A 14-year old Pakistani activist who championed education for girls has been shot in the head by a Taliban gunman.

The attack on Malala Yousafzai, who became famous for highlighting Taliban atrocities, happened as she sat in a bus preparing to leave the school grounds in Mingora, the main city in the Swat valley which was the scene of intense fighting between the army and the Taliban in 2009.

At least one other girl was also hurt in the attack on Tuesday that a Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, quickly claimed the group was responsible for.

He said the teenager's work had been an "obscenity" that needed to be stopped: "This was a new chapter of obscenity, and we have to finish this chapter."

Doctors said the gunshot wounds to her head and neck were serious and that she might have to be moved to a larger hospital in Islamabad or Peshawar.

Fazal Maula Zahid, a member of Swat Qaumi Jirga, a local anti-Taliban group working for peace in the valley, said the gunman had asked which of the girls was Malala.

One of the girls pointed to Malala, but the activist denied it was her. The gunman shot both of the girls.

"An attack on Malala in a highly secured area has sent a shiver down the spine of Swati people," Zahid said.

"It has also created doubts about the claims of the authorities that militants have been flushed out from Swat."

Malala won fame in 2009 during the Pakistani army operations to crush a Taliban insurgency that had taken hold in the Swat valley, an area popular among Pakistani tourists three hours drive from Islamabad.

As part of her campaign for girls' education she wrote an anonymous blog for the BBC about the chaos at the time, including the burning of girls' schools.

Her efforts were recognised by Pakistan's prime minister who awarded her the country's first National Peace award and a reward of around £3,300 after she missed out on winning the International Children's Peace Prize for which she was nominated in 2011.

She had also spoken of her desire to set up her own political party and a vocational institute for marginalised girls in her area.

Read the rest here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/09/pakistan-girl-shot-activism-swat-taliban?CMP=twt_gu

Human rights, liberties, freedom? Yeah, they all exist(!)

"My unjust extradition, after eight years in detention without charge"
http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/04/babar-ahmad-extraditi…

I don't understand. Is there any reason (excuse) at all, for this?!! Why would anyone who has committed a crime here be sent to the US? :S

Turkish artillery has fired on positions inside Syria after shells from Syria killed five people in a southern Turkish border town.

A woman and her three children were among those killed earlier when the shells, apparently fired by Syrian government forces, hit Akcakale.

Turkey's response marks the first time it has fired into Syria during the 18-month-long uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Nato ambassadors discussed the crisis.

The military alliance issued a statement saying it "continues to stand by (Nato member) Turkey and demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally, and urges the Syrian regime to put an end to flagrant violations of international law".

'Abominable attack'

Turkey's territory has been hit by fire from Syria on several occasions since the uprising against President Assad began, but Wednesday's incident was the most serious.

In a statement, the office of Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "Our armed forces in the border region responded immediately to this abominable attack in line with their rules of engagement."Targets were struck through artillery fire against places in Syria identified by radar.

"Turkey will never leave unanswered such kinds of provocation by the Syrian regime against our national security."

Syria said it was looking into the origin of the cross-border shelling that hit Akcakale. Information Omran Zoabi added: "Syria offers its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to our friends the Turkish people."

Read the rest here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19822253

Why would they involve Turkey in all this?

Someone said this will make the relationship between Israel an Iran worse, why would that be?

just coming across some stuff about cyber war becoming quite the next war.

yahoo article: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/cybergeddon-cyber-war-is-going-on-around-us.ht…

In 2011, U.S. government accounts were penetrated by hackers in China, after their Google Mail accounts were hacked. The targeting of government officials led many to suspect the Chinese government was involved - and the attacks originated in Jinan, home of the Chinese army’s ‘Technical Reconnaissance Bureaus.’



'Blaming these misdeeds on China is unacceptable,' said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei after the attacks.



'Hacking is an international problem and China is also a victim. The claims of so-called support for hacking are completely unfounded.'

Google’s Mail service now has a specific warning that states, ‘We believe state-sponsored attackers are attempting to compromise your account.’

would be QUITE interesting to receive such a notification eh?

post away any link, vid etc.. you hear abt the topic. let's see whats happening when it comes to cyberworld...

An airline says it will offer baby-free 'quiet zones' on its flights. Should all planes and trains follow suit, or do adults need to learn to live with child passengers?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19728508

إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون ولا حول ولا قوه الا بالله العلي العظيم



It is with extreme sadness that I inform you that one of our elders and Shouyoukh has passed into the mercy of Allah. 



Shaikh al-zahid Abu Hussain Badr al-Jawbarani from the District of Jawbar in Damascus was born in the year 1328 AH corresponding to 1910 AD and passed away on the 21 September 2012 at the age of 104.



http://forum.cordobaacademy.com/2012/09/23/passing-away-shaikh-abu-huss…

Please do this to show your love for the Prophet peace be upon him. It only takes a few minutes.



Can you please follow these simple steps to write to your MP to express your anger towards the blasphemous anti Islamic film.



1. Click on this link: http://www.writetothem.com/ (Will open in a new window).

2. Type in your postcode and click 'Go'.

3. Select 'Your Member of Parliament', click on your MP's name.

4. Now Fill in your name and contact details and write Your Message.

5. You can copy and paste the text below for the message.

6. Click 'Preview Your Message'.

7. Check that the message looks correct, then click 'Send Message'.

8. You will receive an email, click on the link in the email to confirm. You will need to do this last step otherwise the message will not be sent to the MP.



Please ask others to do this as well. We need every Muslim to write to their MP to get a response to this issue.



May Allah reward you all.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------



Dear [MP Name]



I am writing to express my anger and condemnation of the offensive film entitled 'Innocence of Muslims', which portrays the Prophet of Islam Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him, his progeny, and companions) in a very disrespectful and degenerate manner. This film contains grave insults to the greatest Islamic personality of all time and leader of one of the world's major religions.



The United Kingdom and the United States are nations which guarantee Freedom of Expression to their people. However, freedom of expression does not include allowing messages of malice and ridicule towards others to be propagated, especially in regards to the beliefs and sacred icons of communities.



I therefore call upon our government officials, both national and local, to exercise their efforts to prevent the propagation of such disrespectful forms of media, which only incite hatred and animosity between people, in turn endangering the security and stability of the international community.



I also call upon all media outlets, YouTube in particular, to exercise their ethical and professional responsibilities of not allowing their mediums to be grounds for inciting disrespect, hatred, and violence.



We, as a nation, have the responsibility to be agents of peace, tolerance, and respect for one another. We must be able to show true justice by not allowing such disrespectful media to be propagated, and to call individuals and communities to engage with one another in a respectful and balanced way.



I would urge our leaders to act now to ban the Film 'Innocence of Muslims', and request that all media outlets remove this film and anything related to it from their websites and other outlets immediately.



Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

The Blessed Hub is basically a new dedicated online service for the Muslim community and beyond. Set up by two passionate brothers from Manchester, to help create a platform of information, networking, love and unity amongst Muslims in Manchester and beyond. Providing access to scholars, mosques, bloggers, events, places to eat, online classes, meetings etc. Seeking to make a difference for the community, it's a website for everyone and anyone. 

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The Louvre Museum in Paris is opening a new wing dedicated to the art of Islam. It has taken a decade and nearly 100m euro (£80m) and comes to fruition amid tensions between the Muslim world and the West.

This is the most significant and innovative architectural extension to the Louvre since IM Pei shook the venerable institution with his glass pyramid in 1989.   

Read all about it: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19672951

I don't read this trashy paper I came across it at work once in the staff room. News lacks depth, and there's porn inside. porn should be on the top shelf. We say we're the most civilised country in the world, this is the nations most read paper, what does it say about their morals when they accept this as just a bit of ' harmless' fun. I wouldn't want my kids seeing it, I wouldn't want to see a man looking at page 3 on the bus, I'd get up and move its disgusting, disturbing even to normalise it. I mean its not a regular occurrence to see men reading playboy on public transport, why coz its porn, they know society looks down on it, so why any difference with page 3?

i don't think it will be banned but here's to hoping, if anyone wishes to sign please do and encourage as man Muslims as possible to sign:

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/dominic-mohan-take-the-bare-boobs…