Belgian court suspends headscarf ban in Flanders

Brussels - A top Belgian court on Thursday suspended a ban on wearing the Islamic headscarf and other religious symbols in schools in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders, arguing that it was not clear that the right body had imposed it. The Flanders regional education council imposed the ban on September 11, 2009, after teachers argued that some Muslim families were forcing girls to wear the headscarf against their will.

But the Council of State ordered the ban to be suspended while it pondered whether the education council had the right to impose a ban, rather than the Flemish parliament, which has legislative power in the province.

"Following a request from a Muslim schoolgirl, the Council of State orders ... the suspension of the execution of this (ban) and forwards a question to the Constitutional Court," a press release from the council stated.

The Constitutional Court should judge "if the ban can in fact be imposed without the intervention of the legislature," which in this case is the Flemish parliament, the council's statement read.

Belgium's complex constitution separates powers between the federal government and parliament, based in Brussels, and the governments and parliaments of the country's regions, Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/314761,belgian-court-suspends-headscarf-ban-in-flanders.html.

Clinton criticizes Moscow over Iranian nuclear reactor

Moscow - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Thursday Moscow's plans for the start-up of a Russian- built nuclear power reactor in Iran. Clinton, in Moscow for talks with the Russian leadership and for Friday's meeting of the Mideast Quartet, was reacting quickly to a disclosure made by earlier in the day about aims for a summer start- up of the plant in Bushehr.

According to the Itar-Tass agence, after her talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Clinton said that until Tehran had proven the peaceful aims of its nuclear program, then it was "premature" to push ahead with projects in Iran.

"When Iran has reassured the world or has changed its behavior due to international sanctions, then it can purse the peaceful and civilian use of nuclear energy," she said.

Lavrov for his part said the success of the Bushehr facility was extremely important in pushing Tehran towards close cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Earlier Thursday, during a visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a Russian nuclear plant at Volgodonsk, some 1,200 kilometers south of the capital, officials disclosed plans for the Russian-built plant in Bushehr to be put on stream in July.

The completion of the Bushehr facility has been delayed many years amid differences between Moscow and Tehran. Iran alleges that the delays were due to political pressures, while Russia has insisted that the cause was due to technical problems.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/314778,clinton-criticises-moscow-over-iranian-nuclear-reactor.html.

Turkey may deport illegal Armenian immigrants

Turkey's prime minister has threatened to expel 100,000 illegal Armenian immigrants from his country, as the row over the World War I massacre of Armenians intensifies.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that action could be taken if foreign parliaments followed US suit by recognizing the massacre of Armenians by the Ottomans as genocide.

“In my country there are 170,000 Armenians; 70,000 of them are citizens. We are turning a blind eye to the remaining 100,000,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the BBC Turkish service late on Tuesday while on a visit to London.

“So, what am I going to do tomorrow? I may tell these 100,000 to go back to their country, if it becomes necessary,” he added.

Turkey recalled its ambassadors to Washington and Stockholm earlier this month after US and Swedish lawmakers passed votes branding the killing of Armenians as genocide.

Ankara reacted to the move by warning that the decision could hurt a fragile effort to reconcile with Armenia after a century of hostility.

In the interview, Erdogan said the Armenian diaspora has pushed the resolutions in the United States and Sweden and called on Armenia and other foreign governments to avoid being swayed by their lobbying.

Erdogan's Tuesday comments, however, did not go down well in Yerevan, where the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarksyan described them as a “political statement” that could not help improve relations between the two neighboring states.

“I agree with the assessment that when the Turkish prime minister allows himself to make such statements, the events of 1915 immediately return to our memory,” he added.

Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia signed historic accords last year to establish diplomatic ties and open their border, thanks to Erdogan's determination to champion a policy of reconciliation with Armenia in spite of domestic objection.

Analysts believe the Turkish prime minister's latest outburst probably has more to do with domestic political pressure than foreign policy, as he sees himself being accused of losing the genocide dispute.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121119§ionid=351020204.

Iran calls for firm action against Israeli provocations

Iran has called on the Islamic World to stop Israel's use of force against Palestinian protesters enraged by Israeli provocations in East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki made the request by forwarding official letters to Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC); Amr Moussa, the Arab League Secretary-General, plus Walid al-Muallem, Ali al-Shami, Nasser Judeh and Marty Natalegawa, the respective foreign ministers of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Indonesia.

On March 15, Israel reopened the Hurva Synagogue, as part of what Tel Aviv's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed as Israel's "heritage." The Hurva Synagogue is a ruined synagogue on Hurva Square in al-Quds.

The move has sparked protests by Palestinians who took to the streets in the holy city and elsewhere in the West Bank to protest against the move, which is seen as a threat to the sanctity of the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is Islam's third holiest place.

Israeli occupation forces fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse thousands of angry Palestinians.

Speaking today, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that "serious measures" were needed to stop Israel's inhumane and destructive acts at the holy site.

Mottaki said that the continued silence and inaction of Muslim and Arab countries would further embolden Israel in advancing its plans.

In his letter to Ihsanoglu, Iran's foreign minister called on the OIC to hold an emergency meeting on the issue.

He also suggested that Lebanon, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, propose an initiative at the Council to stop Israel's destructive measures.

Despite Israeli claim that there is no political motive behind the move, the reopening of the synagogue is widely regarded in the Muslim world as part of Tel Aviv's ploy to Judaize al-Quds.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121117§ionid=351020101.

Archeologists learn 'ancient synagogue' was 'Arab palace'

Ruins in northern Israel long thought to be of an 'ancient synagogue' have now been identified as the remains of a 7th Century palace built by Arab caliphs.

The study by archeologists show the place was used by the Umayyad caliphs, archaeologists said on March 16.

Arab historians have long described the site on the shores of the Sea of Galilee as forming a part of the al-Sinnabra Palace whose precise location had long been unknown.

Archeologists mistakenly identified the palace as a synagogue in the 1950s because of a carving of a menorah - a seven-branched candelabrum - on a stone.

However, the latest excavations in the site have confirmed it as a palace where the Umayyad rulers would spend the winter season. The Umayyads were the first Muslim dynasty and ruled from 661 to 750 CE.

Among the caliphs who used the palace was Abd al-Malik, who ruled from 685-705 CE and initiated the construction of the Dome of the Rock at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound which is Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121114§ionid=351020202.

Nigeria's acting president dissolves cabinet

Thu Mar 18, 2010

In a surprise move, Nigeria's acting president Goodluck Jonathan dissolves the cabinet one month after he took over executive powers in the African state.

The decision, which seems to be aimed at consolidating Jonathan's authority, has left the country's civil servants in charge of the cabinet until new ministers are selected.

"He did not give us any reason for the dissolution of the cabinet. Permanent secretaries will take charge of the ministries from tomorrow," outgoing Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters after a lengthy cabinet meeting.

This is Jonathan's first major act since he became the sole administrator of the country after Nigeria's ailing president Umaru Yar'Adua was deemed unable to discharge his duties due to health problems.

The dissolution of the cabinet comes amid reports of violence in the "Middle Belt" between its mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south, which has led to the killing of 400 people.

The 52-year-old acting president has been under pressure to move quickly and decisively in order to maintain security, fight corruption and organize transparent elections, since the country has a history of electoral fraud and violence.

Jonathan has vowed to hold a peaceful presidential poll in 2011 in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/121112.html.

Oldest temple in the world found in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey, March 17 (UPI) -- Archaeologists say a temple being excavated in southeastern Turkey is 12,000 years old and is likely the oldest temple ever uncovered.

The site was first identified in 1986 when a farmer tilling his field in Sanliurfa found a statuette in the soil, the Radikal newspaper reported Wednesday.

Since then, archaeologists have uncovered the foundation of the temple built in the Neolithic Age along with carvings of pigs, foxes, snakes, fawns and headless humans.

Officials with the Harran University Archaeology Department have yet to identify the culture that built the temple or their belief system, the newspaper said.

German teams were the first to excavate beginning in 1995, but the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry placed the site on its first-degree protection list in 2005, taking control of the research.

Prior to its discovery, the world's oldest known temple was in Malta, dating from 5,000 B.C.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/03/17/Oldest-temple-in-the-world-found-in-Turkey/UPI-74761268856609/.