Sunday, September 26, 2010

For Muslims, day of celebration amid controversy

For Muslims, day of celebration amid controversy

For Muslims, day of celebration amid controversy

Posted:

The scene seemed surreal, yet oddly poignant: at a silent, deserted intersection in the center of Midtown Manhattan, beneath bland corporate logos and brick office buildings, hundreds of Muslims knelt on a sprawling tarpaulin, faced due east and commenced the midday call to prayer. The ceremony, held along a blocked-off portion of Madison Avenue, marked the start of the American Muslim Day Parade on Sunday, an annual event, first held in 1985, that brings together Muslims of many ethnicities and nationalities who worship in the New York region. The parade is intended as a celebration of diversity and pride in the Muslim community, but this year it had a difficult context: national controversies over a planned Islamic center and mosque near ground zero, the threatened desecration of Korans by anti-Muslim ministers, and recent incidences of what the authorities called hate crimes against Muslims, including a New York City cabdriver who was slashed. Some marchers had feared protesters on Sunday, but only the occasional Christian missionary appeared. Still, the turnout was far smaller than at the city's better-known ethnic parades, and a few organizers speculated that safety concerns kept many Muslims away. "Some people are too scared to show up," said Zaheer Uddin, executive director of the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York, a sponsoring group.


New Muslim comic book superhero on the way

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Comic book fans will soon be getting their first glimpse at an unlikely new superhero — a Muslim boy in a wheelchair with superpowers. The new superhero is the brainchild of a group of disabled young Americans and Syrians who were brought together last month in Damascus by the Open Hands Intiative, a non-profit organization founded by U.S. philanthropist and businessman Jay T. Snyder. The superhero's appearance hasn't been finalized, but an early sketch shows a Muslim boy who lost his legs in a landmine accident and later becomes the Silver Scorpion after discovering he has the power to control metal with his mind. Sharad Devarajan, co-founder and CEO of Liquid Comics whose company is now turning the young people's ideas into pictures and a story line, said the goal is to release the first comic book — launching the disabled Muslim superhero — in early November in both Arabic and English.


Ditch your laptop, dump your boyfriend

Posted:

College is your chance to see what you've been missing, both in the outside world and within yourself. Use this time to explore as much as you can.


Ex-CIA spy now on Hollywood red carpet

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Valerie Plame Wilson, America's best-known ex-spy, was looking chic in black bustier and flowing white pants, posing for paparazzi on the red carpet earlier this month at a film festival in Deauville, France.


Iraqi women embrace mothers of American martyrs

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Nine American mothers whose children died fighting in Iraq were embraced today by dozens of Iraqi women who lost their own children during decades of war and violence in a meeting participants said brought them a measure of peace.


Afghan election commission orders recount

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Afghanistan's election commission has ordered a recount of votes in some areas for recent parliamentary elections, a senior official said on Sunday, raising further concerns of misconduct and fraud during the polls. Election commission Chairman Fazel Ahmad Manawi said recounts have been ordered in parts of at least seven provinces.


Egypt and thirsty neighbours are at odds over Nile

Posted:

One place to begin to understand why this parched country has nearly ruptured relations with its upstream neighbours on the Nile is ankle-deep in mud in the cotton and maize fields of Mohammed Abdallah Sharkawi. The price he pays for the precious resource flooding his farm? Nothing.


British monarchy 'stupid, archaic', says Salman Rushdie

Posted:

In comments that can rake up yet another controversy, Indian-origin author Salman Rushdie has termed the British monarchy and its traditions as "stupid" and "archaic". The brilliant author, winner of the 'Booker of the Bookers', who has a penchant for controversy said in an interview to The Sunday Times: "The monarchy and its traditions are archaic.. stupid... a British oddity".


Musharraf plans to return to Pakistan as its 'saviour'

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Pakistan's ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who calls himself "a born optimist", says he plans to return to Islamabad to enter politics for the "greater cause" of the country, where the leadership has "failed." "I am very comfortable travelling around the world on lectures, but I am going into politics for the greater cause of Pakistan," Musharraf told 'The Sunday Telegraph'.


10 killed in Berlin bus accident

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German police say at least 10 people were killed and dozens injured when a bus carrying Polish tourists crashed on the highway east of Berlin.


A Thai region where husbands are imported

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The most dazzling creatures Nui Davis saw when she was a child were the village girls who had found foreign husbands, visiting in their Western finery and handing out candies to the children.


Pakistan: Plane arrives after false bomb threat

Posted:

Passengers from a Pakistani jet that was diverted to Stockholm for several hours for fear that one of its passengers was carrying explosives arrived safely in Karachi on Sunday. Police evacuated 273 people from the jet and briefly detained a Canadian man, after an anonymous caller in Canada tipped off authorities that the suspect was carrying explosives.


Posted by Harshad at 11:16 PM

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