ABRACADABRA

Adult-breastfeeding fatwa

Riyadh: A cleric’s endorsement of breastfeeding for grown men and another’s claim that music is not un-Islamic have opened up a pitched battle in Saudi Arabia over who can issue fatwas, or Islamic religious edicts. Hardline and progressive religious scholars, judges and clerics have taken the fight public in what some describe as outright "chaos" in the once ivory-tower world of setting the rules that govern much of life in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom. Much of the fight in the past week has focused on a fatwa endorsing music issued by Adel al-Kalbani, a Riyadh cleric famed as the first black imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. Kalbani, popular for his soulful baritone delivery of Koranic readings, said he found nothing in Islamic scripture that makes music haram, or forbidden. But, aside from some folk music, public music performance is banned in Saudi Arabia, and conservatives say it is haram even in the home. Also in recent weeks, a much more senior cleric, Sheikh Abdul Mohsen al-Obeikan, raised hackles with two of his opinions, both of which could be considered fatwas. First, he endorsed the idea that a grown man could be considered as a son of a woman if she breast-feeds him. The issue, based on an ancient story from Islmic texts and source of a furore last year in Egypt, is seen by some as a way of getting around the Saudi religious ban on mixing by unrelated men and women. It brought ridicule and condemnation from women activists and Saudi critics around the world.

Streaker stuns UK tube commuters

London: A woman in Britain has left many rush-hour commuters in a state of shock when she dramatically stripped off and leapt naked into a packed Tube train. The striptease took place at the height of the morning rush at the Elephant and Castle terminal, and commuters watched in disbelief as the young woman peeled off her raincoat before taking off her knickers and bra on a crowded platform. "I couldn’t believe my eyes when suddenly she threw off her garments and ran stark naked along the platform," The Scotsman’ quoted a commuter as saying.
Disbelieving travellers picked up the skimpy garments she left in her wake, but before they could reunite her with her clothes, she bounded on to a waiting Tube train. The woman was eventually escorted off the platform by Transport for London staff.

Swedish feminists burn $13,000 in salary protest

A Swedish feminist party has burnt 100,000 Swedish Kronor (USD 13,000) at barbecue in a protest against unequal pay for men and women.
The party, Feminist Initiative, says the money set ablaze on the Swedish island of Gotland represents the amount of money the country’s women miss out on every minute in comparison to men.
Party leader Gudrun Schyman says "it may seem desperate to burn 100,000 kronor, but the situation is desperate as well."
Sweden is known internationally for high achievements in gender issues but women still earn less than men. According to the national statistics agency, the average salary in 2008 of women working full-time was about 19 percent lower than that of men. The burnt money had been donated by an advertising agency.

Doctors eye Guinness book entry for patient

Thane: Doctors form Thane who treated a man with multiple life threatening diseases including cancer and paralysis, want to get his name into the Guinness Book of World Records for his feat which included 10 surgeries and operations.
Doctors who have treated Shamji Solanki, 47, said his survival surely deserves a mention in the Guinness and they have sent his medical records to London.
"We have submitted the case details of Solanki to the Guinness and they have agreed to run an initial scrutiny," said cardiologist Vijay Surase, who treated Solanki at the Jupiter Hospital here.
It all started in 1995 when Solanki, a Thane municipal corporation employee and an otherwise healthy man, was diagnosed with diabetes. "The trail that followed included gangrene as well as most major ailments like cancer, paralysis and hernia meningitis besides lung diseases.
Except for gangrene that was connected with diabetes, none of his other ailments were connected with one another." Said Surase.
"This is the reason why we thought he should find a mention in the Guinness book. Most of his ailments are mutually exclusive and he has been cured of them through medicines and surgeries," he added.

Teen kills father for using his mobile

Kolkata: A teenager killed his father by attacking him with a hammer after the middle-aged man made a phone call from his mobile at Khorinan village in West Bengal’s Burdwan district, police said. "The victim’s wife lodged a complaint against her son alleging that he had murdered his father. The boy, who is a teenager, has been held for interrogation," Kalna sub-divisional police officer Rathindranath Mukherjee said. According to neighbours, Khejmat siekh a contractual worker made a phone call from his son Mansur Seikh’s mobile phone when the boy was away from the room. When Mansur came to know about it, he got infuriated. An altercation broke out between the two and Khejmat slapped his son. Then Mansoor got hold of a hammer and reportedly hit his father on the head till he fell unconscious. Kejmat was pronounced dead at a primary health centre, Mukherjee said.

German held for having Hitler’s speech as ringtone

London: A German man has been arrested for having Adolf Hitler’s picture on his mobile phone and the speech of the Nazi dictator as its ringtone. Authorities seized the phone of the 54-year-old man at Harburg station in Germany after fellow train passengers, shocked at the sound of Hitler screaming, alerted the police, ‘Sky News’ reported. "It was an original speech by Adolf Hitler which ended with the phrase Seig Heil," police spokesman Ruediger Carstens told reporters. "He also had a photo of Hitler standing in front of a swastika." Under German law, the man could face up to three years in prison or a fine. The public display of Nazi symbols like the swastika was banned in Germany after the World War II.

Two hanged for ‘waging war against God’

Tehran: Iran hanged two men convicted of ‘waging war against God’ after they were found guilty of drug trafficking, armed robbery and abduction, a report said. The two, Amanollah Pourain and Younes Rahmani, were hanged in the southeastern city of Zahedan, ‘Fars’ news agency reported quoting a local judiciary statement. The report said the two were found guilty of ‘Moharebeh’ (waging war against God), a crime punishable by death under Iran’s Sharia law, as they were charged with selling opium, armed robbery, abduction and criss-crossing the Iranian border illegally, the report added. The latest hangings bring to at least 84 the number of people executed in Iran so far this year, according to a count based on media reports. Last year, at least 270 people were hanged. Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are all punishable by death in Iran.