#Egypt withdraws annual financial support for Jewish community

Egypt has revoked annual grants of LE100,000 (US$14,000) allocated by former President Hosni Mubarak to the Jewish community in the country, an Egyptian cabinet official said Wednesday.

Mubarak supported the Jewish community through a confidential measure in the budget, head of the central department for financial and administrative affairs Soad Mekky said during a meeting for the Shura Council's Human Rights committee on the state budget, as reported by Anadolu Turkish news agency.  Mubarak secretly allotted the sum to the Jewish community starting in 1988, she added.

The annual grant was apportioned to the Jewish community from 1988 to 2012, Mekki said. The grant was suspended in 2003 under former Minister of Social Affairs Amina al-Gendy, but was later reinstated upon her request 

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Egypt had a flourishing Jewish community of more than 50,000 in the first half of the 20th century. Some say that there are now less than 200 Egyptian Jews still living in the country.
 

#Woolwich attack

Man tries to justify the killing and appologises for what people had to witness!!! PSYCHO!!
ITV News has obtained footage of a man with bloodied hands addressing a camera on a south London street.

He makes a series of political statements before walking towards a man, believed to be a soldier, lying prone on the street.

He then talks calmly to another man stood nearby.

A man believed to be a serving British soldier was brutally murdered Wednesday near a London barracks in what Prime Minister David Cameron said appeared to be a terrorist attack.
Cameron called the attack "appalling" and said: "There are strong indications that it is a terrorist incident."
Armed police shot and wounded the two suspected attackers.
One broadcaster showed footage of one of the men at the scene carrying a blood-covered knife and meat cleaver saying to the camera: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you."
The black man, dressed in a grey hooded jacket and black woolly hat, made a number of political statements to bystanders.
"We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," he says in a London accent in the video.
He adds: "I apologise that women have had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don't care about you."
The government's emergency response committee was immediately convened.
The attack took place in broad daylight around 200 metres (218 yards) from the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London.
Cameron, who was to return early from talks with French President Francois Hollande in Paris to deal with the aftermath, called the attack "truly shocking".
Hollande said at a press conference that the victim was a soldier, but Cameron gave no confirmation.
A local member of parliament said he believed the dead man was a soldier.
Cameron said: "We've had this sort of attack before in our country and we never buckle in the face of them."
Home Secretary Theresa May chaired a meeting of COBRA, the government's emergency civil contingencies committee.
"It has been confirmed to me that a man has been brutally murdered this afternoon in southeast London," she said.
"Two other men were shot by armed police and they are currently receiving treatment for their injuries. This is a sickening and barbaric attack."
Police were called at 2:20 pm (1320 GMT) to reports of one man being assaulted by two others.
"A number of weapons were reportedly being used in the attack, and this included reports of a firearm," said police commander Simon Letchford.
Local police officers, then firearms officers arrived on the scene where they found a man who was later pronounced dead.
"Two men, who we believe from early reports to have been carrying weapons, were shot by police. They were taken to separate London hospitals, they are receiving treatment for their injuries," Letchford said.
He said there would be a heightened police presence in the area and urged locals to remain calm.
A white and blue police evidence tent was visible in the street and police tape sealed off the scene. People in forensic suits were also seen.
Eyewitness pictures showed an air ambulance landing in the road and three bodies lying on the ground with dozens of onlookers observing the scene after the police arrived.
Nick Raynsford, the member of parliament for Woolwich and Greenwich, said his understanding after speaking to police and army officers was that dead man was a soldier.
"We think a serving soldier was the victim," he said.
"A number of weapons have been seized. They include a gun, various knives, and a machete, apparently.
"The police clearly had to take action in order to try and arrest these individuals."
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said Queen Elizabeth II -- who is due to visit the barracks later this month -- was being kept updated.
"The queen is of course concerned by the report of an attack in Woolwich," he said.
"Her Majesty is being kept informed."
The spokesman confirmed the monarch would carry out a planned visit to the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery at the barracks on May 31.

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listen to ‘Woolwich Attack: Eyewitness James’ on Audioboo

A Signature Rebellion

I got in a taxi on Thursday and within a few minutes of conversation the driver asked my nationality. This has been a sensitive question recently; last week an American near the embassy answered in the positive and was stabbed in the neck for his troubles. ‘I hate America,’ the assailant confessed afterwards.

For the taxi driver, however, it was an opportunity of a different sort. After I owned up to my nationality he leaned over to his glove compartment and…

… pulled out a sheet of paper.

In fact it was one of many, some signed, most not yet. The driver was preaching the merits of a new campaign to oust President Morsi, and wanted me to convey the message to America. they aim to collect fifteen million signatures to their petition, vaulting over the total number of votes cast for Morsi in the presidential elections. They claim two million to date.

Their grand finale is planned for June 30, at the presidential palace, one year to the day in which Morsi took office.

Here is the translation of their flyer:

REBEL

To withdraw confidence from the Brotherhood regime

The Rebellion Campaign

(to withdraw confidence from Mohamed Morsi ….)

Because security has not yet returned to the street … we don’t want you

Because the poor still do not have a place … we don’t want you

Because we are still begging from abroad … we don’t want you

Because the rights of the martyrs still have not been fulfilled … we don’t want you

Because there is still no dignity for myself or my country … we don’t want you

Because the economy has collapsed and is built upon begging … we don’t want you

Because you follow the Americans … we don’t want you

Since Mohamed Morsi the … came to power, the simple citizen has felt that not one goal of the revolution has been achieved – for bread, freedom, social justice, and national independence. Morsi has failed to realize them all. No security, no social justice – he is a demonstrated failure in the complete sense of the word. It is not fitting for him to administrate a nation of Egypt’s weight.

Therefore:

I, the undersigned, from my free and complete will, as a member of the general assembly of the Egyptian people, withdraw confidence from the president of the republic, the dictator Mohamed Morsi, and call for early presidential elections. I pledge to hold firmly to the goals of the revolution and to work on their behalf, spreading the Rebellion Campaign among the masses until we are able to achieve social dignity, justice, and freedom.

Name:

National Number:

Governorate:

Signature:

Would you sign?

Saudi Arabia executes 5 Yemenis in Jizan, displays bodies in public

 

Saudi Arabia executed five Yemenis  on Tuesday and displayed their bodies in public for killing a Saudi national and forming a gang that committed robberies across several towns in the kingdom, the interior ministry said.

The five were executed in the south western town of Jizan, bringing the number of people executed in the kingdom this year to 46, according to  AFP stats. The five men in the above picture are seen hanging from a rope tied to their waists on a horizontal bar between two cranes. It is uncertain whether  they were beheaded or shot.

The ministry said that Khaled, Adel ,Qasim Saraa , Saif Ali Al Sahari and Khaled Showie Al Sahari had formed a gang which committed “several crimes in various regions in the kingdom and robbed stores.”

The Ministry added that the five had killed Ahmad Haroubi, a Saudi, by beating him up and strangling him.

Under Saudi Arabia’s strict version of Sharia law, rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death.

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The number of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year reached 46, according to news agency AFP.

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry said that Khaled, Adel and Qassem Saraa, Saif Ali al-Sahari and Khaled Showie al-Sahari had formed a gang which committed “several crimes in various regions in the kingdom and robbed stores”.

The gang had killed Ahmed Haroubi, a Saudi, by beating him up and strangling him, the ministry said.

Murder, apostasy, armed robbery, rape as well as drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.

The death penalty in the world. Map by euronews

#Saudi Arabia Religious Police Say Twitter Is the Path to Hell

Hell is other Twitter users — according to the head of Saudi Arabia's religious police force, anyway.

Sheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said Wednesday that Muslims who use Twitter or other social media have "lost this world and his afterlife," as quoted by BBC News.

Saudi Arabia has a complicated relationship with social media as its usage skyrockets in the country. However, the Saudi government is worried social media could help the political opposition in the country organize in spread, similar to the ways it has been used throughout the Middle East and elsewhere.

"The Kingdom is particularly concerned with how Twitter has been used to keep people informed of human rights activists who have been tried for the crime of free speech," writes Jonathan Turley, professor of law at The George Washington University Law School. "Leaders on the web have been detained while others have been charged with apostasy and other crimes for statements made on these sites."

Software engineer Moxie Marlinspike recently alleged in a blog post that Saudi Arabia wants the ability to spy on Twitter and such popular messaging services as Viber and WhatsApp.

Several years ago, Saudi Arabia threatened to ban BlackBerry devices unless the company made it easier for the government to read users' messages. The company reportedly decided to comply with those demands.

Other religious figures, including the Dalai Lama and the Pope, have embraced social media to varying degrees as a way to spread their message or connect with those inside and outside their faith. Can religion and social media mix? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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I, Robot Maker: Making robots to interact with humans

Would you be comfortable being surrounded by robots?

A British manufacturing firm is trying to make robots that share more human characteristics, to make interaction with them more natural and intuitive than ever before.

Cornwall's Engineered Arts is in the vanguard of this area of research, which aims to make robots' facial expressions, body language and way of moving more recognisable to real people.

Founder Will Jackson gave a tour of his robot factory to the BBC, and explained how he and his team of a dozen people are looking to expand the frontiers of robot technology.

Video journalist: Dougal Shaw