SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian president, has condemned deadly clashes at the Cairo headquarters of the Coptic Christian pope as "an attack against myself", ordering a quick probe into the violence, a statement said.

"I consider any attack on the cathedral an attack against myself," Morsi said on Sunday in a statement published by the official MENA news agency.

The probe follows clashes after a funeral for Copts slain in sectarian violence.

At least one person was reported killed and MENA said 17 people had been injured in fighting in Sunday's violence.

Public television showed riot police firing tear gas to disperse the crowd.

In some of the worst sectarian violence for months on Friday, four Christians and one Muslim were killed in El Khusus,

north of Cairo, when members of both communities started shooting at each other.

New clashes erupted on Sunday when hundreds of angry Copts who had attended a funeral service at St Mark's Cathedral spilled out into the streets of Cairo, chanting "With our blood and soul we will sacrifice ourselves for the cross."

After an emotional church service, where relatives of the dead wept, young Christians started hurling rocks at police officers, a witness said.

The protesters smashed six private cars and set two on fire, prompting an angry reaction from Muslims living in the neighbourhood, who threw stones at them, a witness said.

Christian-Muslim confrontations have increased in Muslim-majority Egypt since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 gave freer rein to hardline Islamists repressed under his rule.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said that the situation "remained tense" outside the cathedral, with gunshots still being heard in the area as of late Sunday afternoon.

"From the beginning, the mood during the funeral marches was one of clear anger. The Christian community have been complaining for two years now, since the revolution, of increased physical attacks against them," said Rageh.

"Their concern is now that Islamic groups have been empowered and have been acting more freely after the revolution, that little is being done to address the long-standing roots of sectarian tension."

President Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader elected in June, has promised to protect the rights of Copts, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 84 million people.

Egypt's Coptic Church issued a statement on Sunday night calling for calm and expressing sorrow for the clashes.

Christians have complained of attacks on churches by radical Islamists, incidents that have sharpened long-standing Christian grievances about being sidelined in the workplace and in law.

The president's office and top Muslim leaders were quick to condemn Friday's clashes, which happened after Christian children scrawled on the wall of a Muslim religious institute, according to witnesses.

Still, many Christians at the funeral called for Morsi and his Islamist allies to go, some of them chanting "The blood of

Christians is not cheap, Morsi, you villain."-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Al Jazeera

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The Grand Ayatollah Shirazi cancelled all his classes on next Saturday to protest against killings of Shia Muslims and the silence of the so called international human rights organisations. He protested at the insults directed at Shias and their massacres saying, the ways of Omayyads and Bani Abbas are continuing today through suicide bombings resulting in shedding the bloods of unarmed innocent women and children. This is the Islam of the Omayyads and Abbasides and is hundred times worse than what the unbelievers have.

The Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh Shirazi condemned the inhumane ways of those claiming to be Muslims and said Wahhabis are destroying the image of real Islam. He added that the real Islam of the holy prophet (PBUH) and the Ahlul Bait (the members of the household of the prophet) must be explained clearly in order to show true image of real Islam to the world.

www.shafaqna.com/english

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The UN Security Council has "strongly condemned" North Korea's third nuclear test and vowed to take action against Pyongyang, the president of the Security Council said.

"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned this test, which is a grave violation of Security Council resolutions," South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, whose country is president of the council this month, told reporters on Tuesday.

He said the council would now consider "appropriate measures".

North Korea's third nuclear test drew wide condemnation from several countries and organisations, with the US calling it a threat to regional security and Pyongyang's ally China calling for calm.

State media said the country had successfully carried out the underground nuclear test, involving a new "miniaturised", device.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it was "deplorable" that North Korea had defied international appeals to refrain from such provocative acts.

"The secretary-general condemns the underground nuclear weapon test conducted by [North Korea] today," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement.

"It is a clear and grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions."

'Outrageous'

The Korean Central News Agency said the test was conducted in a safe manner and was aimed at coping with "outrageous" US hostility that "violently" undermines the North's peaceful, sovereign rights to launch satellites.

"The high-level nuclear test, unlike in the past, had more explosive power and involved a miniaturised and lighter atomic bomb and was staged safely and perfectly."

The announcement that the detonated device was "miniaturised" suggests that North Korea has mastered the technically complex process of producing a warhead small enough to fit on a long-range missile.

"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community," US President Barack Obama said in a statement.

The magnitude of the "explosion-like event" was roughly twice as large as that of a 2009 nuclear test in North Korea, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organisation, a group monitoring nuclear tests, said.

NATO said the "irresponsible" nuclear test was a flagrant breach of UN resolutions and a grave threat to international security.

Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas, reporting from Hong Kong, said China's relationship with North Korea might change under the new Chinese leadership due to take over in March.

"It may no longer tolerate what has become a bigger and bigger thorn in its side," she said.

"The new president, Xi Jinping, has made it very clear clear he intends to make relationships between China and the US better.

Trade with China has enabled the impoverished North to survive for decades since the end of the Korean War.

Underground bunker

In neighbouring South Korea, President Lee Myung-bak held emergency meetings in an underground bunker in his office building.

"We have strengthened the readiness of our military by increasing the security alert level to level two," Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.

"We have also operated the South Korea-US joint surveillance platform to closely monitor North Korea's military movements."

Meanwhile, Iran, hit by UN sanctions for its controversial nuclear programme that the West believes is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, called for the destruction of all atomic weapons after North Korea's test.

"We need to come to the point where no country has any nuclear weapons and at the same time all weapons of mass destruction and nuclear arms need to be destroyed," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

"At the same all countries should have the right to make use of nuclear activities for peaceful purposes."-www.shfaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Australia has threatened Japan with diplomatic action over its whaling programme, after Japan reportedly dispatched its whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean for what Tokyo calls a scientific expedition.

On Saturday, Tony Burke, Australia's environment minister, condemned the move by Japan, describing the claims that its whaling programme is for scientific research as "a joke".

The Australian government has been a long-time critic of the activities of Japan's whaling fleet in regional waters, and initiated legal proceedings against the whaling programme in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May 2010.

Burke told reporters in Sydney that he did not expect a response from the ICJ until "sometime next year," but called on Japan to respect a moratorium on whaling in the Southern Ocean.

'A joke'

"In the interim it is open to Japan any day of the year to take the same action that the rest of world has taken and that is to observe a moratorium in the Southern Ocean. That is to accept that commercial whaling is wrong and scientific whaling is a joke," he said.

"We cannot continue to have a situation where everybody knows it's nothing to do with science and yet, with a nod and a wink, Japanese fleets travel from one side of the globe to the other to engage in this, and to break the moratorium year after year," Burke added.

Burke said that although he had not received official confirmation that Japan's annual whaling hunt had begun, he received no such information before last year's activities commenced, and did not expect to get confirmation this year.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from onboard a ship on its way to intercept the Japanese fleet, Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said the moratorium on whaling should be enforced by the International Whaling Authority.

“Unfortunately this body doesn’t really have any teeth. And the signatory members of the International Whaling Commission should be doing something but there is no economic or political motivation for them to do anything about it,” Watson said.

“There is no difference between what the Japanese are doing in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary and what elephant poachers are doing in the eastern Kenya. Except that in Kenya poachers are black, they are poor and they get shot for what they are doing.”

On Friday Japanese news agency Kyodo reported that three whaling vessels had left the western Japanese port of Shimonoseki.

Australia's opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt has publicly said that should his Liberal party coalition win government at the 2013 federal election, they would consider sending an Australian customs vessel to monitor the annual whale hunt.

Japan's previous annual whaling expeditions to the Southern Ocean have resulted in violent clashes between Japanese boats and vessels from the Sea Shepherd conservation group, drawing condemnation from Australian and New Zealand authorities. - www.shfaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Demonstrators have taken to the streets across the globe to protest against the Israeli regime's relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets across the globe to protest against the Israeli regime's relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

On Monday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi to protest against the Israeli regime's relentless bombing campaign in Gaza and to voice support for the Palestinians in the besieged coastal territory.

“Indian people are not going to sit down and watch. Israel is committing war crimes and the world must stop it,” said one protester.

The demonstrators criticized the Indian government’s “cold response” to Israel’s aggression in Gaza and demanded that India cut all ties with the Israeli regime.

In Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir, anti-Israel demonstrators condemned Tel Aviv’s "barbaric aggression in Gaza." They shouted “Down with Israel” and “Soldiers of Gaza, We Are With You” and burned Israeli flags.

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik accused the United States and the European Union of directly or indirectly giving the Israelis the license to kill humans in Palestine.

“Any human who looks at the photographs of the infants killed by the Israeli terrorists cannot stop his eyes from shedding tears,” he said.

In Karachi, hundreds of people staged a demonstration, demanding an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression and pledging solidarity with the Palestinians.

"The whole world is opposing Israeli attacks (on Gaza), but America is the bully that supports Israel, pats it on the back, encourages it and says that 'you reserve the right of your defense.' Defense from whom? Six-month old Palestinian infants, women, elderly people, sick who... are in their homes, in the hospitals and the ones who are victims of Israeli cruelty? Are they terrorists?" asked Naveed Qamar, the chief of the Karachi branch of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD).

On Sunday, similar demonstrations were held in Egypt, Lebanon, the US, Canada, and several other countries.

Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and artillery fire have left at least 109 Palestinians dead and over 900 others injured since November 14. Some of the injured are in critical condition.

Israel has conducted more than 1,350 aerial and sea attacks against the Gaza Strip since November 14.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.– www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Thagribnews

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Demonstrators have taken to the streets across the globe to protest against the Israeli regime's relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

On Monday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi to protest against the Israeli regime's relentless bombing campaign in Gaza and to voice support for the Palestinians in the besieged coastal territory.

“Indian people are not going to sit down and watch. Israel is committing war crimes and the world must stop it,” said one protester.

The demonstrators criticized the Indian government’s “cold response” to Israel’s aggression in Gaza and demanded that India cut all ties with the Israeli regime.

In Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir, anti-Israel demonstrators condemned Tel Aviv’s "barbaric aggression in Gaza." They shouted “Down with Israel” and “Soldiers of Gaza, We Are With You” and burned Israeli flags.

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik accused the United States and the European Union of directly or indirectly giving the Israelis the license to kill humans in Palestine.

“Any human who looks at the photographs of the infants killed by the Israeli terrorists cannot stop his eyes from shedding tears,” he said.

In Karachi, hundreds of people staged a demonstration, demanding an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression and pledging solidarity with the Palestinians.

"The whole world is opposing Israeli attacks (on Gaza), but America is the bully that supports Israel, pats it on the back, encourages it and says that 'you reserve the right of your defense.' Defense from whom? Six-month old Palestinian infants, women, elderly people, sick who... are in their homes, in the hospitals and the ones who are victims of Israeli cruelty? Are they terrorists?" asked Naveed Qamar, the chief of the Karachi branch of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD).

On Sunday, similar demonstrations were held in Egypt, Lebanon, the US, Canada, and several other countris.

Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and artillery fire have left at least 109 Palestinians dead and over 900 others injured since November 14. Some of the injured are in critical condition.

Israel has conducted more than 1,350 aerial and sea attacks against the Gaza Strip since November 14.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.-www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Russia has strongly condemned the latest wave of Israel's aerial attacks on Gaza Strip, which has killed over a dozen Palestinians in the besieged territory.

"Further escalation of violence would be impermissible," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters in Moscow on Thursday.

“The disproportionate strikes in Gaza Strip are totally unacceptable, especially when there are civilian casualties," he added.

"Moscow is deeply concerned with what is going on in Gaza Strip and calls for the bloodshed to end," Lukashevich noted.

The Kremlin also said on Thursday that President Vladimir Putin was following the Gaza situation, and was worried about the violence there.

"President Putin receives online information from all our relevant services in charge of these and, of course, he is concerned with it," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The new wave of Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has claimed at least 17 lives since Wednesday. Ahmed al-Ja'abari, the popular and influential head of the Hamas military wing, the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, was assassinated in an Israeli attack on his car on Wednesday.

The Israeli military frequently carries out airstrikes and other attacks on Gaza Strip, saying the actions are being conducted for defensive purposes. However, in violation of international law disproportionate force is always used and civilians are often killed or injured.

Gaza has been blockaded since 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.— www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Press TV

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - An Afghan lawmaker has censured the Unites States for its inconsistent policy in dealing with the war-torn country, accusing Washington of having contact with reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

Ramazan Bashar Doost said in an interview with Afghanpaper.com on Saturday that while the US has offered a reward of $25 million for information leading to the arrest of Mullah Omar, it has been holding direct talks with his representatives in Qatar for the past seven months.

The official further stated that although the US provides Afghan police with financial aid to fight against Taliban militants, it funds the militant group to slay Afghan police forces.

The lawmaker also accused Washington of funding Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) in a bid to assist the Taliban militant group in fighting against Afghanistan.

After more than a decade of war, Washington has repeatedly been blamed for failing to keep its promises of bringing peace and security to Afghanistan.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.

The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but years into the invasion, insecurity is rising across the country despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops in Afghanistan.— www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem has condemned “blatant” interferences by the West and its allies in the internal affairs of his country.

During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Muallem slammed certain countries for their role in the “global terrorism campaign” in Syria by supporting religious extremism and armed groups.

“Instead of seeking to contribute to the settlement of regional and international disputes by peaceful means, some well-known countries continue to pursue new colonial policies based on political hypocrisy in dealing with these crises.”

The foreign minister further accused Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and France of actively funding, training, arming and harboring terrorist groups fighting against the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

He added that some UN member states fail to condemn such terrorist bombings in Syria, “because some countries support such acts”.

“These states also turn a blind eye to the activities of terrorist groups crossing their borders, while others provide active material and logistic support from their territories,” he said.

The Syrian minister accused certain powers of interfering in domestic affairs under the pretext of humanitarian intervention, imposing “unilateral economic sanctions that lack moral and legal basis”.

Muallem said that his country had implemented reforms and reiterated his country’s commitment to the UN’s 6-point peace plan initially proposed by Kofi Annan.

He also announced his country’s readiness to hold talks with legitimate opposition groups.

The foreign minister further called on insurgents to end bloodshed across the country and asked refugees to return to Syria.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 and many people, including a large number of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus has repeatedly said that the chaos in the country is being orchestrated from outside, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed groups fighting against the Syrian government are foreign nationals.— www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — UN leader Ban Ki-moon on Thursday condemned the “hateful” anti-Islam film that he said was deliberately intended to incite bigotry.

Ban is “deeply disturbed” by the eruption of deadly anti-US violence in Libya and other Middle East countries caused by the film which mocks Islam, a UN spokeswoman Vannina Maestracci said.

“Nothing justifies such killings and attacks. He condemns the hateful film that appears to have been deliberately designed to sow bigotry and bloodshed,” the spokeswoman added.

“At this time of rising tensions, the secretary general calls for calm and restraint, and stresses the need for dialogue, mutual respect and understanding.”

The film sparked an attack in which the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in the Libyan city of Benghazi, clashes in Yemen in which four people were killed when demonstrators tried to storm the US embassy and violent protests outside the US embassy in Cairo.

The film denigrating the Prophet Mohammed was promoted by evangelical and Coptic Christians living in the United States. The suspected producer is a Coptic Christian living in California.—www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Taghribnews