India: Muslim Cleric Demands The Death Of American Pastor Who Burned The Qur’an, Announces Nearly $30,000 ‘Head Money’ Reward

Even though burning the Qur’an is protected under the First Amendment, it is unnecessary, unproductive and it serves nothing other than to draw attention away from the root of jihad’s global sickness. As the return of our King draws near we are engaged in a spiritual battle of the ages, and in this war — as in any war — we must strive to know our enemy. But the world cannot know its enemy if we’re showing them little more than glowing hues of orange and red. We must show the world instead the true colors of Islam’s “best example for mankind” by exposing the hatred, racism, Islamic supremacy, inequality and sexual immorality espoused by the “perfected character” of Islam’s “holy prophet”, a man in whom the Muslim world seeks to conform itself — and indeed everyone else — after, whether we like it or not. Until our King returns to put an end to the madness, let us not focus on destroying the enemy’s books. Let us focus instead on destroying the enemy’s lies that are written within them …

“PESHAWAR: A cleric on Wednesday announced Rs 1.5 million head money on the American pastor who allegedly desecrated the holy Quran.

‘We cannot allow anyone to desecrate the holy Quran. A person involved in such blasphemous act stands liable to be killed,’ the cleric, Yousaf Qureshi, said during a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club. ‘Our sentiments have been badly hurt, and we will avenge this,’ Qureshi said, adding, ‘The United States is encouraging humiliation of Muslims.’

The US State Department condemned the pastor for hurting sentiments of Muslims around the world, saying his act ‘does not represent the American values’.” Source – Daily Times.

Bangladesh: Muslim Teacher Burns Children’s Legs With Hot Iron Rods After Learning They Didn’t Pray Regularly During Vacation

By Anbarasan Ethirajan, BBC News – “Police in Bangladesh are looking for a teacher from a Muslim religious school who allegedly placed burning hot iron rods on the legs of her students for failing to offer prayers regularly.

They say 14 girls, aged between eight and 12, received burn injuries.

The school has been temporarily closed following the incident, while the ‘hellish experience’ of the girls has been widely reported in newspapers.

Their injuries are not thought to be serious.

The Bangladeshi government banned all corporal punishment in all educational institutions, including religious schools – or madrassas – in 2010.

‘I was shocked to see the burn injury of my daughter,’ Jumur Akhter, mother of one of the affected students, told the BBC.

The girls were learning Arabic and Bengali at the Talimul Koran Mahila madrassa at Namashyampur in Dhaka. The incident is said to have happened on Tuesday.

‘It was the first day of the madrassa after our holidays. Our teacher got angry when she heard that we were not offering regular prayers during our vacation,’ said Ferdousi Akther, aged eight.

‘Then she asked her servant to heat up the rod and then she pressed it on our legs. The pain was unbearable.’

Pupils say that the teacher asked the students whether they knew the severity of the fire in hell.

They were allegedly told that if they did not offer prayers regularly, they would experience a similar punishment.” Read more.

Expert: Christians Are The Most Persecuted Religious Group In The World

By Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post – “WASHINGTON – The head of a California-based evangelical religious liberty group stated Thursday that Christianity is presently the most persecuted religion on earth based on evidence gathered.

Dr. Carl Moeller told The Christian Post at an event on rising religious intolerance abroad that Christians are ‘the most persecuted in the world’ when the nonprofit examined religious groups suffering from increased persecution.

‘In terms of sheer numbers, the large size of the Christian populations around the world, where they’re repressed or restricted… Whether you count martyrs, those killed, or you count those living in regimes, sizable Christian populations live under extreme restrictions in places like China, Indonesia, and of course the Middle East,’ said Moeller…

‘Where we see it most notably is in Islamic societies where an intentional misrepresentation of other faiths is primary…’

Moeller’s remarks came at a press conference focused on the increased persecution of religious minorities in the Middle East and North Africa…

… Moeller spoke about the growing problems for Christians in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Nigeria. When talking about Nigeria, which is in the news regularly for bomb attacks by an extremist Islamic group called Boko Haram, Moeller held up photos of bombed churches and businesses taken over the past few months.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Bloody’: Christian Persecution is ‘Coursing Through Muslim-Majority Nations from One End of the Globe to the Other’ – “We hear so often about Muslims as victims of abuse in the West and combatants in the Arab Spring’s fight against tyranny. But, in fact, a wholly different kind of war is underway—an unrecognized battle costing thousands of lives. Christians are being killed in the Islamic world because of their religion. It is a rising genocide that ought to provoke global alarm… The conspiracy of silence surrounding this violent expression of religious intolerance has to stop. Nothing less than the fate of Christianity—and ultimately of all religious minorities—in the Islamic world is at stake.” Read more.

Pakistan: Suicide Bombing In Market By Suspected Islamists Kills At Least 20 Men, Women And Children

“KHAR, Pakistan (AP) – A suicide bombing in a Pakistani market close to the Afghan border killed 20 people Friday, officials said, a day after the U.S. released letters seized from Osama bin Laden’s compound that criticized Pakistani militants for killing too many civilians.

Five of the dead in the blast in the Bajur tribal area were local members of the security forces, including one who had received an award for bravery in fighting Islamist militants, government administrator Abdul Haseeb said. The others were passers-by. At least 40 people were wounded.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives as he approached a security checkpoint near the market in the town of Khar, said Haseeb. The attack took place as locals were headed to work or taking their children to school. The dead included a woman and several schoolchildren.

The explosion damaged over a dozen shops, and rescue officials searched through the debris for anyone trapped inside. The ground outside the market was covered in blood and littered with the shoes of those hit by the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Pakistani Taliban or allied groups will be suspected.” Read more.

Russia: Suspected Islamist Suicide Bombers Kill 12, Wound 110 in Dagestan

Reuters – “MAKHACHKALA, Russia – Suicide bombers killed 12 people and wounded 110 in attacks on a police post on the outskirts of the capital of Russia’s Dagestan region, local investigators and law enforcement sources said Friday.

The attacks outside Makhachkala late Thursday were the deadliest in months, undermining efforts by Russian security forces to contain an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus region near Sochi, where Russia will host the Winter Olympics in 2014.

More than a decade after federal troops toppled an Islamist government in Chechnya, also in the North Caucasus, security forces are fighting militants whose ranks are swollen by anger at poverty, clan feuds and pervasive corruption.

The first suicide bomber detonated a bomb when police stopped a vehicle to check documents, a statement by the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.

The second explosion came when fire brigades and ambulances arrived, causing additional casualties.

A witness at the scene said a fire truck was reduced to charred wreckage.

‘After the blast, only the wheels of the truck remained whole,’ the witness told reporters…

Dagestan faces near daily shootings and bombings blamed on Islamist rebels. It has become the epicenter of violence in the low-level insurgency across the mainly Muslim North Caucasus following two separatist wars in Chechnya.

The insurgents want to create an Islamic state in the region.” Read more.

Russia: Prominent Muslim Lawyer Promises To ‘Cover Russia In Blood’ and Turn Moscow Into ‘A Second Dead Sea’ If Sharia Law Is Not Implemented – “Police in the Russian capital said on Wednesday they will examine a video in which a prominent Muslim lawyer pledges to ‘cover Russia in blood’ if the authorities refuse to establish courts to implement Islamic law. ‘May be you are foreigners here, and this is our home. We will set our rules, whether you want this or not … Any attempts to stop this will result in blood. We will turn the city (Moscow) into a second dead sea,’ he was quoted as saying.” Read more.

Pertussis: Worst Whooping Cough Outbreak In Nearly 70 Years Strikes Washington State

MNN – “More than 1,100 cases of whooping cough have already been diagnosed this year in the state, nearly doubling the number seen in typical peak years.

Washington state is gearing up for one of the worst epidemics of pertussis in nearly 70 years. Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes a nasty cough. It is particularly dangerous for young infants.

Public health officials have confirmed more than 1,100 cases of whooping cough so far this year in the state. Thankfully, no deaths have been reported this year, but 20 infants have been hospitalized with the illness.

Washington’s Gov. Christine Gregoire announced May 3 that state emergency funds would be available to provide free vaccinations and help spread awareness about the disease and the importance of getting vaccinated.

In the U.S., most kids receive a series of vaccines against whooping cough at the age of 2 months. But some kids don’t get immunized, either because their parents object or they are unaware of the importance of vaccines.

Outbreaks of pertussis are not uncommon, but they do tend to run in cycles. Tim Church, a spokesman for the Washington state Health Department, said the current epidemic is running well above typical peak years in the past, when 500 to 600 cases might be reported in a year.” Source – MNN.

Canada: Whooping cough outbreak sparks vaccination campaign – “The province of New Brunswick will vaccinate nearly 12,000 students in Saint John and Moncton following an outbreak of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough. Typically, there are 40 cases of whooping cough in the province each year. But this year, 370 cases have been reported so far, said Dr. Eilish Cleary, chief medical officer of health.” Read more.

Attorney For Christian Pastor On Death Row In Iran Reportedly Sentenced To 9 Years In Jail

Not only are Christians now being imprisoned throughout Iran, so are those who dare defend them …

“Prominent human rights advocate and attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, who represents the Christian pastor sentenced to death in Iran in a case that sparked international condemnation, has reportedly been sentenced to nine years in jail for allegedly ‘acting against national security’ in Iran.

Dadkhah has represented several political and human rights activists jailed since Iran’s 2009 disputed elections, including Youcef Nadarkhani, the Iranian pastor charged with apostasy and sentenced to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity.

‘I have been convicted of acting against the national security, spreading propaganda against the regime and keeping banned books at home,’ Dadkhah told the Guardian. Dadkhah has also reportedly been banned from teaching at universities or practicing law for 10 years.

The American Center for Law and Justice, or ACLJ, which has been working to secure the release of Nadarkhani, fears the decision to jail Dadkhah puts the Christian pastor at greater risk.” Read more.

Flashback: Iran’s Final Verdict: Allah’s Law Has Spoken, Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Should Be Killed for Rejecting Islam – “A trial court in Iran has issued its final verdict, ordering a Christian pastor to be put to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, according to sources close to the pastor and his legal team. Supporters fear Youcef Nadarkhani, a 34-year-old father of two who was arrested over two years ago on charges of apostasy, may now be executed at any time without prior warning, as death sentences in Iran may be carried out immediately or dragged out for years.” Read more.

Al Qaeda Loves ABC and CBS, Big Fan Of Keith Olbermann, FOX News Despised

I knew there was a good reason I didn’t like watching many of these so-called “news” networks …

By Chris McGreal, The Guardian – “Osama bin Laden pondered the merits of US television news channels as he considered how to extract the best propaganda benefit from the tenth anniversary of 9/11 last year, and concluded that CBS was ‘close to being unbiased’.

But an American-born media adviser for al-Qaeda warned Bin Laden to beware of the broadcasters’ ‘cunning methods’ as he described Fox News as a channel in the ‘abyss’ that should ‘die in anger’, CNN as too close to the US government and MSNBC as questionable after it fired one of its most prominent presenters, Keith Olbermann…

A US-born al-Qaida spokesman, Adam Gadahn, wrote back to Bin Laden laying the merits or otherwise of using US news stations to mark the ‘Manhattan battle’ as it is referred to in the memo.

Fox News is dismissed because it ‘falls into the abyss as you know, and lacks neutrality too’.

“I used to think that MSNBC channel may be good and neutral a bit, but is has lately fired two of the most famous journalists – Keith Olbermann and Octavia Nasser the Lebanese,” wrote Gadahn.

In fact, Nasser was sacked from CNN after she sent a tweet mourning the death of a Hezbollah leader. Olbermann was dismissed for making financial donations to Democratic party politicians.

CNN is questioned, although its Arabic ‘version brings good and detailed reports’.

‘As for the neutrality of CNN in English, it seems to be in cooperation with the government more than the others (except Fox News of course),’ he said.

Gadhan describes ABC as ‘all right’:

‘Actually it could be one of the best channels, as far as we are concerned. It is interested in al-Qaida issues, particularly the journalist Brian Ross, who is specialised in terrorism. The channel is still proud for its interview with the shaykh (Bin Laden),’ he said. ‘CBS channel was mentioned by the shaykh. I see that it is like the other channels, but it has a famous programme (60 Minutes) that has some popularity and a good reputation for its long broadcasting time. Only god knows the reality, as I am not really in a position to do so.'” Read more.