as the Federal Reserve has been printing money without tangible reserves for several decades. President Barack Obama has helped the bankers to come out ahead in every possible situation while pushing the middle class into poverty.

The following is a transcription of an interview with Economist specialist Max Keiser who talks about the US economy’s downfall and how the answer to fix it is easy.

Press : Is the dollar in a freefall or exactly what is going on?

Keiser: Well what’s going on is you have the banks in the United States committing a financial holocaust. It is probably the worst holocaust in the last 100 years. What there doing is they’re destroying real estate values, jobs, wages and pensions. And they do this by flooding the market with more debt in the form of US dollars. As your package accurately said, the US has no reserves upon which to issue dollars; therefore, by definition every dollar that is issued is debt. This debt holocaust is wiping out the middle class on purpose. Because the rich people in America want to buy those houses. Those millions of houses out there that people are still living in. They want to buy them back for maybe one penny on the dollar. This is a financial holocaust by design. The American bankers are holocaust brokers. They should be in front of a human rights court and taken up on human rights abuses and all hung.

Press : Now Max, you’re saying that it’s by design for the benefit of the rich to destroy the middle class. Wouldn’t that in effect destroy the economy as a whole?

Keiser: No, because if you’re a Goldman Sachs banker, you are completely protected from this phenomenon. Plus you’re buying gold, you’re buying silver and you’re buying tangible assets. So you are not taking any risks. It’s okay to simply wipe out the middle class. It’s a holocaust. Just like the holocaust we saw in WWII. In America we are seeing the holocaust of the middle class by a few extraordinary, greedy, corrupt bankers on Wall Street; principally Goldman Sachs, J.P Morgan and the gang.

Press : If the US uses the quantitative easing of printing money, do you think they want to get out of this economic downfall or do they want to continue to print the money to basically put the country more into this economic slump to benefit a few? Is that correct?

Keiser:Yes, it’s a domestic terrorist attack on a sub-group; in this case the middle class. If they wanted to bring about a solution, the solution is very easy: Ring fence all the corrupt banks, put all of that bad debt behind a firewall like they did during the savings and loans crises of the 1980s. The Resolution Trust Corruption ring fenced all the debt and they restarted the economy by creating some new banks. And these new banks were able to get loans and they could create inflation, which would have the effect of stimulating the economy. That is clearly the way the solution could be offered. But this is not what’s happening. So clearly we must conclude that the bankers on Wall Street our not doing the obvious solution but the complete opposite of what should be done. They are increasing the debt load by flooding the market destroying houses, jobs, wages and pensions.

Press : Let me interrupt you right there. Are you telling me that there are no independent economists or any individuals in the country, in the United States, that is talking about this; nobody going against it and getting air time? If what you’re saying is true, do you see the role of the media being involved with the bankers also? I’m just trying to get an understanding on what you’re saying.

Keiser:Well you do hear about this everyday. It’s called deflation, for they put it in economic terms. They talk about it in the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal Now in America people are saying that the problem is not inflation, the problem is deflation. Paul Krugman, famous noble prize winner, recently switched from the inflation camp to the deflation camp. You’ve got Bill Gross over there, the big co-founder, financial manager from PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management). He was talking about inflation, now he’s talking about deflation. So there is an understanding of what’s going on. What I’m saying is that Barack Obama, who’s an Uncle Tom type character in America today, has sold out the middle class. He’s trying to cozy up with the elites that are running the country and he is participating in this financial catastrophe because it benefits a few people. It’s all obvious because the solutions are obvious regarding what could be done. They could easily do something more constructive.

Press : If it had not been the dollar in the United States up until this time would it have totally collapsed? Because of course as we are saying there’s nothing really backing this dollar. It’s just basically a printing press and printing more money. So is it sort of like an economic facade taking place in the United States. Where do you see it going from here?

Keiser: Well the US dollar is the World’s reserve currency. It’s been that way since the end of WWII. It’s given America extraordinary privileges in conducting other people’s affairs in other countries who all must buy dollars. If you live in Japan and want to buy oil, you must buy dollars first. If you want to participate in the commodity market, you must buy dollars. This has given tremendous support to the dollar. It means the US government can write checks and dollars that they never have to cash. Because when someone comes to collect the money, they write them another check like this fictitious currency: the US dollar. Now what happened over the past 15 to 20 years on Wall Street is whatever little equity there was in the American economy, they’ve completely hollowed that out. So at the moment the dollar is floating on a sea of absolute trash. The Federal Reserve has trillions and trillions of dollars worth of debt that they took from Wall Street over the last few years. They claim it is worth 60 to 70 cents on the dollar or more. It’s actually worth zero. That’s what Ben Bernanke is saying when he says the Federal Reserve thinks they may have to roll over this debt, and do some more quantitative easing, which means they need to issue more of this bad debt to take care of their debt problem. Now this is obviously like turning America into the Warsaw ghetto of WWII, and we have a financial holocaust going on. Millions are at risk of dying! That’s the bottom line. And the top one percent in America does not care.

Press : I’d like to thank Max Keiser economist from Paris.

CIA physicians 'professionalize' torture

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JNN 10.08.10 CIA physicians have provided guidelines to interrogators and documented the effects of the enhanced interrogation techniques, a report says.

This week, The Journal of American Medical Association published a report entitled “Roles of CIA Physicians in Enhanced Interrogation and Torture of Detainees,” which states that the CIA doctors, irrespective of medical ethical standards, performed on-site medical evaluations of detainees before and during interrogation.

The CIA Office of Medical Services said that the methods did not amount to torture, while recognizing that abusive techniques created serious medical risks.

Isolation, loud music, continuous light or darkness, extreme cold, food deprivation and waterboarding were just some of the abusive techniques to name.

In June, Physicians for Human Rights accused the Bush administration of turning the prisoners in CIA custody into research subjects.

The international non-governmental organization detailed how medical professionals conducted illegal “enhanced interrogation” techniques on the detainees and later collected data in order to study and refine the techniques

Top rabbi to be tried for sex crimes

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JNN 10.08.10 Israeli police say there is sufficient evidence to press charges against Rabbi Mordechai Elon in the allegations of sexual abuse leveled against him by former students.

They said that the prominent religious Zionist rabbi should be tried for allegedly committing indecent acts by force against minors.

Elon called the matter a “terrible blood libel, a complaint without foundation,” by a “person whose stability is doubtful,” Ynetnews reported.

The investigation began in February, after Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein received several complaints alleging Elon to having committed sexual offences against young boys that came to him for advice.

Police investigators said that they have talked to a number of people and two boys have agreed to testify that the rabbi had sexually assaulted them between 2005 and 2006 when they were minors.

Elon, 50, was also the host of a popular TV program on the weekly Torah portion and worked to build understanding and cooperation between the religious and secular sectors, The Jerusalem Post reported.

'Pakistan floods worse than tsunami

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JNN 10.08.10 A senior United Nations official has said the scale of Pakistan’s floods is worse than the 2004 tsunami in Asia and the Haiti earthquake.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA)– also said nearly 14 million people have been affected by the massive floods.

“This disaster is worse than the tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the Haiti earthquake,” AFP quoted Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told AFP.

This, OCHA said, while in the tsunami some five million people and in the Haiti earthquake some three million were affected.

The United Nations has estimated that Pakistan’s floods have left sixteen-hundred people dead. The worst flooding in the history of Pakistan has also affected the lives of 15 million others.

Reports say the Indus River has bursting its banks in southern province of Sindh. The floodwaters flowing from the northwest of Pakistan have already destroyed hundreds of villages.

The dire situation in the flood-ravaged Pakistan is deteriorating as landslides sweep across the hard-hit parts of the country, killing more people.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has visited flood-ravaged parts of Sindh province, appealing for more international aid.

“The government has done everything possible but it is beyond our capacity, we are facing an extremely difficult situation,” Gilani said.

Gilani added that floods have put Pakistan back ‘several years’.

Relevant authorities estimate the number of deaths to rise as further flooding is forecast and rescue teams cannot offer assistance to all.

Karachi Police Probing TTP’s Role in Raza Haider’s killing

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LAHORE: Daily Times has learnt that the Karachi Police and the Intelligence Bureau is investigating the role of a top leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Qari Muhammad Zafar alias Ustad-e-Fidayeen, in the assassination of MQM leader Raza Haider.

It is being suspected that Zafar is the chief architect of the killing of Raza Haider, who was shot along with his guard inside a mosque in Karachi on August 2, 2010.

Zafar, who is on the US State Department’s “wanted-list”, has head money of $5 million and he is also believed to be behind the bombing at the US Consulate on March 2, 2006.

An investigator who has followed Qari Zafar told Daily Times, “So important is Qari Zafar to the TTP that they faked his death so he could work in peace – he runs Hakeemullah Mehsud’s Karachi Chapter and has hundreds of operatives working for him in the city”.

On February 24 this year, a US drone targeted a vehicle and a compound run by the Haqqanis at Dargi Mandi near North Waziristan, and claimed that Qari Zafar had been killed in the attack.

As it turned out, the TTP faked Zafar’s death and the TTP leader is also believed to be behind the Ashura procession attack and the Nishtar Park bombing in Karachi.

Zafar is a senior leader of the Fidayeen-e-Islam, an alliance between the TTP and anti-Shia Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Muhammad. The group was based in South Waziristan and has moved to North Waziristan only recently.

Sources say that the LeJ is being single-handedly led by Zafar, who has become a trusted member of al Qaeda thanks to Qari Hussain Mehsud – a close aide of Hakeemullah Mesud.

“The worst part is that Zafar is a Karachiite of Pakhtun origins, so he knows the ball game,” one investigator told Daily Times.

The sources said, Zafar sent out various messages and communications that were intercepted by intelligence agencies, who subsequently informed the MQM leadership to keep a “low profile”.

One of the plans of Qari Abdullah was to explode a C4-filled truck at MQM headquarters, which gave out clues to the investigators that Qari Zafar was also involved in the Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabad on September 20, 2008.

Apparently, Zafar had to cancel the plan to attack MQM headquarters due to unprecedented security.

It was then the TTP, along with Qari Zafar, that opted to go for “softer targets” of the MQM, which included the party’s lower and mid-cadre unit and sector members.

At the same time, due to sectarian inclination of the LeJ, Shia members of the MQM were made primary targets and the hit list had on it top MQM leaders, including MQM’s top leader Haider Abbas Rizvi.

Intelligence officials said “leaders like Dr Farooq Sattar, Faisal Sabzwari are also on the list”.

Investigators are also looking into the assassination of Raza Haider, which one of the investigators said resembled the target killing of Maj Gen (r) Faisal Alavi, a former SSG commander who was killed in Rawalpindi in November 2008.

Intelligence agencies confirmed that it was none other than Qari Zafar himself who dispatched a suicide bomber to kill Shia leader Allama Hasan Turabi at his residence, besides also ordering the recent killings of Shias in the city.

It was also revealed that Zafar had been caught by law enforcement agencies once, but he had managed to escape.

(terrorist Qari mohammad zafar)

Shia Muslim Organizations Aid to Pakistani Flood Victims

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The World Federation in partnership with The Africa Federation, the Council of European Jamaats and NASIMCO is launching the Pakistan Flood Appeal 2010. The displaced victims in Northern Pakistan are suffering and The World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri (ksimc) is appealing to all communities around the world to donate generously. The World Federation has set a target to collect £ 80,000 for this appeal.

‘If you are reduced to poverty, then trade with Allah (SWT) through giving in charity.’ Imam Ali (AS)

Since 28 July 2010, heavy monsoon rainfall in north-west Pakistan has caused catastrophic floods in different rivers causing more then 1170 dead, misplacing thousands of families and damaging infrastructure. In the worst-affected areas, entire villages were washed away and thousands of people have lost everything. Over 3 million people would be affected and forecasters have predicted more rain in the upcoming days that will cause further devastation. This is the worst flooding in more than 80 years in Pakistan.

PAKISTAN FLOOD APPEAL 2010

The World Federation in partnership with The Africa Federation, the Council of European Jamaats and NASIMCO is launching the Pakistan Flood Appeal 2010. The displaced victims in Northern Pakistan are suffering and The World Federation of KSIMC is appealing to all communities around the world to donate generously. The World Federation has set a target to collect £ 80,000 for this appeal.

The World Federation is working with the Hussaini Foundation to explore the urgent provision of immediate relief and medium to long term assistance to the displaced victims. The Hussaini Foundation has already set-up its relief team and is sending out food parcels to the victims and has undertaken the following assessment in four key areas:

Baluchistan: The areas of Kachhi, Jaffarabad, Kohlu and Sibi districts are most effected hundreds’ of mud houses have been washed out, road links are badly damaged.

Gilgit: Thousands peoples were rendered homeless as torrential rains hit Gilgit. Communication with the rest of the country was put to halt due to landslides from Gilgit to Skardu, Ghizer, Astore and Islamabad.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir: An emergency has been imposed in the upper areas of AJK following high-level floods in river Neelum. Muzaffarabad is affected and many river side houses are badly damaged. The relief efforts from governments and army are underway but an urgent need for food and medicine is needed.

Sindh: The government have alerted the local authorities to gear up and evacuate peoples from the expected affected areas.

The Foundation is also undertaking a detailed assessment from its grassroots sources to evaluate the extent of damage to houses and property, but due to disruption caused by the devastation in the infrastructure and communications networks, this has been challenging. The long-term rebuilding of the affected areas could take several years because of the extent of the devastation.

The World Federation is deeply distraught and concerned about the devastation and loss of lives and strongly appeals to all donors to donate generously. Your contribution will make a great impact on the lives of all those who have lost everything, including their homes and their livelihood.

The momineen are also requested to remember the victims in your Duas.

TO DONATE:

Donate on The World Federation Website

Donate in Canada or USA, (via NASIMCO)

Donate in Europe (via CoEJ)

For more information, please email relief@world-federation.org

China now second largest economy

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China has overtaken Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy after three decades of rapid growth, a top Chinese official has announced.

“China, in fact, is now already the world’s second-largest economy,” China’s chief currency regulator Yi Gang said in an interview with the latest issue of the China Reformmagazine, which was published on Friday.

He said that China’s economy expanded over 11 percent in the first half of 2010, compared with the same period a year earlier, and is likely to register a growth of more than 9 percent for the entire year.

“China is still a developing country, and we should be wise enough to know ourselves,” the director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said when asked whether the time was ripe for the yuan to become an international currency.

The World Bank has predicted that China is on course to surpass the United States as the world’s number one economy sometime around 2025.

A new report released earlier in March by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) said that China has overtaken Japan to become the world’s second largest industrial manufacturer.

According to UNIDO estimates, China’s share of the global total of manufacturing value (MVA,) reached 15.6 percent in 2009, slightly higher than Japan’s share of 15.4 percent, while the USA continues to maintain its rank of first place with 19 percent.

The three countries together produce half of the world’s manufacturing output.

Although China is now a bigger economy than Japan, China’s GDP per capita (nominal) stood at $3,620 in 2009. Ranked 124th by the World Bank, it was only a fraction of Japan’s GDP of $37,870, which stood as 32nd.

'Iran to put astronaut in space in 2017'

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JNN 05.08.10 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iranian scientists are on schedule to launch the country’s first manned mission to space in seven years’ time.

“The plan is in line with an Iran space agency program to produce and place in orbit a spacecraft at an altitude of more than 35,000 kilometers,” IRNA reported the Iranian president as saying on Thursday.

President Ahmadinejad made the comments during a speech in the western Iranian city of Hamedan.

He said that the country’s growth and scientific breakthroughs in different areas are occurring despite the West’s sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian chief executive further noted that the presence of Iranians in space will be indicative of Iran’s control of space.

According to Iranian officials, the country’s Aerospace Organization kicked off a 12-year project in 2009 to send an astronaut into space by 2021.

The comprehensive plan for the project clarifies the roles which academic and research institutions must play to bring about the successful space mission by 2021.

However, the Iranian government reviewed the space mission last month and decided to launch a manned shuttle into space by 2019.

Iran Rejects Ahmadinejad Attack Reports

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Speaking to Press TV, an informed source in Iran’s presidential office hasrejected as false the reports of grenade attack on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Some foreign news sources published reports that a grenade exploded near the motorcade of President Ahmadinejad during his visit to the western city of Hamedan on Wednesday.

The source denied the reports, saying no such attack took place.

President denounces killing of Raza Haider

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ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has strongly condemned the assassination of Raza Haider, MQM leader and Member Sindh Assembly, who was shot dead by unknown assailants in Karachi on Monday evening.

The President in a message expressed his shock and grief over the unfortunate incident and directed the concerned authorities to investigate the tragic happening and take all necessary steps to bring the culprits to justice.

President Zardari also conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family and prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss with equanimity.

Raza Haider always stood by MQM: Altaf

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JNN:KARACHI: MQM chief Altaf Hussain termed as a ‘grave tragedy’ the assassination of party’s lawmaker Raza Haider, who was killed in a drive-by shooting by unidentified gunmen in Karachi on Monday.

In a statement issued from London, Altaf Hussain said his heart was shedding tears of blood at the martyrdom of Raza Haider.

He also expressed grief over death of Haider’s guard and a party’s activist in the ambush.

Hussain also paid a tribute to the martyred leaders, calling him a true activist, who stood by the part in every thick and thin.

He urged President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to arrest the culprits.

one more shia syed raza haider politican(MQM,MPA SINDH assembly),killed in Karachi

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KARACHI: Raza Haider, MQM leader and member Sindh Assembly, and his guard have been gunned down here in Nazimabad on Monday.

Unknown armed motorcyclists fired shots at Raza Haider as well as his guard when he was preparing to attend a funeral prayer at Jamia Masjid of Nazimabad Block No.2.

Raza Haider, who received a bullet in his head died when he was being rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The guard later succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical aid at the hospital.

The MQM leader was elected from PS-94 Karachi 6.

Separate incidents of firing were reported in different parts of the city shortly after the fatal attack on MQM leader while two vehicles were set on fire in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

The incident sent a wave of fear and panic across the metropolis, as shopkeepers pulled down their shutters in view of any violent reaction by enraged people.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik condemned the incident, urging the people to remain calm.

He termed the targeted killings in Karachi as a ‘latest formula’ being used to destabilize the country.

Rehman Malik urged MQM leaders to wait for investigation and called upon the people to observe restraint.

He said he would soon hold a meeting with MQM leaders.

MQM leaders Babar Ghauri and Haider Abbas Rizvi expressed profound grief on the tragic incident.

“It would be difficult to put a cap on the chapter opened (today),” Babar Ghauri asserted.

Crashed Air Blue flight's black box found

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JNN 01.08.10 ISLAMABAD: Investigators searching the site of an airliner crash near Pakistan’s capital in which 152 people died have found the plane’s black box, a minister and a civil aviation official said Saturday.

“The investigating committee found the black box from the Margalla Hills this morning,” Junaid Ameen, director-general of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, told AFP by telephone.

The 10-year-old Airbus 321, operated by Airblue, slammed into the hills overlooking Islamabad in heavy rain and poor visibility on Wednesday as it came into land after a morning flight from Karachi.

“The black box was found from the bulk of the wreckage of the crashed plane. It is going to be a central part of our investigation,” Ameen said, adding that it would be sent to “foreign experts” for decoding.

Interior minister Rehman Malik also confirmed the find.

“I have received the confirmation that the black box of the crashed plane has been found,” Malik told private Geo television.

“It will very helpful in the investigation.”

Ameen said the black box was recovered at 12:55pm (0755 GMT) by a joint team of French experts, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Capital Development Authority and Islamabad police.

“The black box is now in our possession. Its condition and other things will be analysed. Let’s see what we are able to get from the results,” Ameen said.

A five-person team from Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, was assisting with the recovery and using cutters to slice through the wreckage.

Pakistan does not have the proper expertise to decode information stored on the recorder, so it plans to send it elsewhere, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

The authority’s spokesman, Pervez George, said Friday that the decoding process could take a month.

The bodies of 102 people have been returned to their families and 62 relatives have given blood that is now being used to DNA test other remains in a bid to positively identify them, the airline said.

The crash was the worst aviation tragedy on Pakistani soil.

Hundreds of Indian Muslims protest against sanctions on Iran

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JNN 01.08.10 Under the banner of Majlis-e-Ulema-e-Hind hundreds of Shia Muslims gathered at Jantar Mantar in Central Delhi area and staged a noisy protest against the unjustified sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union and the United Nations “which are acting like a puppet in the hands of the United States.” They urged the UN to lift the sanctions against a peaceful developing country like Iran immediately.

They also protested against the atrocities conducted by Israel on the innocent civilians of Palestine and Lebanon, against the drastic shift in the foreign policy of Indian Government in favour of Israel, and against the so-called Muslim countries who are acting as stooges to the United States.

These so-called Muslim countries remain mute spectators to the barbaric acts by Israel supported by the United States and its allies, they said. Expressing solidarity with the victims and oppressed Palestinian people, the gathering lent their voices to protests against the aggression. “The world community should intervene and stop Israel from killing innocent Palestinians,” said protestors while chanting slogans against Israel, America and the UN.

Meanwhile, the speakers, including renowned Shia scholar, Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawwad Naqvi, Friday Prayer leader of historic Asafi Mosque at Lucknow, Dr. Hasan Komeli, President Idara Tafheem Islam, and Maulana Syed Jalal Haider Naqvi, President Shaheed Murtuza Mutahari Society, Delhi, while addressing the protestors, expressed dismay over the failure of the World community in preventing the loss of innocent lives in the region.

“For the past many years, the World is watching as a mute spectator the mass execution of innocent civilians including hundreds of women and children by the tyrannical Israelis,” they added.

They said the international community in general and the Muslim countries in particular must take immediate concrete action to prevent further loss of innocent lives in the region. “The international community must break its silence on the Israeli onslaught.”

“India has been a country of peace and justice. It has always stood by the oppressed and underprivileged. But we feel extremely sorry to see a drastic shift in the country’s foreign policy towards Israel”, they said while condemning the act.

Carrying banners condemning US, EU, Israel and UN, the protestors marched towards Parliament but were stopped by the security forces nearby.
A memorandum, asking the Indian government to extend political support to depressed Palestinians, was presented to the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh at the end of the protest.

“India being a political power should take necessary diplomatic actions to create global pressure to stop the barbaric aggression by Israel against innocent people and make Israeli illegal government to solve conflicting issues diplomatically in peaceful manner”, said the memorandum.

Saudi Shia Muslim Detained in Custody Since Thirty Months Without Trial

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JNN 01.08.10 For thirty months, the Saudi Wahhabi police is still holding a Shia citizen Ridha Algashaam for unidentified reasons and without formal charges to date.

The Saudi Wahhabi authorities arrested the young Algashaam (25 years) in January 2008 amid conflicting reports about the reason for his apprehension.

Algashaam’s young wife was also harshly interrogated on the 25th February of the same year. The detainee is the son of a known Hasawian cleric Sheikh Abdul Aziz Algashaam the imam of

the Montazar mosque in Rashidiya district in Mobaraz city that the authorities cut off its power in November 2008 and then returned after the intervention of Saudi Human Rights Commission.

Last September, the authorities released a friend of the detainee, the teacher Naïf Albaqshi after an arrest of 18 months without receiving information about the charges against him.

Saudi Activists have launched a campaign last January in solidarity with Ridha Algashaam on the pages of the famous social networking site “facebook” calls for the Saudi authorities to release him.

The campaign came two years after the arrest of the young Algashaam without any formal charges that have a complete blackout imposed by the authorities of the Saudi secret police on the circumstances of the case.

According to close sources, the detainee had already been arrested in a raid carried out by the Criminal Investigation Department to a bookstore in the Shiite area of Mahdia in Alkhars in November 2004 where he worked as a seller.

As usual, the authorities and official human rights commissions befall silent about frequent human rights abuses.

In the past six years, Alahsa Province witnessed a series of sectarian arrests that reaped hundreds of Shiites, including clerics, and of course along with shutting down dozens of mosques, councils and religious schools.