Titles:

• Euro debt crisis could destabilise world economy, says Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
• President Obama Leaves "All Options" Open In Response To Iran
• Kazakhstan tightens law against Islamic prayers
• Report: NATO wins in Afghanistan exaggerated

Details:

Euro debt crisis could destabilise world economy, says Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday warned that Europe's debt crisis could be "a destabilising factor" for the world as a whole in a speech to parliament in which he rejected calls to resign. "The economic crisis will improve only when Europe can show that it can take a decisive step towards political unity, towards coordinating economic policy, defence policy, foreign policy," Berlusconi told centre-right lawmakers. "As long as we remain a large economic body with a small political head, the economic crisis risks continuing with no solution and with the added danger that Europe becomes a destabilising factor for the world economy," he said. "The heart of the European banking system is being attacked by speculation. The markets are volatile... which undermines the stability of the euro," he said. He also cautioned against further political uncertainty in Italy, saying that his government was the best guarantor of stability in tough economic times. Berlusconi said the euro was weakened from its inception by the fact that there is no mechanism for coordinating budget policies or issuing common European bonds.

President Obama Leaves "All Options" Open In Response To Iran

Obama told the press this week that he had "laid out a very specific set of facts." Obama said, "what we know is that an individual of Iranian-American descent was involved in a plot to assassinate the ambassador to the United States from Saudi Arabia. We also know that he had direct links, was paid by and directed by individuals in the Iranian government. Now those facts are there for all to see." Obama also said that as the U.S. formulates a response to Iran, that the U.S. does not "take any options off the table." However, the initial response would be a legal and diplomatic one-starting with a prosecution of those individuals involved in the plot and pressing forward with additional sanctions on elements of Iran's government. The Treasury Department has already moved to restrict the finances of organizations and firms linked to the Iranian government. "What you're gonna see is folks throughout the Middle East region questioning their ability to work effectively with Iran," the president predicted. Reports have surfaced that the president was initially briefed on the threat in June and a months-long investigation resulted in arrests this week.

Kazakhstan tightens law against Islamic prayers

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a tough religion law Thursday including a ban on prayer rooms in state buildings, aimed at stamping out Islamist militancy but criticized by Kazakhstan's top Muslim cleric and the West. Nazarbayev, 71, has ruled Kazakhstan for more than 20 years as a secularist autocrat. Until this year, the 70 percent Muslim country largely avoided the Islamist violence seen in other central Asian ex-Soviet states like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. "The new law ... more clearly defines the rights and duties of religious organizations and outlines the role of the state in strengthening the religious tolerance of our society," Nazarbayev said Thursday during a visit to Shymkent, near the border with Uzbekistan where radical Islam is on the rise. "Peace and harmony in our multiethnic home are Kazakhstan's most valuable patrimony," he said. The comments were reported on his official website. The law, swiftly approved by the compliant legislature, has caused heated debate. Article 7 bans prayer rooms in all state institutions. Kazakhstan's Supreme Mufti, Absattar Derbisali, said this could anger pious Muslims and spur extremism. Among recent measures to fight Islamist militancy, Kazakhstan temporarily blocked access to a number of foreign Internet sites in August after a court ruled they were propagating terrorism and inciting religious hatred.

Report: NATO wins in Afghanistan exaggerated

The US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan may be exaggerating successes of raids designed to kill or capture insurgent leaders, a flagship strategy in the 10-year war, a report warned Thursday. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) hails the raids as one of the most effective tactics against the insurgency, but the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) says data from December 2009 to September 2011 is inconsistent. "The lack of transparency is particularly apparent in the case of the insurgent ?leaders? that were reportedly being killed and captured; there is no way to properly evaluate these claims," said the AAN report on its website. Two days ago, the military said the number of Taliban attacks had declined for the first time and that the Taliban has failed in recent months to seize back territory lost in US-led offensives in the south. Basing its data on 3,771 press releases announcing the deaths of at least 3,873 people and the detentions of another 7,146, AAN said ISAF often interchanges the terms "facilitator" and "leader" without explaining why. It also said statistics in press releases did not tally with more grandiose figures released separately by ISAF to media outlets. Although it was unclear to what extent this was intentional, "it should make policy-makers and analysts evaluating ISAF?s progress think twice about accepting these body-count figures without more serious scrutiny," AAN said. On September 3, an ISAF release said security forces had captured or killed more than 40 Al-Qaeda insurgents in eastern Afghanistan this year. But a tally of previous releases add up to 22 killed and 10 captured, many of which, AAN points out, are simply noted as having had "suspected ties". AAN concedes that the press releases themselves do not represent a complete figure, given that there may have been unreported operations, and more deaths and detentions per incident than counted.

Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia pose threat to US: Panetta

Addressing the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, US Secretary for Defence Leon Panetta said that terrorists in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia pose a threat to the United States. At a hearing on the future of national defence and the US military 10 years after 9/11, the focus of the discussion centred largely on defence budget cuts. The hearing was disrupted in the first 15 minutes by anti-war protestors, who raised slogans against the war, and were escorted out by the police. Secretary of Defence Panetta said that their focus was that Afghanistan should not become a safe haven for al Qaeda again. He added that if the United States left Afghanistan in a hurry, and Afghanistan became a base for al Qaeda, the world would question the US. Members of the committee questioned Secretary Panetta as to why the US was spending billions in wars when the US was facing a fiscal deficit and an economic crisis at home. Rep Chellie Pingree questioned why the United States was spending $120 billion a year on the wars.

 As massively reported, a suicide bombing exploded at the Bethel Church on the Sunday of September 25 around 11 pm. The explosion caused tens of Jemaat injuries and one death, suspected as the bomber.

Titles:

• Most Germans want Deutsche mark back, poll shows
• Egypt's ruling generals accused of buying time to stay in power
• Syria sanctions: ‘outraged' US seeks fresh resolution after double veto blow
• Pakistan warns Afghanistan after pact with India

Details:

Most Germans want Deutsche mark back, poll shows

More than half of all Germans would like to bring back the Deutsche mark, although the number has remained stable even as the euro zone debt crisis escalated in the last year, a survey released on Wednesday showed. A Forsa poll conducted for Stern magazine said that 54 percent of Germans favour a return of their former currency, an identical figure to a poll taken in May 2010, said Forsa. Chancellor Angela Merkel insists she will defend the euro despite spiralling debt problems in countries such as Greece which have tipped the 17-member currency bloc into a crisis. Most Germans are against granting further aid to Greece. The Deutsche mark is a symbol of West German stability and economic strength in the decades after World War Two and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl struggled to convince the public of the benefits of the euro in the 1990s before it was introduced. Oddly enough, in backdrop of this poll several rumours persist that the German government has already ordered the printers to start printing the Deutsche mark.

For some time now the German political class has been contemplating about leaving the euro. How ironic it is that the euro once conceived as a means of controlling Germany's economic might has now put Germany in pole position i.e. Germany can leave the euro and still be able to dominate Europe in economic terms  for the foreseeable future. And what is even more surprising is that Germany will be able to do this without depending on her military as she  did prior to the two world wars.

Egypt's ruling generals accused of buying time to stay in power

Egypt's ruling military generals have unveiled plans that could see them retain power for another 18 months, increasing fears that the country's democratic transition process is under threat. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) took control of Egypt after the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak in February, and initially promised to return to their barracks within six months. But since then the "roadmap" to an elected, civilian government has been beset by delays and controversies, fuelling speculation that the army could be buying time in an attempt to shoehorn one of their own senior commanders into the presidency. This week Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi denied that any candidates would emerge from the country's powerful military establishment. "These are only rumours and we shouldn't waste time talking about rumours," said Egypt's current de facto ruler, who provoked a frenzy of media coverage when he made an unprecedented appearance in civilian clothing on a Cairo street recently - a move many analysts described as a carefully orchestrated political stunt. "The armed forces have no interest in staying in power for a long time," he claimed on Thursday. However, he added, "we will not leave Egypt until we have fulfilled all we promised and do our duty towards the people."

It is now all too obvious that  the Egyptian uprising has not produced a regime change only a change in face. The same people(the army) who in the 1952 revolution cemented American hegemony in Egypt are  working tirelessly to imprison for good the Egyptian people to  America's rule. The only salvation for the Egyptian people is to work for the re-establishment of the Caliphate. Only the caliphate will be able to provide peace and justice, and free Egypt from America's hegemony for good.

Syria sanctions: ‘outraged' US seeks fresh resolution after double veto blow

The UN security council is expected to seek a fresh resolution on Syria after Russia and China on Tuesday night vetoed a draft that threatened sanctions, a security council source said. The veto by Russia, which was supported by China, provoked the biggest verbal explosion from the US at the UN for years, with its ambassador Susan Rice expressing "outrage" over the move by Moscow and Beijing. Rice also walked out of the security council, the first such demonstration in recent years. While walkouts are common at the UN general assembly, they are rare in the security council. The US, France and Britain are planning to bring a new resolution at the first opportunity. The security council source said that similar vetoes in the past had killed off attempts to intervene in crises ranging from Zimbabwe to Georgia, but this time it was different.

Just because Russia and China have vetoed Syrian sanctions, Muslims should avoid turning blindly to them for help. All the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are actively persecuting Muslims all over the world. The crimes of US, France and Britain are well known. Equally, Russia's brutal suppression of Muslims in Chechnya and Dagestan, and China's repression of Muslims in East Turkistan undermine their false gestures of assistance.

Pakistan warns Afghanistan after pact with India

Pakistan is warning Afghanistan to behave responsibly in the wake of Kabul's new strategic pact with India, Islamabad's archenemy. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua said on Thursday that Pakistan expects Afghanistan to demonstrate maturity. Janjua says Pakistan seeks friendly ties with Afghanistan, rooted in common history, culture and tradition. She says this is no time for "point-scoring, playing politics or grandstanding." Afghanistan and India signed the agreement on Tuesday, the first of its kind for Kabul with any country. It promptly sparked new concern in Pakistan over India's influence in Afghanistan. Pakistan is sandwiched between the two countries, with Afghanistan to its west and India to its east.

What does the mad Pakistani leadership expect. After colluding with America to install Karzai into power from his home in Quetta, Pakistan, the inapt Pakistani leadership is now complaining. Because of their negligence  Pakistan lost $100 billion, spilt the blood of thousands of innocent Muslims, and lost Afghanistan which served as its strategic depth and was a deterrent to India.  Most of all, the civilian and military leadership has strengthened  America's and India's grip over the whole region.

During September, people were shocked by the numerous reports of rape cases followed by robbery and even murder in public transportation stations throughout Jakarta. The constant media coverage of sex crimes including televised debates about possible causes and solutions have encouraged similar incidents throughout other major cities in Indonesia. In 2011, forty rape cases have been reported in Jakarta and more than 3700 reported incidents across Indonesia. However it is commonly known that more incidents go unreported, and from day to day the number is increasing.

The increase of sex crimes is comparable to many western capitalist countries like Britain and the United States. A possibility of 78 incidents of rape occur every hour or 683,280 each year. It's a horrible phenomenon that paints a portrait of a damaged society.

Capitalism, the system practiced in this country, is the instigator for the emergence of societal damage including fertilizing sex crimes. Its capitalist economic system has led to rampant poverty; it also encourages women to leave their homes to work late hours at night. This system also teaches people to justify any means to achieve material things. The capitalist social system allows women to expose their bodies becoming an object of sexual exploitation. Worst of all, the state does not position itself as a servant, protector, or responsible agent for its people. Therefore, it's difficult to expect any guarantee by the state to provide adequate and safe means of transportation to protect the honor of women. It is also understandable if the public loses trust in the government because the perpetrators were not subjected to any criminal sanctions due to the corrupt judiciary.

In response to the recently revealed rampant cases of rape, Muslimah Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia states:

1. The widespread cases of sex crimes only occur in societies which apply and allow the Capitalist ideology of freedom (liberalism) to expand rampantly. These crimes will be stopped through the implementation of the Islamic system, the Khilafah "Caliphate" Islamiyah. The Islamic economic system, Islamic social system and the Islamic system of sanctions will be implemented so as to prevent various acts of criminality including sex crimes.

2. The Islamic system will provide education for women to recognize how Islam safe-guards their honor and will place sanctions on those who publicly expose their bodies. It would impose strict penalties on perpetrators of rape based on Nidzam Uqubat fi al-Islam (Islamic system of sanctions). Rape accompanied by the threat of a weapon is convicted as a robber. Meanwhile, the penalty for robbers has been mentioned by Allah (swt):

"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;" (Surah Al Maidah: 33)

3. Only Islam and the implementation of the Islamic Sharia are able to provide assurance to the needs of women. Protection and the fulfillment of women's needs by the state have been widely proven throughout the history of Islamic government. Throughout the history of Islamic government, women were protected and their needs were fulfilled by the State. An example of this during the Prophet Muhammad's (saw) time occurred when a Muslim woman was in the market of Bani Qainuqa; a Jew untied her clothes exposing her body while she was standing. Others Jews gathered around her laughing. The woman screamed. Then one of the Sahabah came to her help and immediately killed the culprit. As a result, the Jews killed him. When this news came to the Prophet Muhammad (saw). He immediately gathered his army. The Prophet's troops besieged them in 15 days until Bani Qainuqa surrendered due to their fear.

It is time to return the glory to human life through an earnest struggle for the Islamic Khilafah "Caliphate" system so that all forms of criminality which damage people could soon be stopped.

Iffah Ainur Rochmah
Spokewoman for the Women of Hizbut Tahrir- Indonesia
Hp: 08123037573
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.