It took just hours for England's Prime Minister to say a gruesome knife and cleaver attack on a serviceman in London was likely an act of terrorism. In the U.S., more than three years since a much deadlier domestic assault on American troops -- the 2009 Fort Hood massacre that claimed 13 lives, including that of a pregnant soldier -- a top Army attorney maintains that incident was likely a "criminal act of a single individual."

"...[T]he available evidence in this case does not, at this time, support a finding that the shooting at Fort Hood was an act of international terrorism," Lt. Gen. Dana Chipman said this week in a letter to Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) on behalf of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.

The letter, obtained by ABC News, was apparently written in response to an inquiry from Rooney, Rep. Chaka Fatta (D-Penn.), and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Virg.) sent to Hagel on May 6, which questioned whether concerns of "political correctness" informed the Army's decision to refer to the Fort Hood attack as an act of "workplace violence." Victims of the shooting have long maintained that calling the attack "workplace violence" instead of "combat related" or an act of terrorism has had a massive impact on the benefits and treatment they've received.

In the case of the London attack, two men armed with a handgun, a meat cleaver and a knife are suspected of brutally murdering a lone serviceman, who was out of uniform, in broad daylight Wednesday. They stuck around after the attack and one of the suspects was caught on video telling a passerby he did what he did "because Muslims are dying by British soldiers every day."

In the Fort Hood attack, Maj. Nidal Hasan stands accused of gunning down 13 soldiers and injuring 32 others in November 2009. After the assault, investigators uncovered evidence that Hasan was in communication with al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki prior to the attack. Al-Awlaki was apparently such a threat that he has been the only American citizen ever targeted for a drone strike -- though three others have been collateral damage, according to President Obama.

In both cases, witnesses reportedly said the alleged attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar," "God is Great" in Arabic, amid the chaos.

As reflected in Chipman's letter, the Department of Defense has consistently said that in addition to a supposed lack of evidence, it would be irresponsible to call the Fort Hood attack "terrorism" because it "may have a negative impact on the ongoing judicial process" for Hasan.

The letter also denied that the Defense Department had made a decision to classify the attack as "workplace violence" and said, "[N]o benefit has been denied to any of the victims based on any such classification" -- two claims to which the survivors object stringently.

Kimberly Munley, a police officer who was hailed as a hero for her role in stopping the alleged Fort Hood shooter, told ABC News Chipman's letter is "disgraceful" and "another direct slap in the face." Attorneys for Munley and most of the other Fort Hood victims called the letter's claims "counterfactual" and an "insult."

An attorney for several of the victims, Reed Rubinstein, said the Army's new letter is "worse than word games."

"The 'workplace violence' classification has been out there for years, and [the Army] has never walked it back," he said.

In 2010, part of then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' response to the shooting was to "strengthen [the department's] policies, programs and procedures in... workplace violence." In October 2011, the Defense Department said it was reviewing the attack "in the context of a broader threat of workplace violence."

Rubinstein and his partner, Neil Sher, also said calling the attack "an alleged criminal act by a single individual" "rewrites history, consigning the government's admissions of Hasan's al-Qaeda ties… down a bureaucratic memory hole."

Munley said, "It is clear that the Army and the government will continue to not take responsibility for allowing a known terrorist to slip through the ranks while having multiple associations with the now-deceased Anwar al-Awlaki and has complete disregard for those injured on that horrifying day."...

Yes.

The mother of a suspected Islamic terrorist who allegedly hacked a British soldier to death tried desperately to turn him away from extremism but “could not get through”, according to friends.

Michael Adebowale, the 22-year-old son of a Christian probation officer and a member of staff at the Nigerian High Commission, was filmed holding a bloodied cleaver in his hand after Drummer Lee Rigby was butchered in a London street.

Friends said he had been a “lovely boy” but became involved in some “serious trouble” as a teenager and then turned to Islam. He started mixing with some “bad people” and became increasingly extreme in his views.

His mother Juliet Obasuyi, a 43-year-old probation officer, went to her friend and neighbour, a 62-year-old security officer, for help about nine months ago after her son dropped out of university.

She told him: “Michael is not listening any more. His older sister is a good Christian with a degree but Michael is rebelling as he has no father figure, dropping out of university and handing out leaflets in Woolwich town centre.

“He is from a strong Christian family but he is turning to Islam and turning against the family. He is preaching in the streets. He needs spiritual guidance before he radicalises himself.”

Another friend, Steve Adebiyi, who started a company with Mrs Obasuyi, said she was often left in tears after speaking to him on the phone. “The boy was giving the mother problems,” he said. “She said he was in with some bad group and causing a lot of trouble. They brainwashed him.”

He and Michael Adebolajo, the other suspected terrorist, are thought to have met at Greenwich University.

His mother was advised by a neighbour to take him to the head of the Woolwich mosque for spiritual guidance. He was converted to Islam by the head Imam, and taken for weeks of "further training" at a centre near Cambridge.

When he returned, however, he was even more "radicalised" and his mother could no longer "get through to him". A spokesman for the mosque said they did not know if he attended or been converted there.

She subsequently returned to Nigeria, where she is pursuing a career in politics.

Neighbours in Greenwich said he had been a "lovely boy" who was a keen Manchester United fan, but as a teenager became "angry at a lot of things".

Magdalene Edwards told Channel 4 News: "He was a lovely boy. Very gentle natured, very respectful to elderly people.

"He was angry at a lot of things like a lot of young people are. About a year ago is when I saw him with this whole Muslim dress.

"I said to him are you a Muslim. And he said yes, he's gone that way now. I said just be careful, I'm aware that there are some that ride on the coat tales of Islam and they're really not serving their cause."...

Well, that all depends on your point of view.

(Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew herself up in car near a police building in Russia's Dagestan region on Saturday, injuring 11 policemen and passers-by, Russian media reported.

Dagestan, an ethnically mixed, mostly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, has become the most violent province in the North Caucasus, where insurgents say they are fighting to carve out an Islamic state out of southern Russia.

The bomb was detonated after police stopped the car to check the driver's documents, some 100 meters from the regional police ministry in the center of Makhachkala, the regional capital.

Police sources told local media the only person killed was the bomber, whom they identified as the former wife of two militants. It is not unusual for women to carry out suicide bombings in the region. They are often the widows of militants.

Two policemen injured in the blast were in a critical condition, police said, with nine other people requiring hospital treatment....

Palestinian Arab Christians have chosen to support the side that wants to destroy Christianity. Hating Jews forges a bond between enemies.

The movie “The Stones Cry Out” by the Italian filmaker Yasmine Perni “gives a detailed account of the historical, cultural, and political place occupied by Christians in the recent history of the Palestinian nation, and in its struggle against colonialism”.

The movie is one of the most powerful propaganda tools of the Palestinian Arab Christians. The documentary is supported by Sabeel, the Christian organization based in Jerusalem which foments anti-Semitism through the Scriptures, while Catholic authories and PLO propagandista such as Hanan Ashrawi “blessed” the movie.

Ashrawi and her Christian friends have taken over the role of beautifying the Palestinian Arab nightmare. The problem of these Christians is not the security fence, but the ideological fence which always placed them on the other side,against the Jews. These Palestinian Christians believe that they are the beneficiary of Islamic cultural superiority and they can save themselves by throwing Judaism (Israel) and Christianity (the West) into the dustbin of history.

Last winter a muezzin in Bethlehem was heard for the first time saying “after Saturday comes Sunday”. It means that after they’re done with the Jews, they’ll be coming after the Christians. And the Christians will have only themselves to blame.

While claiming that they are innocent victims resisting “the occupation” and aspiring only to “security, justice, and peace”, these Palestinian Arab Christians accept the vandalism of synagogues and cemeteries, the burning of Jewish schools and the killing of innocent Jewish civilians, and above all the mantra chanted to the world that the state of Israel is an entity to be destroyed.

Miftah, the NGO founded by Hanan Ashrawi, recently published an article claiming that Jews use the blood of Christians for Passover rituals.

There is a long tradition of anti-Semitism from the Palestinian Christian establishment. In 1989, Jerusalem’s Roman Catholic patriarch Michel Sabbah supported the Intifada as he celebrated a Christmas Mass at Jesus’ birthplace. “Despite all that is happening to you, you will win, in the end you will win,” declared Patriarch Michel Sabbah, appointed by Pope John Paul II. Off Manger Square, Muslims chanted: “The Zionist is God’s enemy!” and “Jews, Mohammed is coming back!”.

But it is not just Ashrawi’s fault. It is an entire Christian establishment, including Christian mayors of Bethlehem, Christian prelates and bishops appointed by Rome, Christians intellectuals such as Edward Said and Christian ordinary men like those interviewed for movies such as “The Stones Cry Out”.

Palestinian Christians have manipulated Western public opinion so well that on the very rare occasion that Western media do cover the real plight of Christians in the Palestinian Authority areas, it is only to denounce Israel and its barrier or checkpoints.

Last year veteran CBS News anchor Bob Simon reported on the Palestinian Arab Christians, indicting Israel’s “occupation” as responsible for their dramatic disappearance. The 60 Minutes story caused Israel tremendous PR damage. As in the case of “The Stones Cry Out”, the CBS video doesn’t mention forced marriages, conversions, beatings, land thefts, fire bombings, commercial boycott, torture, kidnapping, sexual harassment, and extortion which Arab Christians suffer under the horrible PLO dictatorship.

A report in 2002, based on Israeli intelligence gathered during Operatio Defensive Shield, explained that “Arafat’s intelligence network intimidated the Christian population in Bethlehem. They extorted money from them, confiscated land and property and left them to the mercy of street gangs and other criminal activity, with no protection”.

Christian graves, crosses, and statues were desecrated and Christians suffered physical abuse, beatings, and Molotov attacks.

But it would be a mistake to depict these Christians as mere victims of Muslim Arab violence. They are also guilty, since they choose to demonize Israel as the human rights violator.

After the 1948 war, Christian communities suffered most in Judea, not under “Israel’s occupation”, but because Muslim refugees were settled in their midst by the corrupted PLO leadership. According to veteran journalist Danny Rubinstein, who has been writing about Palestinian Arabs for the last 46 years, “Bethlehem saw an influx of thousands of Muslim refugees from the villages in the southern part of Jerusalem, and three refugee camps were erected”.

Until Palestinian terrorists turned Bethlehem into a safe haven for suicide bombers and Jews’ assassins, the Christian Arab Bethlehemites were free to enter IJerusalem, just as many Israelis visited the "little town" in Judea.

The horrible Arafat gang turned Bethlehem and its holy places into the town which exported a string of deadly terror attacks into Jerusalem during the Intifada. In Beit Jala, the Christian town on the outskirts of Bethlehem, Islamic sharpshooters established their firing positions next to churches and Christian institutions and aimed. The target was the southern Jerusalem residential Jewish neighborhood of Gilo, but ultimately they also wanted to cleanse any Christians from the area. The result is that 25,000 Christians left Beit Jala and only 6,000 Christians still live in that town.

The Jews have always challenged any kind of totalitarianism and today are the first in line to challenge a political Islam that wants to destroy their soul: the State of Israel.

The Palestinian Christians stand today at the opposite side of the barricade. One day they may realize the strategic mistake they made by embracing Palestinian fascism, but it will be too late for all of them.

"Turkish-Armenian blogger sentenced to Turkish prison for blasphemy," by Ivan Watson and Gul Tuysuz for CNN, May 23 (thanks to Lookmann):

Istanbul (CNN) -- A Turkish-Armenian blogger vowed to appeal a day after an Istanbul court sentenced him to more than a year in prison for blasphemy.

In a phone interview with CNN, Sevan Nisanyan accused Turkey's Islamic-rooted government of politically persecuting him.

"When I attacked the Islamist establishment they felt I overstepped my boundaries," said Nisanyan, who is a member of Turkey's tiny Armenian ethnic minority. "Here I am an Armenian doing something no Armenian has done in a Muslim country. This is really the height of boldness, of impudence. This is something you are not supposed to do."

According to Turkey's semi-official Anatolian Agency, Nisanyan received a one year and 45-day jail sentence for "openly denigrating the religious values held by a certain portion of the population."

Anatolian reported that Nisanyan's initial nine-month jail sentence was extended because "the crime was committed through the press."

Turkey is a majority Muslim country.

Nisanyan said the court cited a passage in his blog published last September that referred to the international uproar triggered by cheaply made Hollywood film called the "Innocence of Muslims." The film, which ridiculed the most revered figure in Islam, the Prophet Mohammed, sparked violent protests in Egypt and Libya. The Turkish prime minister also denounced the movie as "Islamophobic," though protests on Turkish streets were small and peaceful.

On Wednesday, Nisanyan published an English translation of the passage in question from his September 2012 blog post:

"It is not 'hate crime' to poke fun at some Arab leader who, many hundred years ago, claimed to have established contact with Deity and made political, economic and sexual profit as a result. It is almost a kindergarten-level case of what we call freedom of expression," Nisanyan wrote.

Since the blog was published last year, Nisanyan said, prosecutors have taken him to court simultaneously for this passage in three separate courts across Turkey.

Nisanyan said he represented himself at the criminal court in Istanbul, without the help of an attorney. He acknowledged that he took a confrontational approach in his statement to the court, arguing that no one should be prosecuted for discussing the historical background of a religious figure.

"In consequence of his claim to have established contact with Deity, this Muhammed, who was a lowly merchant, acquired political dominion over all Arabian and gained the financial means to raise 30-thousand-strong armies," Nisanyan wrote, citing his statement to the court.

"It is an incontrovertible historical fact that this person made political, economic and sexual profit from his alleged contact with Deity."

In his interview with CNN, Nisanyan recognized that he was deliberately throwing fuel on the fire regarding his conviction.

"I'm hoping to contribute to the ongoing debate in this country on freedom of expression and freedom of religion," Nisanyan said. "I think I'm performing a useful public service."...

Amidst tensions over attempts to encroach land belonging to a temple in Balagarh, Hooghly, West Bengal, prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been imposed, even as the mainstream media abides by an informal diktat to black out the news. Aggrieved Hindus say the trouble arose when members of one community sought to extend a nearby graveyard into the temple space, and attacked the temple deities, triggering violence. The administration, in a display of blatant partisanship, has arrested six persons from the wronged community only.

The Lakshmi Narayan temple possesses 48 decimal area as devottar property, and lays adjacent to a graveyard (kabristan). The State Government allotted Rs 10.5 lakh to construct a boundary wall for the graveyard. But when construction began, the Hindus objected that it was encroaching upon the devottar area.

According to volunteers of the Hindu Samhati that monitors Hindu grievances in the State, on the night of May 19, some miscreants entered the temple and damaged the principal deity. The next day, angry Hindus blockaded the road, but calmed down when the block development officer came to the village and made some assurances. But on the morning of May 21, the deities were thrown out of the temple, triggering high tension in the village.

The administration has taken a blatantly pro-minority stand and arrested six persons from the Hindu community only. Four of the arrested persons are being held at Balagarh police station, but two have been shifted to Chinsurah police station. The arrested persons include the BJP block president Subhash Khan, who was produced in the Chinsurah court today. Another person, Samir Singha, was badly beaten in the course of protests against the iconoclasm, and is currently in a hospital.

The forthcoming panchayat election – scheduled to be held in three phases on July 4, 6 and 9 respectively, is widely believed to be the cause of the administration’s laxity (or indulgence) of the belligerence of the minority community that has been increasingly assertive in recent times.

Ironically, while neighbouring Bangladesh is convulsed in a struggle against Islamic fundamentalism and is demanding punishment for Jamaat-i-Islami cadres who participated in war crimes during the bloody conflict that led to independence from Pakistan in 1971, in West Bengal, the Jamiat Ulama-E-Hind organised a massive rally in support of Bangladesh’s criminals, and denounced the Sheikh Hasina Government.

As Muslims comprise approximately 27 per cent of the population, their vote determines the outcome of every election. Hence, few parties care to confront or even contain the assertiveness of the community. In a tripartite contest between the CPM, the Congress, and the ruling Trinamool Congress, the winner is decided by the Muslim vote.

Under the first-past-the-post system, a party needs only around 33 per cent of the vote to win. Once the Muslim vote is assured, there is no need to woo the 63 per cent Hindu majority as only about 10 per cent additional vote is needed to beat one’s rivals to the victory post. That much is available from the cadre base of each party, caste of the individual candidate, and so on.

This is a backdrop against which incidents have been taking place in West Bengal in recent days. On May 20, Hindus of Malancha, a village under Diamond Harbour police station in 24 Paraganas South district, prevented radicals from the neighbouring Muslim-dominated village of Kamalpur from hooking (stealing) electricity in their village. Thanks to the local police and administration turning a blind eye, hooking electricity from Hindu-dominated villages by Islamists in 24 Paraganas South is a routine affair.

Matters came to a head on May 17, when Hindus disconnected a number of electric wires. Previously, a freak thunderstorm had ripped a number of electric wires from the lampposts and almost electrocuted some Hindus. To prevent electrocutions, the Hindus disconnected the wires and this annoyed the Muslims who descended on the village in large numbers. This triggered a scuffle between the two communities.

Thereafter, on the evening of May 20, around 7.30 pm, some miscreants attacked Hindus with lethal weapons to restore the connections. The Hindus did not react but telephoned local Trinamool leaders Jayanta Ghosh, Aman Sanpui, Razzaq Sheikh and warned them about the fast-deteriorating situation in the village. Although Jayanta Ghosh reportedly promised to send a police contingent to the village, this did not happen according to the locals.

This incident closely follows an attack on a Kali temple in Keranitola, Medinipur town, West Midnapore District, on May 12, by a large crowd of fundamentalists. In protest, the Bajrang Dal and other youth clubs blocked roads and observed a bandh in some areas of the town.

Tensions rose when a Hindu, riding a motorcycle, collided with a Muslim bicycle rider and was caught and held for a ransom of Rs 25,000. However, he was rescued by members of his community without paying ransom. In revenge, the local Kali Temple was attacked and the icon of the deity damaged.

To prevent the situation from getting out of hand, the Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) descended on the area to pacify the crowds. Three Hindu boys were detained and later another six were arrested even though it was a temple that had been desecrated.

Recently, on the morning of May 20, a Bajrangbali (Hanuman) temple near Kansai Bridge, near Midnapore, was desecrated and the murtis damaged. The local MLA rushed to the spot, supervised removal of the debris, and promised early installation of a new icon.

Communal tensions are simmering in Bengal on account of the myriad concessions the Trinamool regime has showered upon the minorities. These include grants to Imams and Muezzins, distribution of cycles among Muslim girl students, and special advantages to others under schemes to improve the lot of OBCs. No commensurate scheme has been invoked to benefit any Hindu group so far.

With nearly seven weeks to go for the Panchayat poll, Hindus in the State are a nervous lot as they have few choices between the CPM and the Trinamool, and neither party protects them.

It's the same story the world over.

Watch this entire video. Here is a man who is justly concerned for his country and determined to defend it -- and for that he is vilified, defamed, and persecuted by his countrymen.

Stockholm experienced a sixth straight night of riots early Saturday, with cars torched in several immigrant-dominated suburbs, as Britain and the United States warned against travelling to the hotspots.

Nearly a week of unrest, which spread briefly Friday night to the medium-sized city of Örebro 160 kilometres west of Stockholm, have put Sweden's reputation as an oasis of peace and harmony at risk.

The unrest has also sparked a debate among Swedes over the integration of immigrants, many of whom arrived under the country's generous asylum policies,
and who now make up about 15 percent of the population.

An AFP photographer witnessed a car engulfed in flames before firefighters arrived in the Stockholm district of Tensta. Cars were incinerated in three other areas of the capital as well, according to the Swedish news agency TT.

"I've never before taken part in anything that lasted so long and was spread over such a wide area," police spokesman Lars Byström told TT.

Another police official said earlier that Stockholm police were about to receive reinforcements from Gothenburg and Malmö, the country's second- and third-largest cities, but declined to disclose how many would arrive.

In the city of Örebro, police reported a fire at a school as well as several cars ablaze, but quiet had returned around midnight. The unrest in Stockholm had "rubbed off", police told TT.

About 200 right-wing extremists were reported to cruise around Stockholm suburbs in their cars late Friday, but intense police surveillance apparently prevented any kind of serious violence.

The nightly riots have prompted Britain's Foreign Office and the US embassy in Stockholm to issue warnings to their nationals, urging them to avoid the affected suburbs.

Firefighters were dispatched to 70 fires the night between Thursday and Friday, extinguishing torched cars, dumpsters and buildings, including three schools and a police station, the fire department wrote on Twitter. This was down from 90 blazes the night before.

Parents and volunteer organisations who have patrolled the streets in recent nights have helped decrease the intensity of the unrest, police have said.

Police, who have so far concentrated on putting out fires, are beginning to round up people suspected of criminal acts, so far arresting at least 29.

"Even if we don't intervene, we regularly make video recordings and get information from the public. That way we can get people a couple of days later," police spokesman Byström told TT.

The troubles had begun in the suburb of Husby, where 80 percent of inhabitants are immigrants, triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 69-year-old Husby resident last week after the man wielded a machete in public.

Local activists said the shooting sparked anger among youths who claim to have suffered from police brutality and racism.

One of the rioters in Husby told Sveriges Radio that racism was rampant where he lived, and that violence was his only way of being noticed.

"We burned cars, threw rocks at police, at police cars. But it's good, because now people know what Husby is... This is the only way to be heard," said the rioter, identified only by the pseudonym Kim.

Stockholm county police chief Mats Löfving said Friday the rioters were local youths with and without criminal records.

In addition, "in the midst of all this there is a small group of professional criminals, who are taking advantage of the situation to commit crimes like this," he told Sveriges Radio.

A 25-year-old who grew up in Husby said he didn't think the riots had anything to do with the shooting.

"I'm not saying there are no problems... but people are glorifying this a little bit," said the man, who declined to be named, adding that the rioters were often aged 12 to 17.

"I can imagine they get a big kick out of seeing themselves on TV," he said.

Due to its liberal immigration policy, Sweden has in recent decades become one of Europe's top destinations for immigrants, both in absolute numbers and relative to its size.

But many of those who have arrived struggle to learn the language and find employment, despite numerous government programmes.

Official data show unemployment was 8.8 percent in Husby in 2012, compared to 3.3 percent in Stockholm as a whole.

Eric Zemmour, a right-wing French commentator known for his controversial views, meanwhile told RTL radio the riots showed that the Swedish "kingdom of social democracy and of political correctness" was little different from countries like Britain and France.

Yep.

A bill proposed by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government seeking limitations on the consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco was approved by Parliament on Friday, bringing in strict restrictions on the sale of alcoholic drinks and sanctions for those violating the law.

The government drafted the bill in order to protect children and young people from the harmful effects of alcoholic beverages. The bill was adopted following a 17-hour debate in Parliament, during which tensions sometimes rose among deputies.

Some deputies from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) stayed in Parliament until the early hours of Friday in an attempt to prevent the passage of the bill.

A fight erupted between CHP deputy Levent Gök and AK Party deputies. CHP deputies accused the AK Party of acting like Murat IV, an Ottoman sultan who banned alcohol and tobacco, and said that the AK Party is interfering in people's lifestyle choices. The bill received the support of 193 AK Party deputies. Four Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputies voted against it.

The newly approved bill, which will go into effect once approved by President Abdullah Gül, will also ban the advertising of alcoholic beverages and all forms of their promotion.

Campaigns, promotions or events that aim to encourage the use or sale of these products will not be allowed. Companies that produce, import or market alcoholic beverages will not be permitted to sponsor events using the brand or logo of their products. These companies will also not be allowed to offer free alcoholic beverages as a promotion or giveaway. Violation of this bill will incur a fine of between TL 5,000 and TL 200,000. No images of alcoholic beverages will be allowed in TV series, movies or music clips, and any that do appear will be blurred.

In addition, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be banned between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Those who violate this law will incur a fine of between TL 20,000 and TL 100,000.

According to the bill, alcoholic beverages will not be sold to individuals under the age of 18 for them to consume on the premises or take with them. Violation of this could lead to a fine of between TL 10,000 and TL 500,000. If a minor's health is placed at risk, the offender will be given a prison sentence from six months to one year.

Individuals who are under the age of 18 will not be allowed to be employed in the production, sale and marketing of alcoholic beverages. If there are individuals already working in this sector under the age of 18, they will be allowed to continue working for one more year.

Alcoholic beverages will not be sold in vending machines. Signboards advertising alcoholic beverages will be removed within a year.

Health warnings will be included on the bottles or other packaging of alcoholic drinks. Any bottles or packages that do not carry a warning message cannot be sold.

If a beverage includes any quantity of alcohol, this quantity must be written on the bottle in a way that is easily visible to consumers.

The sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages will not be allowed at facilities along highways. In addition, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be banned at the restaurants of student dormitories, medical facilities, stadiums, closed sports halls, all kinds of educational facilities, coffee houses, pastry shops and restaurants of gas stations. Violation of this law will warrant a fine between TL 10,000 and TL 100,000.

Shops selling alcoholic beverages will need to be at least 100 meters away from schools, university preparation course facilities, student dormitories and places of worship. The 100-meter obligation will not apply to facilities that have a tourism certificate. Shops that already have a license to sell alcoholic beverages will be exempted from this 100-meter obligation.

According to the bill, drivers who register a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05 will be given a fine of TL 700 and their driver's licenses taken away for six months. Drivers who refuse to take the blood alcohol test will be taken to the nearest hospital or forensic medical council where they will give blood, saliva or urine samples.

Drivers who register a BAC of more than 0.1 will face a jail sentence of up to two years.

If a driver's license has been suspended for drunk driving and the driver commits the same crime within a five-year period, they will face a fine of TL 877 and their driver's licenses will be taken away for two years.

The bill also bans smoking in the driver's seat of private vehicles.
PM defends alcohol ban

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday defended the bill limiting the sale and advertising of alcoholic beverages across the country, saying the government does not want a “wasted” generation.

“We do not want a generation that drinks day and night and that is wasted. They [young people] should be awake and equipped with knowledge. We want such a generation and we are taking steps in this regard,” Erdoğan said.

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ also commented on the newly approved bill on Friday, saying that the bill brings European and US standards to Turkey with regards to the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“The amendments are not aimed at banning the consumption of alcohol,” he said.

He also said that Article 58 of the Constitution says that the state has a responsibility to protect young people from alcohol addiction, adding: “When you look at Europe and the US, you see that there are advertising bans there. But Turkey was not in compliance with the standards in these countries to this effect. These amendments aim to maintain a harmony with their standards. In many countries, shops selling alcoholic beverages cannot sell them after a certain hour at night.”...

Christians in the Central African Republic (CAR) are being targeted by Islamist militants who seized control of the country in March; they are being tied up, beaten and forced to hand over money to save their lives.

A pastor in CAR said that “a reign of terror” is being conducted against Christians by the Seleka rebels who took over the country in a bloody coup on 24 March. A number of Christians have been killed or wounded.

The church leader said that the rebels have a hit list of pastors and other Christian workers, and that places of worship are being attacked. Christian property is being looted. In one incident towards the end of last month, Seleka troops seized all the collection money given at a gathering of church leaders.

Many Christians have fled their homes to the countryside and are too fearful to return. More than 200,000 people are internally displaced, while 49,000 refugees have been registered in neighbouring countries.

On 10 May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report citing “grave violations” committed by the Seleka rebels against civilians, including pillage, summary executions, rape and torture.

Among the incidents described was a raid on a church in the capital Bangui. HRW said that this was one of Seleka’s first targets upon entering the city. The rebels fired into the air and robbed the worshippers.

HRW also recounted an attack on a funeral procession on the Ngaragba Bridge in Bangui on 13 April. As Seleka forces opened fire on the crowd, a church leader was killed as he appealed for calm. An eyewitness said:

[He] walked toward the Seleka elements on their pick-up raising a Bible in his hand and calling to stop shooting… [he] was shot dead by two Seleka fighters.

The crisis in CAR has largely slipped under the radar of the world’s media, and the predominantly Christian population feels abandoned by the international community....

What a surprise.