Husband pledges in contract not to remarry

Mauritanian women say no to polygamy

NOUAKCHOTT:  Many Mauritanian women and their families are now stipulating the one-wife as a prerequisite before marriage, but religious scholars have condemned it as a violation to Islamic teaching.

Many of the Mauritanian women now insist on including a condition in the marriage contract that prevents the husband from keeping a previous wife or taking a new one. In case the husband violates this condition, the woman becomes entitled to file an immediate divorce.

For many parents, this restriction has become one of the most important conditions while negotiating marriage details with a suitor since they believe it is the key to their daughter’s happiness and marital stability.

Mauritanian women give up a lot of their rights in order to talk the groom into accepting the condition of not having another wife, said Fatima who insisted on this condition in her current and previous marriage.

“In order to be granted that right we neither ask for big dowries nor a divorce settlement," she told AlArabiya.net. “We also don’t care about the apartment, furniture or the honeymoon.”

Several women in Mauritania even stay with their families after marriage to give their husbands a chance to accumulate money to buy apartments ready at their own convenience.

“We make all these sacrifices in order to preserve our dignity.”

Fatima added that this practice, even though considered unusual in the beginning, has earned Mauritania a lot of praise in the region.

“Arab and African women who visited Mauritania were impressed and several neighboring countries started imitating us like Morocco and Senegal.”

Human rights organizations hailed this practice as a positive step towards granting Mauritanian women more rights, and praised the government for instructing the Civil Rights Authority to give women the right to set this condition in the marriage contract.

Islamic scholars disagreeOn the other hand, several religious scholars in Mauritania slammed the condition and considered it as violation of Islamic laws that give men the right to take up to four wives.

This condition, they argue, has a negative impact on society since it will increase divorce rates whether in making the man leave his previous wife or in giving the woman the right to divorce if the husband remarries.

Some scholars say that a woman and her future husband can verbally agree that he does not remarry without writing this condition on the marriage contract.

The "verbal contract" they justify it is that women can change their minds later on by deciding on not wanting to have a divorce if their husbands take second wives.

However, few scholars sanction the condition as long as the husband agrees to abide by this commitment

Men’s way out

Despite the fact that a considerable portion of Mauritanian men agree not to have another wife, there is always a way of going around it. Some men divorce the first wife then take her back after marrying the second one.

Other men remarry in secret taking advantage of the social conditions that lead several Mauritanian women to accept a secret marriage. Divorced and unmarried women agree to marry a married man in secret believing that their marriage prospects are diminishing as they get older.

Poor families also agree to marry their girls to rich married men in secret since the future husband usually provides for the entire family.

Sometimes a woman would know that her husband violated the condition and would pretend not to and not ask for divorce. This especially applies to upper classes where women care about their social image and prefer not to announce that their husbands remarried in secret.

When it startedScholars disagree as to when the anti-polygamy condition started to be applied.

According to Mauritanian traditions, most pre-nuptial agreements were made verbally in the presence of several witnesses from both families.

The man, for example, would pledge to treat his wife well and never to leave her and sometimes would commit to household details like bringing her a maid and so on.

Sometimes parents would set religious conditions that make the husband ensure that his wife practices her rituals on regular basis. For example, the husband can pledge to wake his wife up every day when it’s time for dawn prayers.

Marriage conditions have undergone remarkable changes as women started gaining more rights in Mauritania. For example, a woman would demand that she continues her education and/or work after marriage even if she has children.

Obama is 'international villain': Iranian speaker

TEHRAN:  Iran rejects U.S. President Barack Obama's invitation to resolve differences because he is an "international villain," parliament speaker Ali Larijani said Saturday.

"How dare Obama announce that he wants to help the Iranian nation. He should know that he is an international villain," Larijani was quoted by ISNA news agency as saying during a visit to the southern city of Shiraz.

"The Americans are displaying an act that deserves an international evilness medal... Mr Obama should know that we do not need his message, what we need is to be able to trust the words he utters," he said.

Larijani's remarks came a day after the American leader told the BBC's Persian service that the door for diplomacy with Tehran was still open over its longstanding nuclear dispute with the international community.

"Our strong preference is to resolve these issues diplomatically. I think that's in Iran's interest. I think that is in the interest of the international community," Obama said.

"I think it remains possible, but it is going to require a change in mindset inside the Iranian government," he said.

Relations between Tehran and Washington have become increasingly fraught since the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, and his defiant pursuit of Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

Ahmadinejad, while attending the UN General Assembly session in New York this week, said Tehran was open to new nuclear talks, provided the U.S. and the western powers were respectful to the Islamic republic.

Pakistani plane evacuated after bomb threat

STOCKHOLM : Police detained and were questioning the man said to be carrying explosives on board a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 777, which was diverted to Sweden while en route to Pakistan from Canada Saturday morning.

The unscheduled landing came after a woman called Canadian police from a pay phone and said that there was a man on board who may be carrying explosives with him, a Stockholm police spokesperson told NBC News. Canadian police then contacted the pilot, who requested permission to land at Sweden's Arlanda airport, according to NBC.

Canadian police informed the pilot and the plane landed at Stockholm's Arlanda airport as it was in Swedish airspace.

"He has been detained," police spokesman Kjell Lindgren told Reuters. The man, described as a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, was detained while the passengers were getting off the plane during an evacuation.

The plane was on its way from Toronto to Karachi, Pakistan, when the pilot requested permission to land in Stockholm, airport spokesman Anders Bredfall told NBC.

In Pakistan, a spokesman for state-run Pakistan International Airlines told NBC the incident involved flight PK782 to Karachi.

Stockholm district police spokesman Janne Hedlund told Reuters that no explosives had been found on the man. His baggage and the plane were being searched, he added.

Calls to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada's public safety department were not immediately returned.

Malaysia's school for pregnant teens opens

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's first 'School of Hope' for pregnant teenagers began its work Monday with five girls joining it. Four Malays and an ethnic Chinese students resumed their studies in Forms Four and Five at the school in Malacca state.

The teenagers, accompanied by their parents, were first required to make their formal application at the Malacca Islamic Religious Department before heading to the school.

The first to be seen was a young Chinese teenager who arrived with her parents at the school's dormitory, House of Hope.

On Sunday, Malacca Chief Minister Mohammed Ali Rustam said families of five pregnant teenagers had sought to enrol their daughters in the school here.

The five, aged between 16 and 17 years, were from Malacca, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Pahang states and Kuala Lumpur, the national capital.

Ali said the school could accommodate 40 students. He said the privacy of the students would be protected and requested the public and the media to adhere to the rule.

He had caused a furore when he announced the setting up of the school two months ago, The Star said.

He had defended the state's move, saying the school was to provide pregnant teenagers with a second chance and curb illicit sex and baby dumping.

Missing Iraqi antiquities located in PM Maliki's office

More than 600 antiquities have been returned to the Iraqi National Museum after they were found in boxes in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office.

The missing historical artefacts, some dating back thousands of years, had been smuggled out of Iraq at various times and ended up in the US.

They were moved back to Iraq in early 2009 but went missing after that.

Antiquities Minister Qahtan al-Jubouri blamed "inappropriate handover procedures" for their disappearance.

It is not clear exactly how the artefacts disappeared from view after being returned to Iraq.

But the 638 items were found on Sunday packed in cardboard boxes in a storage room for kitchen equipment in the offices of Prime Minister Maliki.

The objects include jewellery and clay tablets as well as bronze figurines.

"It's a very important collection," said Amira Eidan, the director of the Iraqi National Museum.

"Some [are] from the beginning of the Islamic era, others are from [the] Sumerian period, some [are] Babylonian, Hellenistic - different periods and different cities."

Tens of thousands of artefacts chronicling some 7,000 years of civilisation in Mesopotamia are believed to have been looted from Iraq in the chaos which followed the the US-led invasion in 2003.

Despite international efforts to track items down, fewer than half of the artefacts have so far been retrieved.

Extremist websites skyrocketing, says Interpol

The sharp growth in extremist websites is making recruitment much easier for al-Qaeda, according to Interpol head Ronald Noble.

"The threat is global, it is virtual and it is on our doorsteps," he said.

Mr Noble told a conference of police chiefs in Paris there were 12 sites in 1998 and 4,500 by 2006.

He said tackling radicalisation had been made far harder by the internet because many of the activities involved were not criminal.

Increasingly, he said, the individuals targeted were young and vulnerable and from middle-class backgrounds.

A researcher at the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation told the BBC that the number of radical websites was now far higher than the figure given by Interpol.

"It's well into the thousands in English alone," said Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens.

He added that governments had found the increase in radical websites impossible to stop.

"As soon as you knock out one, another pops up. It's like playing 'whack-a-mole'."

Last week, the head of British security service MI5, Jonathan Evans, expressed concern about the influence of Yemen-based radical Muslim cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, whose sermons feature in more than 5,000 videos on YouTube.

British teen banned from the U.S. after angry, drunken email to the White House

LANDAN: A 17-year-old Brit has been banned from the United States for life after firing off an email to the White House in which he referred to President Barack Obama as a "prick," according to reports.

Bedfordshire teen Luke Angel says he felt compelled to e-mail Obama after watching programs on the 9/11 terrorist attacks and conducting his own research on conspiracy theories. Bedfordshire On Sunday reports that Angel could not recall the e-mail's specifics as he said he was "drunk or high" at the time it was written about a month ago.

However, he acknowledged using the curse word and other threatening language in reference to Obama, while also expressing clear dislike for the the U.S. government at large, in the e-mail. "It was silly -- the sort of thing you do when you're a teenager and have had a few," he is quoted as saying.

After a brief FBI investigation and subsequent follow-up by Bedfordshire Police, officers reportedly told Angel he was "banned from America forever," though no further action is currently planned.

Angel reportedly did not seem too vexed about the ban. "I don't really care," he said. "My parents aren't very happy about it."

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How Rich are Pakistani MNAs?: PPPP MNA tops list with Rs3.288bn

ISLAMABAD: A comparative analysis of the assets declared by MNAs belonging to the 12th and the 13th National Assembly of Pakistan revealed that the average value of an MNA's assets has increased three folds in six years from 2002-2003 to 2008-2009.

The average value of an MNA's Assets in the 12th National Assembly was just below Rs. 27 million in 2002-2003 which has increased to almost Rs. 81 million in 2008-2009, a 3-fold increase in six years, according to a Pildat Analysis of the Declarations of Assets submitted by MNAs, said a news release issued on Tuesday.

The analysis also indicates that an average MNA of the current (13th) National Assembly is twice as rich compared to his/her counterpart in the previous (12th) National Assembly.

The Pildat report series titled How Rich are Pakistani MNAs? has analyzed assets declared by MNAs for the years 2002-2003 to 2005-2006; 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 through 3 separate reports.

The latest of this series of Pildat reports, comparing assets declared by MNAs belonging to the 13th (current) National Assembly of Pakistan, has used data contained in the Gazettes published by the Election Commission of Pakistan on October 15 2008 and October 27 2009.

The report depicts that the current average value of assets held by an MNA stands at Rs. 80.89 million, based on the 2008-2009 declarations.

This figure demonstrates a modest increase of 9.5% from the 2007-2008 figure of Rs 73.92 million. The average value of assets owned by non-Muslim MNAs, Rs 20.35 million, is 75% lower than the overall average of almost Rs 81 million, based on 2008-2009 figures.

In terms of individual wealth, the 2008-2009 declarations reveal the wealthiest MNA to be Mehboob Ullah Jan (NA-23, Kohistan, KP, PPPP) with total assets of Rs. 3.288 billion. He is followed by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (NA-50, Rawalpindi-I, Punjab, PML-N), with total assets of Rs. 1.627 billion, Jahangir Khan Tareen (NA-195, R.Y.Khan-IV, Punjab, PML-F) with total assets of Rs 1.095 billion, Saeed Ahmed Zafar (NA-162, Nankana Sahib-II Old Sheikhupura-VII, Punjab, IND) with total assets of Rs 1.030 billion, and Nuzhat Sadiq (NA-277, Punjab-V, PML-N) with total assets of Rs 912.81 million.

In 2007-2008 declarations reveal the wealthiest MNA to be Mehboob Ullah Jan (NA-23, Kohistan, KP, PPPP) with total assets of Rs 3.252 billion.

He is followed by Nuzhat Sadiq (NA-277, Punjab-V, PML-N), with total assets of Rs 1.514 billion, Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal (NA-162, Sahiwal-III, Punjab, PPPP), with assets amounting to Rs 1.248 billion, Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Jatt (NA-167, Vehari-I, Punjab, PML) (who later resigned while facing charges of processing a fake degree; Chaudhary Asghar Ali Jatt is re-elected on this seat in by-election 2010), with assets worth Rs. 843 million and Mr. Jahangir Khan Tareen (NA-195, R.Y.Khan-IV, Punjab, PML -F), with assets amounting to Rs. 716 million.

At the other end of the assets spectrum, the least wealthy MNAs in 2008-2009 is Saeed Iqbal Chaudhary (NA-81, Faisalabad-VII, Punjab, PPPP) with approximately Rs 29 million net liabilities, followed by Roshan Din Junejo (NA-236, Sanghar-III, Sindh, PPPP), Sheikh Rohale Asghar (NA-124 Lahore-VII, Punjab, PML-N), Ghulam Farid Kathia, (NA-161 Sahiwal-II, Punjab, PPPP), Minister of State for Education, and Ayaz Amir (NA-60 Chakwal-I, Punjab, PML-N).

Nuzhat Sadiq (NA-277, Women Punjab-V, PML-N), has remained the richest female MNA in 2008-2009 and 2007-2008, with assets worth Rs 912.81 million and Rs 1.514 billion respectively.

The second richest female MNA in the current National Assembly is Asma Arbab Alamgir (NA-325, Women KP-IV, PPPP) with assets of 515.25 million and 682.05 million in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 respectively while Belum Hasnain (NA-292, Women Punjab-XX, PPPP) with assets of 332.50 million in 2007-2008 and 298.40 million in 2008-2009 is the third richest female MNA.

Mohammad Kamran Khan (NA-40, Tribal Area-V, FATA, IND) proved to be the most effective asset manager whose assets grew 42 times from over the period of a year, followed by Maulana Muhammad Qasim (NA-10, NA-10 Mardan-II, KP, MMA), with a 12 time increase in assets and Bilal Yaseen (NA-120, Lahore-III, Punjab, PML-N) whose assets increased 9 times during the period.

In 2008-2009, the PML-F is the richest or on top of the list in terms of the average wealth of its MNAs (average assets per MNA: Rs 239 million), followed by the NPP Rs 122 million, the independents Rs 108 million; the PPPP Rs 102 million; the PML-N Rs 75 million; the PML Rs 62 million; the ANP Rs 61 million; the PPP-S Rs 37 million; the MQM Rs 25 million; the BNP Rs 14 million and the MMA Rs 6 million.

These figures demonstrate a 42-fold difference between the average wealth of the MNAs in the party with the greatest average wealth and that with the least. From 2002-2006, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) topped the list in terms of average wealth of its MNA as its lone MNA Imran Khan (NA-71, Mianwali-I, Punjab, PTI, 12th NA) held assets worth Rs 85 million at that time, followed by the PML-N (average assets per MNA at Rs 61 million); PML Rs 56 million and the PPPP Rs 34 million.

In geographical terms, the differences in average wealth are significant.

In 2008-2009, MNAs from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) have the highest average value of assets per MNA followed by those from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Fata, Sindh and Balochistan respectively. Similarly, in 2007-2008, MNAs from the ICT headed the list.

This trend has been maintained earlier from 2002-2006 when on average an MNA from the ICT was the richest followed by an MNA from Punjab, Fata, Balochistan, Sindh and KP.

In terms of the percentage share of the combined value of assets in the year 2008-2009, Punjab tops the list, with a share of 54 % (down from 73% in 2002-2006); followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 31 % (up from 4% share in 2002-2006); Sindh 10 % (down from 11% in 2002-2006); Fata maintaining its 3 %; ICT 1 % (down from 5% in 2002-2006) and Balochistan at 1 % (down from 4% in 2002-2006).

We’re still determined to build mosque: Imam Rauf

NEW YORK: Well-known imam of the American city New York, Faisal Abul Rauf said that he wants to give a positive message of Islam to the entire world by building a mosque near the World Trade Centre.

The imam behind the building of an Islamic center near Ground Zero while talking with an American television said that Muslims are concerned over rising Islamophobia as the debate continues over whether his construction project should go forward.

He also said he believes fear of Islam may be even greater than it was immediately following the September 11 terror attacks.

Amid the rising tension over the planned Islamic center, new police barricades on the block where the center would be developed sprung up during the weekend.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is scheduled to speak extensively about the project Monday morning.

In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Rauf said a decision on changing the site of the controversial prayer center would be complicated.

"My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be, 'Islam is under attack in America.' This will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment," said Rauf.

US readies $60 bln Saudi weapons shopping list

WASHINGTON:  American President Barack Obama's administration will soon notify Congress of plans to offer advanced military aircraft to Saudi Arabia in a massive deal worth up to 60 billion dollars, congressional sources said Monday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the transaction has not yet been formally announced, said the package would include 84 new Boeing Co F-15 fighter jets and upgrades to another 70 of them.

It would also include 72 Black Hawk helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp.

The official also confirmed a Wall Street Journal report about the deal but warned that key U.S. lawmakers would block the move.

"You can fully expect that a hold will be placed on this deal," thought to be the largest ever arms sale of its kind, said a senior congressional source.

"There is serious concern about some sensitive material which is expected to be included in the deal," said another source, who told AFP that Obama aides would brief congressional staff on the deal on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said he expected Congress would receive official notification of the long-anticipated Saudi deal within the next week or so.

Lapan declined to comment on details, however, saying Congress needed to be notified first.

The senior defense official said the U.S.-Saudi arms deal also included 70 of Boeing's Apache helicopters and 36 Little Birds.

The United States and Saudi Arabia were also discussing a package for the kingdom's navy, potentially worth $30 billion, but the timing of that deal was unclear and would not be included in the upcoming congressional notification, the official said.

Upon congressional notification, lawmakers get 30 days to object to the deal. But notifications are usually not sent unless lawmakers have already broadly agreed to the sale.

Saudi Arabia was the biggest buyer of U.S. weapons during a four-year span of 2005 through 2008, with $11.2 billion in deals, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

Pakistan floods worse than 2004 Tsunami: UN

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations said Monday that massive floods in Pakistan had affected 13.8 million people and eclipsed the scale of the devastating 2004 tsunami, as anger mounted among survivors.

The Pakistani government and U.N. officials have appealed for more urgent relief efforts to cope with the worst floods in more than 80 years, with President Asif Ali Zardari due to return home after a heavily criticized European tour.

The entire northwestern Swat valley, where Pakistan fought a major campaign to flush out Taliban insurgents last year, was cut off at the weekend as were parts of the country's breadbasket in Punjab and Sindh.

"This disaster is worse than the tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the Haiti earthquake," Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

He said the 13.8 million affected outstripped the more than three million hit by the 2005 earthquake, five million in the tsunami and the three million affected by the Haiti earthquake.

The United Nations estimates 1,600 people have died in Pakistan's floods. About 220,000 were killed by the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia.

Martin Mogwanja, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan, called on relief operations "to be massively scaled up."
"Millions of people have suffered and still there is more rain and further losses are feared. I appeal to the world to help us," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters.

Foreign donors including the United States have pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid but, on the ground, Islamic charities with suspected extremist links have been far more visible in the relief effort than the government.

Deaths From Pakistan Floods May Reach 3,000, Rescue Service Official Says

PAKISTAN:The local head of Pakistan’s largest rescue service said the death toll from flash floods in the country could reach thousands in the next few days.

Already, over 800 deaths have been reported because of the devastation brought by the floods in the country’s northwest.

“The death toll could go as high as 3,000 because the level of destruction has been so great,” Mujahid Khan, chief spokesman for Edhi rescue service, the country’s biggest, said by telephone from Peshawar today. Khan later said the number of fatalities was now 817.

The flooding deaths come after 152 people died when a plane crashed in heavy rain near the capital on July 28. Homes and bridges have collapsed in the rain, live electric wires have fallen into the waters and families have been swept away in the floods.

“We can see people drowning but we can’t go into the water because of its high pressure,” Khan said yesterday. “The relief efforts of everyone combined is only 5 percent of what’s required.”

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, who toured the stricken province by air, ordered his government to rescue people and provide food supplies to those at safe locations.

Evacuation

Floods may reach the southern province of Sindh within the next few days, Information Minister Sumsam Bokhari told a news conference in Islamabad. The Sindh government has ordered residents along the banks of the River Indus to be evacuated.

Army troops equipped with life jackets, motorboats and heavy rafts were called in yesterday to help move families to safety, according to a statement on the military website.

Pakistani television channels showed images of people on flooded roads grabbing wreckage to keep from being swept away, drowning goats and buffalo, and makeshift boats.

“All the houses in my village have been destroyed and now it’s simply a fight for survival,” Mehmood Khan, a tribal elder, said by telephone from Wana, South Waziristan yesterday. “Food supplies have started to run out. We haven’t eaten in 48 hours and the scant food supplies we saved for women and children may not last long.”

The districts of Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar, Swat, and Lower Dir are the worst-affected, according to the government.

The first spell of the monsoon started on July 22 and affected the western province of Baluchistan, according to the National Disaster Management Agency in Islamabad

Spain parliament rejects burqa ban propsal.

MADRID: Spain's Parliament rejected Tuesday a proposal to ban women wearing the face veil in public places, citing protection of personal freedoms.

The proposal to ban women from wearing a veil that only reveals the eyes was presented by the leading opposition Popular Party on the grounds that the outfit, also called burqa, violates the rights of women and undermines their dignity.
Following a debate that took place in the parliament's lower chamber, 162 MPs voted for the ban, 183 opposed it, and two abstained.

According to the Popular Party, the proposal was put forward "in defense of the dignity and equality of all women" and to make sure Muslim women are not being forced by their husbands to become fully veiled.

"It is very difficult to understand how it is that our troops are defending liberty in Afghanistan and the government doesn't have the courage to do so here, in Spain," said opposition spokeswoman Soraya Saenz de Santamaria.

Some analysts argue that the main purpose of the proposal is strengthening the opposition amid the economic problems with which the government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been plighted.

"This has been used politically in a search for electoral support," said Mansur Escudero, president of the Islamic Commission of Spain.

He added that the last time he had seen a fully veiled women in Spain was 10 years ago in the southern city of Marbella, where several wealthy Arabs own houses, and that this woman might have been a tourist.

"The only woman I knew who regularly wore a burqa had lived in the southern city of Cordoba and died about a decade ago."

None of the opposition spokesmen had been able to cite a place in Spain where women routinely wear face-covering veils.

BP selling Pakistan assets to pay for oil spill

KARACHI: BP Plc plans to divest its exploration and production operations in Pakistan, as part of a plan to sell global assets to help pay for the worst oil spill in US history, a BP official said on Tuesday.

"This process should be completed by December 2010," said Sabeen Jatoi, the BP spokesperson.

"Pricing will be a matter for bidders. ... We will not be selling at a price that does not represent a good deal for BP shareholders."

However, there are no bidders right now and BP is setting up its dataroom in Pakistan after which bidders will come forward as with any acquisition, Jatoi added.

BP unveiled plans last month for about $10 billion in asset sales following the oil spill which has caused an economic and environmental disaster in five US states along the Gulf Coast.

BP said in a statement that it had spent $3.95 billion on efforts to cap the well and clean up the spill.

UN votes for new sanctions on Iran over nuclear issue

The UN Security Council has voted in favour of fresh sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

The council voted 12 to two, with one abstention, in favour of a fourth round of sanctions, including tighter finance curbs and an expanded arms embargo.

The US welcomed the move and said Iran must choose a "wiser course".

But an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said on Iranian TV the decision was an "incorrect step" that would "complicate" the situation.

The US and its allies fear Iran is secretly trying to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran insists its programme is aimed solely at peaceful energy use.

Heavy weapons

The Security Council resolution was opposed by Turkey and Brazil. They had earlier brokered a deal with Iran on uranium enrichment. Lebanon abstained.

The new sanctions were passed after being watered down during negotiations with Russia and China on Tuesday.

There are no crippling economic sanctions and there is no oil embargo.

Those passed include prohibiting Iran from buying heavy weapons such as attack helicopters and missiles.

They also toughen rules on financial transactions with Iranian banks and increase the number of Iranian individuals and companies that are targeted with asset freezes and travel bans.

Hailing the vote, the US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said: "The Security Council has risen to its responsibilities and now Iran should choose a wiser course."

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the decision sent a "strong statement of international resolve", increasing the pressure on Iran to meet its obligations.

However, both Turkey and Brazil spoke out in opposition, saying the deal they had brokered with Iran had not been given time.

Brazilian Ambassador to the UN Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti said: "We do not see sanctions as an effective instrument in this case. They will most probably lead to the suffering of the people of Iran and will play into the hands of people on all sides who do not want dialogue to prevail."

Turkey's envoy Ertugrul Apakan said the Turkey-Brazil deal had created "a new reality" on Iran's nuclear programme and Turkey was "deeply concerned" that sanctions would have a negative impact.

The BBC News website's world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says this new round of sanctions is unlikely to have any more effect on Iranian policy than the first three.

Iran's vital economic interests have not been targeted, he says, and Tehran has in any case developed systems of evasion.

Iran had tried to ease international concerns by agreeing the deal with Turkey and Brazil. It would see Tehran deposit 1,200kg of low-enriched uranium with Turkey, in return for reactor fuel.

But the deal has not been accepted by world powers and on Wednesday, the US, Russia and France outlined their concerns in letters to the IAEA.

The letters were not made public, but US envoy to the IAEA Glyn Davies said the deal "would still leave Iran with substantial stocks [of low-enriched uranium], decreasing the confidence-building value of the original proposal".

Three earlier rounds of UN sanctions blocked trade of "sensitive nuclear material", froze the financial assets of those involved in Iran's nuclear activities, banned all of Iran's arms exports and encouraged scrutiny of the dealings of Iranian banks.

Pakistan blocks Facebook and YouTube over blasphemous material

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube in a bid to contain blasphemous material, officials said on Thursday.

The blockade came hours after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) directed Internet service providers to stop access to social network Facebook indefinitely on Wednesday because of an online competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) in gross violation of fundamental human rights pertaining to one’s religion.

Wahaj-us-Siraj, the CEO of Nayatel, an Internet service provider, said PTA issued an order late on Wednesday seeking an "immediate" blockade of YouTube.

"It was a serious instruction as they wanted us to do it quickly and let them know after that," he said while talking to a UK-based news agency.

YouTube was also blocked in the Muslim country in 2007 for about a year for what it called un-Islamic videos.

A PTA official, who declined to be identified, said the action was taken after the authority determined that some sacrilegious caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad were transferred from Facebook to YouTube.

Representation of any prophet is deemed un-Islamic and blasphemous in Islam, let alone the caricature or cartoon of these divine personages.

Siraj said the blocking of the two websites would cut up to 25 percent of total Internet traffic in Pakistan.

"It'll have an impact on the overall Internet traffic as they eat up 20 to 25 percent of the country's total 65 giga-bytes traffic," he said.

Publications of similar cartoons in Danish newspapers in 2005 sparked deadly protests in Muslim countries. Around 50 people were killed during violent protests in Muslim countries in 2006 over the cartoons, five of them in Pakistan.

Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on Denmark's embassy in Islamabad in 2008, killing six people, saying it was in revenge for publication of the caricatures.

First non-Latin Internet domain names activated

Saudi, Egypt, UAE to get Arabic internet domain names

CAIRO:  Three Mideast countries have become the first to get Internet addresses entirely in non-Latin characters.

Domain names in Arabic for Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were added to the Internet's master directories on Wednesday, following final approval last month by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. It's the first major change to the Internet domain name system since its creation in the 1980s.

Registrations for websites to use those names are to begin soon. On Thursday, Egypt granted three companies approval to register names using the country's new Arabic suffix.

Until now, websites had to end their addresses with ".com" or another string using Latin characters. That meant businesses and government agencies still had to use Latin characters on billboards and advertisements, even if they were targeting populations with no familiarity with English or other languages that use the Latin script.

Non-Latin characters were sometimes permitted for the portions of the Internet address before the suffix. But Arabic websites generally haven't had that option because Arabic characters are written right to left, conflicting with Latin suffixes written left to right.

"Introducing Arabic domain names is a milestone in Internet history," Egyptian Communication and Information Technology Minister Tarek Kamel said in a statement.

"This great step will open up new horizons for e-services in Egypt" as well as boosting the number of online users and enabling Internet service providers to enter new markets by "eliminating language barriers."

After DU Cobalt-60 disaster, Sibal wants guidelines at universities

INDIA:  After radioactive material was sold as scrap by Delhi University leading to the death of a labourer, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal today directed UGC to frame guidelines immediately on procurement, use and disposal of hazardous substances by varsities.

In a letter to the University Grants Commission, the HRD Ministry said the guidelines should stipulate the methods for procurement, handling, storage and disposal of such material which could be fatal.

UGC Chairman Prof Sukhadeo Thorat also met Sibal and discussed the issue. At present, universities get the radioactive materials for their labs with the permission of regulating agencies.

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has framed certain guidelines which are supposed to be followed by the universities for procurement and handling of such materials.

However, UGC does not have any policy to this effect.

"The UGC will prepare the immediately guidelines and issue a direction to all universities to follow the guidelines," a ministry official said.

Sibal will also consult other ministers for a comprehensive policy of handling of hazardous materials by the research agencies under the respective ministries.

Exposure to the radioactive material has led to the death of a scrap shop worker in west Delhi. A few others, including the shop owner, are undergoing treatment after they were exposed to the same material earlier this month.

The source of material was traced to chemistry department of Delhi University. The Cobalt-60 was imported by the varsity in 1968 from Canada. The material was lying in a room for 25 years and the chemistry department wanted to sell it off.

Eleven sources of radiation were detected in the Mayapuri scrap market where Cobalt-60 was recovered this month. It is a radioactive isotope of cobalt, which is a hard, lustrous, grey metal and is used in cancer therapy machines and other medical equipment.

The Cobalt-60 that may still be out there in Delhi

DELHI: There is the likelihood of deadly metallic pencils that carry the radioactive Cobalt-60 lying in the open somewhere in Delhi.

India's nuclear watchdog is investigating the Delhi University radioactive Cobalt-60 leak and has said Mayapuri, in the heart of the Capital, is still a big concern.

An extensive search is on for the nuclear metallic pencils believed missing and NDTV has exclusive pictures of this waste that carries deadly radiation.

The photographs above are a first look at the nuclear scrap material seized by the board. These pencils contain the Cobalt-60 that has already claimed one life in India's first case of radiation poisoning.

The first image (1) shows what is called the "cage". It has 48 slots to hold 48 Cobalt-60 pencils. There is only one pencil stuck in one of those slots.

In the second image (2) is a deadly pencil in a cylinder. The authorities have found 5 of these pencils.

The third image (3) is that of the actual Cobal-60-bearing aluminium pencil. Each pencil is about 24 cm long.

The fourth image (4) is of lead-lined bins with the nuclear waste inside them.

The regulatory board has issued a lookout for the missing pencils. It has also cautioned people to keep away if they come across these metallic pencils and immediately inform the police.

Female suicide bombers kill 37 in Moscow metro

MOSCOW: Explosions detonated by two female suicide bombers killed at least 37 people and injured dozens more on two packed Moscow metro trains in the morning rush hour on Monday, officials said.

It was the worst attack in the Russian capital for six years.

President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia will fight terror without hesitation and to the end, ordering security to be stepped up on transport across the country.

"The policy to suppress terrorism in our country and the fight with terrorism will be continued," Russian news agencies quoted Medvedev as telling an emergency meeting convened after the twin blasts.

"We will continue the operation against terrorists without hesitation and until the end," he added.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that the "terrorists" responsible for the twin suicide bomb attacks in the Moscow metro will be caught and "destroyed."

"I am sure that law enforcement agencies will do everything to find and punish the criminals" who carried out the attack, Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying during a visit to the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts but suspicion fell on groups from Russia's North Caucasus, where the Kremlin is fighting a growing Islamist insurgency.

But the head of the Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, said the two suicide bombers were likely from Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus region.

The first blast tore through the second carriage of a train as it stood at the Lubyanka metro station, close to the headquarters of Russia's main domestic security service (FSB), at 0756 (0356 GMT), killing 25 people.

Another blast wrecked the second carriage of a train waiting at the Park Kultury metro station at 0837 (0437 GMT), killing 12 more people, an Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman said.

"The blast hit the second carriage of a metro train that stopped at Lubyanka, at 0756 (0356 GMT)," ministry spokeswoman Irina Andrianova told Reuters.

She said there were killed both inside the carriage and on the platform. The stations were packed with rush hour commuters.

"Two female terrorist suicide bombers carried out these bombings," Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov told reporters at Park Kultury metro station.

Surveillance camera footage posted on the Internet showed bodies lying in Lubyanka station lobby and emergency workers treating victims.

The current death toll makes it the worst attack on Moscow since February 2004, when a suicide bombing killed at least 39 people and wounded more than 100 on a metro train.

Chechen separatists were blamed for that attack.

Earth Hour 2010: 60 Minutes of Helping Mother Earth

NEWS:  The global event organized by World Widelife Fund or WWF will be held tonight. It is expected that millions of people will join in this event all over the world by simply turning off the lights and other electrical equipments for sixty minutes. This is the way to raise the awareness and send the message to the people about the climate change due to global warming.

The Earth Hour 2010 will take place on this day, 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM local time. There are more than 90 countries around the world who will participate to this event. From America, Europe, Asia and Australia and other continents, cities, towns and iconic places will cooperate for this world wide campaign.

Join the Earth Hour tonight and get involved to raise the awareness at help to stop nor minimize the cause of global warming. What time is Earth Hour? It is just less than 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Heavy motorbike race held on Lahore-Islamabad motorway

PAKISTAN: A heavy motorbike race was held for the first time on the Lahore-Islamabad motorway on Tuesday.

Fifty motorcycle riders participated in the race which ranged from Toll plaza Lahore to Bhera.

Federal ministers Samsam Bukhari and Imtiaz Safdar Waraich and IG-Motorway Dr Waseem Kausar also witnessed the race.

Motorcycles from 600cc to 1837cc were included in the race.

Punjab minister for local bodies Dost Mohammad Khosa also took part in the race and rode on a 1300 cc motorcycle.

Youth interested in heavy motorcycle race participated from all over the country.

India to buy drones from Israel

NEW DELHI:  India will buy spy drones from Israel.  According to Indian media reports, in a contract inked with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) a few days ago, India has ordered a few more `Heron' MALE (medium-altitude, long endurance) drones, ground control systems and data terminals for around Rs 700 crore, defence ministry sources said.

Under the latest deal, Indian Navy will now get two more Herons to add to its UAV fleet of eight Searcher-II and four Herons, which are being used for maritime surveillance up to 200 nautical miles.

There is also the ongoing Rs 1,163 crore joint IAI-DRDO project for NRUAVs (naval rotary UAVs) or unmanned helicopters operating from warship decks for advanced ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions.

Indian Army is also going in for two more `troops' (8 birds each) of advanced Heron UAVs for Rs 1,118 crore after the Defence Acquisitions Council approved it in February 2009.

No change in policy on Jerusalem: Israel

 Palestinians:  Israeli policy on Jerusalem remains unchanged, the prime minister's office said on Friday, one day after the premier returned from Washington where he faced pressure to freeze settlements.

"The prime minister's position is that there is no change in Israel's policy on Jerusalem that has been pursued by all governments of Israel for the last 42 years," Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu's office said in a statement.

Israel insists a partial moratorium on settlement building it imposed in the occupied West Bank cannot be extended to east Jerusalem as it considers the entire city its "eternal and indivisible" capital.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Netanyahu said on Friday the United States had not agreed to further Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, clarifying a comment made by another aide.

Spokesman Mark Regev said that when Nir Hefez said understandings had been reached, he was "articulating the Israeli position, he is not articulating a joint position."

Netanyahu's spokesman Nir Hefez told Army radio the day after their return from a troubled U.S. visit that Netanyahu had reached a "list of understandings" on policy toward Palestinians with President Barack Obama in their talks in Washington.

But "there were additional points still in disagreement between the sides," Hefez added.

The Americans have reportedly given Netanyahu a series of demands needed to kickstart moribund peace talks with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu will meet his inner forum of seven senior ministers to draw up Israel's response to Washington, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser told public radio on Friday, denying media reports the United States had given Israel a deadline.

"I suggest you wait patiently. The forum of seven is meeting today in the afternoon to discuss things. If there is a necessity for further discussions they will happen," Hauser told the radio.

"All aspects of the issue will be examined and they will formulate Israel's position according to Israel's interests and in the time needed to do so," he said.

Palestinians have demanded a complete Israeli settlement freeze in occupied land including East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally.

The Obama administration had also objected to Israel's latest settlement plans for East Jerusalem, including a blueprint for 1,600 housing units published while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting, igniting new controversy this month.

Hefez said that despite these differences, Obama and Netanyahu had agreed in 90 minutes of talks in Washington on Wednesday that Israeli "construction policy in Jerusalem doesn't change."

Netanyahu left Washington after a three-day visit on Thursday, "with a list of understandings and additional points that are still in disagreement between the sides regarding how to renew the talks with the Palestinians," Hefez said.

Hefez's comments seemed to conflict with indications from U.S. officials they had sought to coax Israel into suspending further East Jerusalem projects and discussing core issues such as borders and the status of Jerusalem in indirect talks Washington seeks with Israel and the Palestinians.

Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs said he had asked Netanyahu to take steps to build confidence for proximity talks so that progress can be made toward comprehensive peace.

"I think we're making progress on important issues. But nothing more on substance to report than that," Gibbs said on Thursday.

Gibbs also said U.S. officials wanted clarification about any further building in Jerusalem, after a city official on Wednesday said final approval had been given to develop a neighborhood from which Palestinians were evicted last year.

Palestinians said they had no indication of any agreement reached in Obama's talks with Netanyahu about renewing negotiations.

"There is absolutely nothing new, as of this moment, regarding the situation facing the peace process," Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters on Thursday.

Israeli may be held by Qaeda in Algeria: report

DUBAI :  An Israeli man who disappeared in Algeria nearly a week ago may have been kidnapped by Al Qaeda's North African wing, an Arabic daily said on Friday.

Asharq al-Awsat, citing what it described as "informed sources, "said the Israeli man entered Algeria with a Spanish passport and disappeared in Hassi Messaoud, 800 kilometer (500 miles) south of the capital Algiers.

News of the possible kidnapping comes a day after Osama bin Laden threatened Qaeda would kill any Americans it takes prisoner if accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is put to death.

"Investigators think it is likely that he was kidnapped by the Qaeda in the Islamist Maghreb (AQIM)," the newspaper quoted the sources as saying.

"It is unclear so far whether the Israeli is dual-national or his Spanish passport was forged. It is also unclear why he was in the desert and how he entered the country."

Western countries say that unless the region's fractious governments join forces to fight the insurgents, Qaeda could turn the Sahara desert into a safe haven along the lines of Yemen and Somalia and use it to launch large-scale attacks.

China dissidents among record 237 Nobel contenders

OSLO: A record 237 candidates are in the running for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Institute said, with Chinese dissidents and the founders of the Internet known to be on the list.

"The final number of candidates is 237, including 38 organisations," Geir Lundestad, the head of the Nobel Institute, said.

That, he said "is the highest number we've ever had," exceeding the previous record of 205 candidates for last year's prize, which to widespread surprise went to US President Barack Obama.

The names of nominees are kept secret by the institute for 50 years. But those who are entitled to nominate are allowed to reveal the name of the person or organisation they have proposed, if they wish to do so.

A number of Chinese dissidents are thus known to figure on this year's list, including Liu Xiaobo, who was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison for co-authoring a manifesto calling for political reform in China.

Other dissidents on the list, including Hu Jia, Gao Shisheng, Chen Guangcheng, Bao Tong and Rebiya Kadeer, the exiled leader of the Chinese Uighur minority.

A win by any critic of the Chinese regime would certainly provoke rapid condemnation from Beijing, which reacts vehemently each time a Chinese dissident is mentioned as a candidate and which in the past has warned the Norwegian Nobel Committee not to interfere in China's internal affairs.

Russian human rights group Memorial and its founding member Svetlana Gannushkina have also been nominated for the prestigious prize, as has the International Space Station.

Other nominees include three people widely regarded as the creators of the Internet: Americans Larry Roberts and Vint Cerf and Britain's Tim Berners-Lee, whose inventions gave rise to sites like Twitter that helped unite opposition demonstrators in Iran.

Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, who has long figured among the candidates, is also in the running for the 2010 prize despite his appeal to be removed from the list.

"Attention surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize keeps growing and awarding the prize to Barack Obama last year may have increased interest," Lundestad said, explaining the record number of candidates this year.

Figuring on the growing list in no way means a person or organisation has the blessing of the five-member Nobel Committee that awards the prize however, according to the Nobel Institute.

Thousands of people are eligible to submit nominations, including members of parliament and government worldwide, university professors, previous laureates and members of several international institutes.

The Nobel Committee that awards the prize is also eligible to nominate candidates.

After the Obama "bombshell" last year, observers are expecting a more conventional prize winner this year, said head of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO) Krisian Berg Harpviken.

"The 2010 peace prize is most likely to be awarded to a candidate who has made a significant contribution to the prevention, amelioration or resolution of armed conflict, in line with the spirit of Alfred Nobel's will," he wrote on the Prio website.

"Unlike 2009, however, the recipient of this year's prize is probably not going to be somebody who is a household name around the globe," he added.

His picks included the Special Court for Sierra Leone, woman doctor and head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission Sima Samar, and American Gene Sharp, the founder of a non-profit group devoted to studying and promoting the use of nonviolent action.

The name of the winner will be announced in early October, and the award will be presented at a formal ceremony held -- as tradition dictates -- on December 10.

Japan's spouse hunters hone skills at marriage school

TOKYO: In search of Mr. or Mrs. Right, dozens of Japanese are attending a newly launched school in Tokyo that aims turn them into marriage material.

The Infini school offers various classes for wannabe brides and grooms at a time when many people in Japan are either shunning the institution of marriage or are finding it very difficult to hook up with a partner.

The school, which is open to men and women, teaches students how to talk, walk and present themselves elegantly in a bid to capture the hearts and minds of prospective partners and their parents, who are often a major obstacle to successful unions.

Infini, which opened last month, now has about 30 female students. An almost equal number of males has signed up, but those who actually turn up to class are much fewer than their female counterparts.

Instructors provide critiques about students' dress, posture and even details such as how they cross their legs or get out of a car. Men and men are taught different skills, which range from how to set a table well to how to be more emotionally expressive.

Students also simulate dates, during which their instructors grade their performance and point out what they did wrong.

The school charges an annual fee of 200,000 yen ($2,217) for unlimited access to its classes.

Bill Gates no longer world's richest

NEW YORK:  billionaire Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest man. That title now belongs to Mexico's telecom titan Carlos Slim Helu, according to Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's richest people unveiled on Wednesday.

Forbes says the improving global economy has pushed up the number of billionaires from 793 last year to 1,011 in 2010.

Carlos Slim added $18.5 billion (USD) to his fortune last year and has a net worth of $53.5 billion (USD), according to the list. This is the first time since 1994 that a person from outside the United States has held the title of "world's richest person".

"Carlos Slim is very dominant in the Mexican economy. He foresaw the rise of communications, so cell phones he embraced, but he's also into more nitty gritty businesses like cement, and he's put together quite an empire," says Steve Forbes, the magazine's editor-in-chief.

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates slips to number two on the list with a net worth of $53 billion (USD), and Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett comes in at number three with a net worth of $47 billion (USD). Both Gates and Buffett have given billions of dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"The gap between Bill Gates and Carlos Slim is a very narrow one. Carlos Slim is ahead by about 500 million, which in that atmosphere is pretty close, about 53 and a half billion to 53 billion. But if Bill Gates was truly interested in just being number one, he would not have given away so much money, same with Warren Buffett. They have given away tens of billions of dollars, and Warren Buffett has made it very clear that in the years ahead most of his wealth is going to go to the foundation that was started by Bill Gates and his wife," said Forbes.

India's Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal round out the top five with a net worth of $29 billion (USD) and $28.7 billion (USD) respectively.

Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited is the largest private business in India, dealing in petrochemicals, oil and gas, and Lakshmi's ArcelorMittal is one of the world's biggest steel companies.

Forbes magazine generated its billionaire's list on February 12, 2010. Forbes says the list is a global snapshot of where money is being made and where it is being lost.

"The Forbes billionaire list, the ups and downs, the expansions and subtractions reflect what is happening in the economy. These represent entrepreneurs around the world, most of them are people who created their own businesses," said Forbes.

55 countries are represented on the billionaire list, with Pakistan and Finland adding their first billionaires and Iceland losing its super wealthy, says Forbes.

The United States continues to have the most billionaires at 403.

Crediting the improving global economy, Forbes says 97 new billionaires were added to the list this year, including 62 new billionaires from Asia.

"I think even though we knew Asia and some other countries were relatively doing better than the United States, this makes it very graphic, when you see the number of billionaires in South Korea go from 4 to 11, Turkey from 13 to 28, China 28 to 64, Taiwan 5 to 18, underscores that this is a region that is once again on the move," added Forbes.

The world's youngest billionaire is 25 year old Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with a net worth of $4 billion (USD).

Forbes says Zuckerberg's net worth has quadrupled in the past year. His Facebook social networking website is valued at more than 15 billion (USD).

This is the 24th year of the annual list.

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