::Welcome To Radiance Viewsweekly:: Muslim World - budget 2008 paradoxes and inconsistencies

Vol. XLV No. 33, 2008-03-09

SAUDI SHOURA ENDORSES PROPOSAL FOR GENDER EQUALITY

The Shoura Council has endorsed the International Labour Organisation (ILO) proposal to provide absolute equality for men and women, reports Arabic daily Al-Watan. The Shoura also endorsed the Arab Human Rights Charter as well as the national strategy for biological diversity, which was presented by the Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. The daily said there was heated discussion among the Shoura members on the ILO proposal that calls for absolute equality among men and wo...

IRAN'S PRESIDENT HAILS "VICTORY" AFTER IAEA REPORT

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed his country’s “victory” in its nuclear issue, one day after the UN atomic watchdog’s chief circulated his latest report on Iran’s nuclear programme. Ahmadinejad in a message said that the country owes the victory to solidarity and perseverance of the faithful and devoted Iranian nation under wise guidelines of the supreme leader. Ahmadinejad assured the supreme leader that Iranian nation and government will continue ...

IRAN'S PRESIDENT HAILS "VICTORY" AFTER IAEA REPORT

THAI MUSLIM REBEL LEADER CALLS FOR REFERENDUM

An exiled Muslim rebel leader warned Thailand’s new government that a violent Islamic insurgency in the south could worsen if the region is denied sovereignty, renewing debate over a possible referendum on autonomy. The comments from Lukman B. Lima, who heads the Pattani United Liberation Organisation from exile in Sweden, were the first from the Muslim rebel movement since Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his interior minister made conflicting remarks on the issue earlier this month...

MELBOURNE CLASS, PRAYER TIMES CLASH

Muslim university students in Melbourne are calling for a reschedule of classes to accommodate prayer times and for female-only eating and recreational areas on campus. International Muslim students, predominantly from Saudi Arabia, have asked universities in Melbourne to change class times so they can attend congregational prayers. Muslim leaders supported the request, but said such a move would be essential only for congregational Friday prayers. Martin Van Run, director of La Trobe Unive...

ALCOHOLIC CRISPS IRK UK MUSLIMS

British Muslims have reacted with anger to know that certain types of crisps produced by a major snack food manufacturer contain traces of alcohol, hitting out at the producer for disregarding Muslim religious sensibilities. The issue came to the light after a Muslim customer told the owner of a halal supermarket in Bradford that several types of Walkers crisps were alcoholic. “A customer informed us that Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli, Doritos Chilli Heat Wave and Quavers Chee...

MUSLIM BROTHERS TO CONTEST EGYPT POLLS

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition force with a fifth of seats in the parliament, decided to brave a security crackdown and contest in the upcoming municipal elections. Candidates will be competing for 46,000 local council’s seats in the April 8 elections. Although officially banned, the Muslim Brotherhood poses the most serious challenge to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Despite allegations of rigging and vote-buying, its candidates, who ran as inde...

LAWSUIT TARGETING A MOSQUE FAILS IN US

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced that a “frivolous” lawsuit that sought to block the construction of a Florida mosque has been dismissed. CAIR said the voluntarily-dismissed lawsuit was a failed attempt to harass and intimidate the Islamic Centre of South Florida and the entire Florida Muslim community. The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said that any lawsuit seeking to misuse the courts to suppress constitutional rights is desti...

CATHOLICS, MUSLIMS MUST LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGIONS: VATICAN ENVOY

Catholics and Muslims must learn more about each other’s religions if they want to get along better, said the Vatican ambassador in Egypt and former president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The archbishop was interviewed the evening before the annual Catholic-Muslim dialogue meeting of Vatican representatives with representatives of Cairo’s al-Azhar University. The dialogue with the Cairo-based university, a point of reference for many Muslims around the...