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A report by Raw Story’s John Byrne notes that despite President Obama’s pledge with withdraw troops from Iraq, the overall force size is actually increasing in recent months, as thousands of new private contractors are being brought in.

The Pentagon is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the new contractors, mostly mercenaries from Uganda and Kenya, and its estimates involve adding significantly more contractors at the bases to cover for the US pullout. In one example, 900 contractors are to replace 400 soldiers.

At the forefront of Indian theatre today, Feroz Abbas Khan is recognized as much for exploring new forms, as for bringing Hindi theatre, mainstream recognition. In a career spanning more than two decades, he has directed some of India’s finest acting talent, both from stage and cinema.

For his directorial debut Gandhi, My Father; Feroz has bagged two National Awards for Best Screenplay & Best Film. In an exclusive chat with Shashank Chouhan of Spicezee.com, Feroz reveals his obsession with Gandhi and his jump from theatre to films.

Five women, dressed in a burkha gather once every fortnight in a dark, dank room sharing parenting tips — and discussing the nuances of criminal and anti-terror laws.

Here in their little world in this north Maharashtra town of dying powerlooms, they provide each other the hope and support needed to deal with the isolation and stigma of being seen as a terrorist’s wife.

This all-women’s club is made up of the wives of nine suspects arrested for the September 8, 2006 blasts that rocked the textile town of Malegaon.

The lack of subtlety in Israel’s policy of aggression and land theft towards the Palestinians can only be attributed to our gift of silence, one for which the Israelis’ are appreciative and fully exploitive of.

AFP -Agence France-Presse- reported last Monday that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had sent a letter to the family of Israeli captive Gilad Shalit on the occasion of the soldier’s twenty-third birthday which coincided late last month.

New Delhi, Septembe 07: Chinese troops are challenging India again. Reports say Chinese troops entered the international border in Ladakh and painted “China” in Cantonese on boulders and rocks in Indian territory.

Indian border patrol found on July 3 that Chinese troops had entered nearly 1.5 km into Indian territory near Mount Gya, which is recognised as international border by both countries.

What should a woman do if a knife wielding man demands her mobile phone when she is alone? Surprise him by offering it to him. Or fling it as far as away. As he runs for the phone, you run in the opposite direction.

Remember you can buy another phone. But you have only one life to live.

Common sense is a powerful weapon that can fell any opponent. It helps you to come out of potentially dangerous arenas without a fight.

Unfortunately, this lesson is not imparted to most women in India. Naturally few use it when they are faced with piquant situations.

In some countries, Teachers’ Days are intended to be special days for the appreciation of teachers. Some of them are holidays while others are celebrated during working days.

CHARMINAR MEANING “Masjid of the Four Minarets” and “Four Towers”is the most famous and important monument in the city of Hyderabad, capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The great monument is a synonym for Hyderabad and the foundation around which the glory and history of the city has developed. To imagine this 400-year-old city without Charminar is to imagine New York without the Statue of Liberty or Moscow without the Kremlin. Many Westerners refer to Charminar as the Arc de Triomphe of the East.

History

A great tragedy, an irreparable loss, a deep felt vacuum has struck the state of Andhra Pradesh and its near 100 million people in a still incredible and totally unexpected fatal blow of fate which has snatched away the much loved and esteemed and popular Chief Minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh. He seemed to have everything going smoothly for him for the next five years. It is still hard to come to terms with the sudden cruel joke of destiny in snatching away such a dynamic and charismatic and visionary of a leader. Dr. YS RajaShekhara Reddy is no more.

The tragic death of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy, who was on his way to launch yet another mass contact programme when the helicopter carrying him crashed in the dense Nallamalla forests, has come as a major shock to the entire nation.

The nation has for sure lost a great leader, who was known for his administrative skills, his ability to feel the nerves of the masse and his strong conviction to transform Andhra Pradesh into a developed and progressive state.

Swedish photojournalist Donald Boström has really infuriated the Israelis and its supporters. On August 17, Sweden’s most widely circulated newspaper, Aftonbaldet, carried an article by Boström entitled ‘Our sons plundered for their organs.’

It is a measure of France’s confusion about Islam and its own Muslim citizens that in the political furor here over “banning the burqa,” as the argument goes, the garment at issue is not really the burqa at all, but the niqab.

A burqa is the all-enveloping cloak, often blue, with a woven grill over the eyes, that many Afghan women wear, and it is almost never seen in France. The niqab, often black, leaves the eyes uncovered.

Our Prophet Mohammed , Salla Allahu Wa Sallam, after enlightening us with the way of Islam, before departing from this mortal world left behind for us two things to draw strength , succor and sustenance from and to rely and rally around for all the guidance and light and power – Al-Quran, the Ultimate Word and Testament of God and his Life the Uswa-e Husna- The NOBLE MODEL.

Itikaf is a form of worship. It is formed by staying in a Mosque for a certain time. It is Ehtiyat that one should stay with the intention to worship Allah by praying formal or informal prayers although prayer is not a condition therein.

The time for this form of worship could be anytime when one is allowed to fast. The best time is the month of Ramadan, especially, the last ten days.

Conditions:

Riyadh, August 30: Much of the world knows Petra, the ancient ruin in modern-day Jordan that is celebrated in poetry as “the rose-red city, ‘half as old as time,'” and which provided the climactic backdrop for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

But far fewer know Madain Saleh, a similarly spectacular treasure built by the same civilization, the Nabateans.

That’s because it’s in Saudi Arabia, where conservatives are deeply hostile to pagan, Jewish and Christian sites that predate the founding of Islam in the 7th century.

Dear Non Resident Hyderabadis, Here on the seventh day of Ramzan , the pious month is in full swing. The whole of Hyderabad or for that matter the region which was literally panting and praying for rains in vain, at last had the first good showers with the starting of Ramzan. Surely it was like a Ramzan gift from Allah to one and all. Ramzan as usual with we Hyderabadis is being observed with all solemnity and piety. Unlike other days all our Mosques are full all the five times . In most of the houses the TV sets have been switched off for a month.

The Dove Outreach Center of Gainsville, Florida, instructed its followers to wear T-shirts that read “Islam is of the Devil.” Yes, you read right. The group that seeks to alienate us poor Satanists through an offensive and even violent medium is called the Dove Outreach Center.

This “Church” has no doubt achieved one of its aims, that is, publicity, after a number of schoolchildren were sent home for wearing the shirts and the issue began to get the attention of the press.

A Dutch court placed a 13-year-old girl into temporary custody on Friday after her parents insisted on supporting her bid to become the youngest person to sail around the world solo. Laura Dekker, an avid sailor who was reportedly born on a yacht during her parents’ own round-the-world trip, told Dutch television before the court handed down its decision that she simply wanted to “learn about the world and to live freely.”

Near Relatives have the first right on Your Zakath.Moulana Syed Moizuddin Ashrafi’s Lecture

Mohammed Rasullaha explained the importance of maintaining good relations with your relatives and emphasized good and cordial relations with our relatives.Over looking the near relatives in giving of Zakath is against Shariat.

Mr. L Ravi Chander, Advocate investigating the arrests and allegations of the cases filed against the rounded up Muslim youth immediately after the Makkah Masjid blasts has been meted out a raw deal .

He is simply being denied his remuneration though he was formally and officially hired by the A.P Minorities commission.

No fees or rumenaration for investigating and recording the pleas and complaints of the parents of the innocent Muslim youth arrested and thrown in cell- seems to be the policy of the State Government.

Indeed these are hard and tough times for our Millat all over the world. May Allah O Tallah have mercy on us all.

Right from Individual level to Societal , State and National to International we are taking a beating at the hands of the enemies of Islam. We have become an easy prey and scapegoats for all that is going wrong around.

The United Nations has warned that parts of southern Sudan could be in pre-famine conditions, with 1.3 million people across the country in need of food aid.

The number of people needing assistance has surged since the beginning of the year due to inter-tribal conflict, poor rains and the high cost of food commodities in the region.

You could call me a ‘matchmaker,’ said Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, from Brooklyn, USA, in a secret recording with an FBI-agent whom he believed to be a client. Ten days later, at the end of July this year, Rosenbaum was arrested and a vast, Sopranos-like, imbroglio of money-laundering and illegal organ-trade was revealed. Rosenbaum’s matchmaking had nothing to do with romance. It was all about buying and selling kidneys from Israel on the black market. Rosenbaum says that he buys the kidneys for $10,000, from poor people.

In fact, Pakistan’s jihadi politics has nothing to do with India Partition. Partition was the result of British imperialist rulers’ “divide and rule policy.” It is unfortunate that some Indian intellectuals living in the United States provide the Western world distorted facts with the sole ambition of demeaning Islam, Muslims and Muslim countries. We have enough problems already regarding misrepresentation of Islam. Such distorted explanation of “jihadi politics” in the Muslim countries only strengthens the misconception that Islam is a religion of violence.

The month of Ramadan has arrived again, the month of fasting and prayer. It is the month that provides an opportunity for forgiveness from Allah and emancipation from our sins. It is the month for performing good deeds and giving in charity. It is the month when the gates of the heavens are opened and the rewards for our deeds are magnified many times over. It is the month wherein prayers are answered and the status of the worshipper is elevated. It is the month wherein sins are forgiven.