 At least 23 people, including the deputy head of Afghanistan's intelligence service, have been killed in a suicide attack in the country's east. Abdullah Laghmani was killed in the attack on Wednesday while visiting tribal elders near his home in Laghman province, sources have told Al Jazeera. Sayed Ahmad Safi, the provincial governor's spokesman, confirmed that Laghmani, who is the deputy chief of the National Directorate for Security (NDS), was among the dead. James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, said: "Behind the scenes Laghmani was key ... his death will be a big blow to the Afghan government and their fight against the Taliban." Several other government officials were also thought to have been killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted senior officials. he attack came as a group of government officials were inaugurating a mosque in the city of Mehterlam, 100km east of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. Lutfullah Mashal, the governor of Laghman, who witnessed the attack, told Al Jazeera: "The deputy chief of the NDS is from Laghman province. "He came to Laghman this morning to participate in the reconstruction of the central mosque. He wanted to visit the mosque. "But before entering the mosque the suicide attacker rammed into his vehicle and exploded himself in a big crowd of religious scholars and tribal elders." An Associated Press photographer at the site said US troops and Afghan officials had surrounded the blast site. The NDS is headed by an ethnic Tajik, and analysts warn that the killing of Laghmani, a Pashtun, could further exacerbate ethnic tensions in the country. Source: Al Jazeera (English)
 Norrie Ross A HOME-GROWN terrorist who was committed to violent jihad was jailed this afternoon.
Justice Bernard Bongiorno sentenced Shane Kent to five years on two counts, with a minimum of three years, nine months, the Herald Sun reports.
He has already spent 1115 days in custody.
Justice Bongiorno told Kent, 32, in sentencing: "I am not prepared to accept on the material proferred, that he (Kent) has abandoned the cause of violent jihad.
"There is no admissable evidence of his having done so, or of his being genuinely contrite for what he did."
Kent, of Campbellfield, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years to being a member of a terrorist organisation, and two-and-a-half years on a second charge of recklessly making a document connected with preparing a terrorist act, but the two will be served partially concurrently. Read more here,,,, Source: News.com.au
Europe's Burqa Wars
by Daniel Pipes - (August 25, 2005) updated Aug 17, 2009 Aug. 15, 2009 update: Fadela Amara, a former women's rights campaigner and now minister for urban regeneration in France – and herself a Muslim, says she favors the burqa "not existing in my country" as a means to stop the spread of the "gangrene, the cancer of radical Islam which completely distorts the message of Islam."
The garment represents, she told the Financial Times, "not a piece of fabric but the political manipulation of a religion that enslaves women and disputes the principal of equality between men and women, one of the founding principles of our republic." It also represents "the oppression of women, their enslavement, their humiliation." In addition to sexual oppression and poverty, she asserts, Muslim women suffer "a third form of oppression - extreme religiosity." She holds that the "vast majority of Muslims" are against the burqa.
Eliminating the burqa helps women stand up to the extremists. "Those who have struggled for women's rights back home in their own countries - I'm thinking particularly of Algeria - we know what it represents and what the obscurantist political project is that lies behind it, to confiscate the most fundamental liberties."
Naser Khader, integration spokesman for Denmark's Conservative Party
Aug. 17, 2009 update: Naser Khader, a Muslim from Syria, participant in the Modern Muslims group, and integration spokesman for Denmark's Conservative Party, says the burqa is "un-Danish" and should be completely banned in public places: "We do not want to see burqas in Denmark." The head covering symbolizes the oppression of women and not Islamic. Rather, "The modern burqa was instituted by the Taliban when it came to power" and is "a symbol of the Taliban." The same would apply to the niqab but not to lesser forms of covering such as the hijab.
The Conservative Party won support of its ally in the government, the Danish People's Party, and also (surprisingly) the opposition Social Democrats. But the prime minister's Liberal Party rejected the idea, with one slight exception: "Burqas should not be permitted for people who work in the public sector," said the party's political spokesperson, Peter Christiansen. "But that's where we draw the line."
Comments: (1) How interesting that two major Muslim politicians, Amara in France and Khader in Denmark, have almost simultaneously come out with the same reasoning and policy prescription. Their resolve supports my view that Muslims must battle and ultimately defeat radical Islam, even in the West. (2) To those who claim no moderate Muslim exist, Amara and Khader are the unicorns who do exist.
Mutilated Afghan farmer regrets going to vote
Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:03pm IST - By Sayed Salahuddin KABUL (Reuters) - Lal Mohammad, a 40-year-old Afghan farmer, was one of millions of people who defied Taliban threats against voters and set out to cast his ballot in this month's presidential election. But he soon regretted his defiance.
Fighters ambushed Mohammad as he was walking to a polling station and cut off part of his nose and his ears.
The Taliban vowed to disrupt the Aug. 20 vote, threatening reprisals against voters and staging scores of rocket attacks and several bombings across the country on election day.
The threats and violence failed to stop the election from taking place, but they do seem to have hurt turnout in some areas, especially the Taliban heartland in the south.
Mohammad, speaking haltingly in a hospital in the capital, Kabul, described how militants stopped and searched him while he was on his way to a polling booth.
They beat him with the butt of an assault rifle after they found his voting card.
Then they took out a knife.
"I saw one reaching my nose with a knife. I asked him to stop, but it was useless," Mohammad said. Read all here (Part 2, and 3): http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-42109920090831?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0 H/T: WomenAgainstSharia.blogspot.com
The Post-Racial Age Has Arrived in Germany
September 1, 2009 - Politically Incorrect …or: About people born on the right side. Twice. The post-racial message of America’s President Obama has finally arrived in Germany. How have we survived so long without it? The director of the publicly funded “Workshop of Cultures” (Werkstatt der Kulturen), “theatermaker” and ethnologist Philippa Ebéné (picture), decided Thursday to remove educational panels covering the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini from a planned exhibition at her premises to the disgust of a district mayor, the curator of theexhibit and the Berlin Jewish community.
(By the Editrix) The exhibit covers the immensely topical issue “The Third World during the Second World War” and three of 96 exhibit panels are dedicated to the REALLY topical issue of the mufti’s collaboration with the Nazis who had a decisive influence on the Holocaust (we reported manytimes already). Ebéné stated that she refused to display the information on Husseini out of respect for joint Arab organizations. Her decision was supported by migration commissioner of the Berlin Senate, Günter Piening. In a neighborhood (heavily dominated by Muslims) like Neukölln a “differentiated presentation” was paramount, Piening stated. Read all here: http://www.pi-news.org/2009/09/the-post-racial-age-has-arrived-in-germany/#more-493
Meet Sweden's Muslim Minister: She wants to ban girls from wearing the hijab
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 Nyamko Sabuni wants all girls checked for evidence of female circumcision; criminalize arranged marriages and end state funding of religious school
Helena Frith Powell - The Sunday Times, UK “Nowhere in the Koran does it state that a child should wear a veil; it stops them being children. By putting a veil on a girl you are immediately saying to the outside world that she is sexually mature and has to be covered. It’s wrong”
THE latest media darling of Scandinavian politics is not only black, beautiful and Muslim; she is also firmly against the wearing of the veil.
Nyamko Sabuni, 37, has caused a storm as Sweden’s new integration and equality minister by arguing that all girls should be checked for evidence of female circumcision; arranged marriages should be criminalised; religious schools should receive no state funding; and immigrants should learn Swedish and find a job.
Supporters of the centre-right government that came to power last month believe that her bold rejection of cultural diversity may make her a force for change across Europe. Her critics are calling her a hardliner and even an Islamophobe.
“I am neither,” she said in an interview. “My aim is to integrate immigrants. One is to ensure they grow up just as any other child in Sweden would.”
Sabuni believes all immigrants must try to become proficient in Swedish — just as she did when she arrived from Africa aged 12 — rather than alienating locals.
“Language and jobs are the two most crucial things for integration,” she said. “If you want to become a Swedish citizen, we think you should have some basic knowledge of Swedish.”
An elegant, vivacious woman who uses subtle make-up and wears soft clothes in pastel shades and tight woollen sweaters, she argues for a total ban on veils being worn by girls under the age of consent, which is 15 in Sweden.
“Nowhere in the Koran does it state that a child should wear a veil; it stops them being children. By putting a veil on a girl you are immediately saying to the outside world that she is sexually mature and has to be covered. It’s wrong,” she said.
Sabuni was born in Burundi. Her father was a political dissident who was in prison during much of her early childhood. In 1980 he was granted asylum in Sweden. The next year his wife and six children joined him and they settled near Stockholm.
Sabuni read law at Uppsala University, Sweden’s equivalent of Oxbridge, and became a public relations consultant. Her husband, who works in the travel industry and runs their home in Stockholm, took paternity leave when their twin boys, now five, were born.
In Sweden she is best known for her suggestion that adolescent girls should have compulsory examinations to make sure they have not been subjected to genital mutilation. “It would enable us to prosecute people carrying out the practice,” she said.
According to Sabuni, many politicians have shied away from talking about the need for assimilation rather than multi-culturalism: “I am one of the few who dares to speak out. Sadly, some members of the Muslim community feel picked on.”
Muslim groups in Sweden are already organising a petition to have her removed from government. “I regret that Muslims feel I am a threat to them,” she said. “Everybody has a right to practise their religion, but I will never accept religious oppression. And I represent the whole of society, not just the Muslims.”
Despite her ascendancy in her adopted country, Sabuni says that Sweden, where immigrants — half of them Muslims — make up nearly 12% of the population, has been only moderately successful at integration: “We have a whole underclass of people who don’t have jobs, who don’t speak the language and who are living on the fringes of society.”
Although fighting discrimination is one of her stated aims, she effectively closed down a Centre Against Racism last week by withdrawing its £400,000 state funding. By chance, the centre was run by her uncle.
“It didn’t achieve its aims,” she said bluntly. “It simply didn’t do what it set out to do, so I had to pull the plug. My uncle is a good and a competent man, but a whole institute can’t be run by one man. He understands that I have to do my job.”
Other ministers appointed by Fredrik Reinfeldt, the prime minister, are more concerned about their jobs. Since he took over on September 17, two ministers have resigned in a series of minor scandals involving unpaid television licences and black-market domestic help, and two more are under pressure to go.
Should Reinfeldt’s government fall, Sabuni would be willing to step into his shoes. On a TV show three years ago she declared that she would become Sweden’s first female prime minister. “I stand by that,” she said. “It’s not something I think about on a daily basis but, if I’m in politics, the ultimate aim has to be to become prime minister.”
Anders Jonsson, a political commentator on the liberal newspaper Expressen, says there is no doubt Sabuni is one to watch. “She is a tough cookie and incredibly ambitious,” he said. “But I think it’s good that a black woman is raising these issues and she has proved that she is prepared to take tough decisions in order to get things done.” Source: http://www.averroespress.com/AverroesPress/Main/Entries/2009/9/2_Meet_Sweden%E2%80%99s_Muslim_Minister__She_wants_to_ban_girls_from_wearing_the_hijab.html
West Struggles With Definition of Jihad
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 10:11 AM - By: Dr. Tawfik Hamid Since Sept. 11, few words have been considered more controversial than the term "jihad" in theological, political, and military discussions.
Apologists for Islamic radicalism immediately raced after 9/11 to convince the West that "jihad" is predominantly understood in a peaceful way. Many in the West accepted and relied on this comforting definition without adequate scientific research in Arabic and Islamic literature.
For example, John O. Brennan, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, mentioned that the meaning of jihad is to ". . . purify oneself or to wage a holy struggle for a moral goal" in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Aug. 6. In addition, John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed defined jihad in their book “Who speaks for Islam” in the same peaceful way.[1] Hiding the violent meaning of jihad has also permeated reputable encyclopedias for terrorism such as “Encylopedia of Terrorism” by Combs & Slann (See Revised Edition Infobase Publishing, page: 165) According to classical Islamic texts and sources, jihad can be understood in several ways. Some are very violent and others are peaceful. Scientific honesty necessitates that we present all views about the meaning of the word jihad instead of selecting the definition that makes us feel most comfortable. The following facts MUST be addressed to understand the most dominant meaning of the word jihad in the Muslim world: Currently, the words "jihadi Islam" are used by the mainstream Arab media to refer to the violent form of Islam. If jihad is mainly peaceful, why do the Arab media use the word predominantly to describe violent Islam? (Note: jihad is the noun, jihadi is the adjective)
The word jihad is interpreted in most of the reputable traditional Islamic books in a violent manner. One of the many available examples, al-Shawkaneei's interpretation for the Quran[2] mentions for Sura 9, Verse 73 that "Jihad against the Infidels is achieved by fighting them until they submit to Islam". Is this the moral goal that Brennan's speech writers and "Islamic experts" are alluding to? Why would it be that he the most reputable Islamic scholars understood jihad in such a way if it was predominantly peaceful? Modern Islamic books written by top Islamic scholars and distributed globally still adopt the violent meaning of the word to fight the disbelievers until "Allah alone is worshiped". For example, Minhaj al-Muslim [3] states clearly that the aim of violent jihad is that "Allah alone is worshiped." Minhaj al-Muslim is published in Saudi Arabia, London, Houston, and New York and is written by al-Jaza'iry, who is a lecturer in the Noble Prophetic Mosque in Saudi Arabia. This position is one of the highest positions in Islam that could be attained by any Muslim scholar. It is unrealistic to assume that he, too, does not understand the definition of jihad. If the word jihad is primarily understood in a peaceful way, why do we not hear about peaceful jihadi organizations? The word jihad is almost always used by the violent radical groups. If the word is understood predominantly in a peaceful way, we would have seen it used predominantly by peaceful Islamic organizations rather than the violent ones. The hadith (or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) that described jihad as a struggle against one's desires ("It is the striving of the servant against his desires") is a Daiif or weak (unbinding) Hadith. [4] Modern Islamic scholars such as Yusuf Al-Quradawy who are considered "moderates" by many in Western media and academia mention clearly that jihad has to be conducted via wars to spread Islam and make Islam as the only religion [5]. How is it that such a knowledgeable and leading "moderate" Islamic scholar is not aware of the meaning of the word jihad while non-Arabic speakers are aware of it? It is fair to say that jihad "can be" understood in a peaceful way. However, there is huge difference between saying that "Jihad can be understood in a peaceful way" and "Jihad is a peaceful concept." The former is an honest and accurate statement, while the latter is a wrong and deceiving one that indicates a serious lack of knowledge. Creating a Western definition for a word that does not represent how it is primarily used by native Arabic speakers and in Islamic text is both misleading and dangerous to our national security. It would be great to convince Arabic speakers and the Muslim world to change the meaning of the word instead of deceiving ourselves. The change must occur in Muslims’ educational books rather than in the public statements they release to the West to convince it that jihad is peaceful. The most effective way to know the true meaning of jihad is to simply evaluate how the word is used by the Arab street and how it is defined in Islamic texts and in the Arab media, as seen above. As Brennan wisely put it in his speech, "How you define a problem shapes how you address it," and eight years after September 11, we are still having problems defining the problem.” [1] John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, “Who Speaks for Islam” (Gallop Press, 2007), p. 75.
[2] Fath Al-Quadeer, Dar Al-Kitab Al-Arabi [Arabic] 2005
[3] Darussalam Publisher 2001 First Edition
[4] See: “Mihaj Al-Muslim First Edition” by Al-Jaza'iry, Chapter 5 (Volume two), page 167
[5] Islamic Revival series by Yusuf Al-Quradawy, Islamic Solution is an Obligation and a Necessity [Arabic], page 91. Dr. Tawfik Hamid is the author of "Inside Jihad." He was a former associate of Dr. al-Zawahiri (second in command of al-Qaida) and currently he is a reformer of Islam. To know more about Hamid please visit http://tawfikhamid.com/. Hamid's writings in this blog represent only his thoughts and not the views of the institute where he works. © 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved. Source: http://www.newsmax.com/tawfik_hamid/islam_jihad_muslims_/2009/09/01/254881.html
Sunday, August 30, 2009- by Baron Bodissey A Letter to Kurt from the ProphetFarshad Kholghi has posted an unusual find at Europe News: a letter from beyond the grave written by the Hon. Mr. Pbuh himself and addressed to Kurt Westergaard. Here’s what Mr. Kholghi discovered:
Note:
I was on my way to Skanderborg to attend the opening of an exhibition of pictures by Kurt Westergaard when I was stopped by an elderly gentleman. He handed me a letter explaining that it was a letter from a prophet to the caricaturist. The letter read as follows: Dear Kurt I hope you are well and enjoying life. I do not know if you know, but I have been dead for many years. In spite of that, I am well, considering the circumstances. Unfortunately I am not — as many believe — surrounded by 72 virgins. This thing about the virgins was just something I made up in order to motivate my fellow fighters.It is always hard to motivate others to die for oneself. For this reason, I had to come up with a little white hallal-lie, promising that everything I claimed to be haram or unclean here on Earth would be given them by God in great abundance, such as wine and women. Obviously, they had to die first. It was quite fortunate that Hitler didn’t come up with the same trick, for otherwise he would most certainly have won the war. Oh, mentioning Hitler: He lives in the basement of my house and follows the career of Ahmadinejad with great interest. So here I am — unfortunately — along with all the radical mullahs, ragged and bloodied terrorists, Lenin, Stalin and all the other useful idiots, who for some unfathomable reasons love the mullahs. I fear for my life. For they are much like Danish converts — void of humour and even more fanatical than myself in my wild prophet-days, where I rode a camel to chop the head off all those poets who would ridicule my poorly told stories.Anyway, I am writing because I wanted to tell you a few things. First and foremost: Thank you for that wonderful caricature! That was hilarious as well as clever…Read the rest at Europe News.
Farshad Kholghi (born 1971) is an actor, author, writer, debater and a lecturer in high demand. He has participated in several Danish movies and television series and has authored two books. He is a consistent critic of religious fanaticism and speaks his mind freely against the challenges to freedom of expression
Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - by Baron Bodissey Marked for Further ActionOur Austrian correspondent ESW has translated a report from Die Presse about ominous new developments in Istanbul that bode ill for Turkey’s few remaining Christians:
Strangers “marking” Christian buildings in IstanbulBuildings inhabited by Christians have been marked with insignias in several districts of Istanbul. The labeling of the buildings are clearly done in concert with increasing harassment of the Christian inhabitants.Some buildings in the traditionally Christian districts of Feriköy and Kurtulus have recently been labeled with green and red signs. Apparently they were affixed to point to buildings inhabited by Armenians and Greeks. The labels appear to be in conjunction with complaints from Christians about increasing harassment, according to Sehabat Tuncel, a member of parliament asked in a parliamentary questioning.Besir Atalay, minister of interior, is now forced to answer these allegations. “Who affixed these markings?” is only one of the questions cited by the press. The ministry must also make clear whether the police received orders to take action and investigate.
Patriarch on a death list
Residing in the Phanar in Istanbul, ecumenical patriarch Bartholomaios I has apparently been added to a death list kept by the nationalist-laicist secret society “Ergenekon”, which is accused of trying to push Turkey into chaos with its assassination attempts.The EU Commission has repeatedly requested Turkey’s cooperation on effective measures to improve the precarious situation of the non-Muslim population.Remembering the 1955 pogrom on ChristiansThe marking on Christian buildings in Istanbul is a reminder of pogrom against Christian minorities in September 1955. Back then Christian buildings and shops had been marked by nationalist activists. The bloody riots with dozens of dead in Istanbul and Izmir were ostensibly triggered by the Cyprus conflict; however, the true reason was the search for scapegoats at a time of economic recession for Turkey.A mob of fanatics burned down seventy-two Orthodox churches and more than thirty schools in Istanbul, defaced Christian cemeteries, and destroyed around 3,500 homes and more than 4,000 shops. The police watched the plundering and raping, not lifting a finger. Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk, who also writes about the Armenian genocide of 1915, describes the blind destruction in his memoirs.
U.N. Inaction on Yemen
All Actions of the UN Human Rights System Critical of Specific States, 2008 Non-U.N. View of Human Rights in Yemen
Yemen, August 26, 2009 Child bride's nightmare after divorce
Nujood Ali today is angry and skips school but is still relieved her defiance paid off. Source: CNN
SANA'A, Yemen (CNN) -- It is midday and girls are flooding out of school, but Nujood Ali is not among them.We find her at the family's two-room house in an impoverished suburb of the city where Nujood is angry, combative and yelling. Tension surrounds the home like a noose.After much arguing with family members, Nujood finally grabs her veil and agrees to sit down with CNN. Her presence is grudging, although CNN had got permission in advance to see how the girl who rocked a nation by demanding a divorce was shaping up. Nujood is very different from the girl we first met nearly two years ago. Then, there was no doubt the 10-year-old was every inch a child. She was the very portrait of innocence: A shy smile, a playful nature and a whimsical giggle.That picture was very much at odds with the brutal story of abuse she endured as a child bride who fought for a divorce and is now still fighting. Nujood says she remains relieved and gratified that her act of defiance -- which led to appearances at awards shows and on TV -- had paid off. The story was supposed to end with the divorce and an innocent but determined girl allowed to fully embrace the childhood she fought so hard to keep.Instead, there has been no fairytale ending for Nujood. There was, though, a stunning transformation. Nujood went from being a victim and child bride to a portrait of courage and triumph. Her inspirational story was told and re-told around the world, but at home all was not well.In the fall of 2008 Nujood was recognized as Glamour Magazine's Woman of the Year, alongside some of the world's most impressive women. She even attended the ceremony in New York and was applauded by women from Hillary Clinton to Nicole Kidman. There is a tell-all book which is to be published in more than 20 languages, and the author says Nujood will receive a good portion of the royalties.Nujood's strength was celebrated by complete strangers. But what did all the fame do for the one person it was meant to transform? "There is no change at all since going on television. I hoped there was someone to help us, but we didn't find anyone to help us. It hasn't changed a thing. They said they were going to help me and no one has helped me. I wish I had never spoken to the media," Nujood says bitterly. There was never going to be a fortune. Generous people have donated thousands so Nujood could go to a private school, but she refuses to attend, according to Shada Nasser, the human rights lawyer who took on the child's divorce case."I know Nujood was absent from the school. I spoke with her father and her family. And I ask them to control her and ask her to go every day to school. But they said, 'You know we don't have the money for the transportation. Don't have the money for the food,' " says Nasser. She believes Nujood is being victimized by her own family because they believe Nujood's fame should bring them fortune. Nujood's parents say they've received nothing, and in the meantime Nujood stews wondering out loud how everything turned out this way. "I was happy I got divorced but I'm sad about the way it turned out after I went on television," she said adding that she feels like an outcast even among her family and friends.Nujood was pulled out of school in early 2008 and married off by her own parents to a man she says was old and ugly. And yet, as a wife, Nujood was spared nothing."I didn't want to sleep with him but he forced me to, he hit me, insulted me" said Nujood. She said being married and living as a wife at such a young age was sheer torture. Nujood described how she was beaten and raped and how, after just a few weeks of marriage, she turned to her family to try to escape the arrangement. But her parents told her they could not protect her, that she belonged to her husband now and had to accept her fate.CNN tried to obtain comment from Nujood's husband and his family but they declined.Nujood's parents, like many others in Yemen, struck a social bargain. More than half of all young Yemeni girls are married off before the age of 18, many times to older men, some with more than one wife. It means the girls are no longer a financial or moral burden to their parents. But Nujood's parents say they did not expect Nujood's new husband to demand sex from his child bride. To escape, Nujood hailed a taxi -- for the first time in her life -- to get across town to the central courthouse where she sat on a bench and demanded to see a judge. After several hours, a judge finally went to see her. "And he asked me, 'what do you want' and I said 'I want a divorce' and he said 'you're married?' And I said 'yes.'" says Nujood. Nujood's father and husband were arrested until the divorce hearing, and Nujood was put in the care of Nasser.Indeed, it seems the judge had heard enough of the abuse to agree with Nujood that she should get her divorce.But based on the principles of Shariah law, her husband was compensated, not prosecuted. Nujood was ordered to pay him more than $200 -- a huge amount in a country where the United Nations Development Programme says 15.7 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day. Khadije Al Salame is working to help Nujood get her life back. Now a Yemeni diplomat, 30 years ago she too was a child bride. But when she left her husband, she did not have to endure the publicity that now haunts Nujood. She said: "It's good to talk about Nujood and to have her story come out, but the problem is it's too much pressure on her. "She doesn't understand what's going on. She's a little girl and we have to understand as a media people that we should leave her alone now. If we really love Nujood then we should just let her go to school and continue with her life, because education is the most important thing for her."To get her divorce, Nujood showed a character and strength not easily expressed by women in Yemen, let alone a 10-year-old child bride. But she will need to muster all that strength and more if she's to finally reclaim her life. Nujood told us she thought the divorce would be the end of her struggle and she's still angry that it turned out to be just the beginning. Posted: Thursday, August 27, 2009
Source: http://www.eyeontheun.com/voices.asp?p=975
"The great Dictator", by Charlie Chaplin, Final Scene This is one of Charlie Chaplin's most famous scenes. The barber is mistaken for Adenoid Hinkle and has to make a final speech. Chaplin's message from the end of this great film for democracy and freedom of speech is still powerful and relevant today ...
The Great Dictator is a comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. First released in October 1940, it was Chaplin's first true talking picture, and more importantly was the only major film of its period to bitterly satirize Nazism and Adolf Hitler. Watch the Video here: http://europenews.dk/en/node/25900
 From correspondents in Kabul | September 02, 2009 OPIUM production in Afghanistan has fallen for a second year running, with poppy cultivation down 22 per cent and prices among the lowest in a decade, a UN report said. The destitute country produces around 90 per cent of the world's opium, used to make heroin sold on the streets of Europe and Central Asia, with profits feeding a resurgent Taliban in an eight-year war. "The bottom is starting to fall out of the Afghan opium market," UN Office on Drugs and Crime executive director Antonio Maria Costa said in the report, to which the Afghan government contributed. "For the second year in a row, cultivation, production, workforce, prices, revenues, exports and its GDP share are all down, while the number of poppy-free provinces and drug seizures continue to rise," the report said. The report said opium cultivation in Afghanistan fell by 22 per cent to 123,000 hectares (304,000 acres), from 157,000 hectares in 2008 with the number of poppy-free provinces up to 20 from 18 - out of the total 34. Wiping out the crop has been a key component of Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan - labelled a "narco state" by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - since the 2001 US-led invasion removed the Taliban regime. Most Afghan opium is processed into heroin inside the war-torn country, where it feeds rampant government corruption before being smuggled to Central Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The United Nations puts the potential export value of Afghan narcotics at about $US3.4 billion ($4.1 billion) a year, and Afghan officials have said drug profits provide the Taliban with as much as $US100 million ($121 million) a year. Source: The Australian 
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