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MAKKAH: The Mufti-e-Azam Saudi Arab Sheikh Abdul Aziz in his sermon said that Islam stresses respecting and helping each other and being kind to one another as Islam is a religion of compassion and respect.The Arafat sermon was delivered by the chief Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz in Masjid-e-Nimra at Arafat.In his sermon the chief Mufti said that Islam emphasizes on the rights of family and prevents to grab the properties of orphans illegally.He said that anti Muslim forces were hatching conspiracies against Islam and Muslims across the world, he urged unity among Muslims, adding that doubts were being created in the minds of Muslim youths though modern communications. He affirmed that the enemies of Islam would meet the same fate that met Kuffaar when battled against the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Chanting, “I am at your service, Allah, I am at Your service.” They will stand at Arafat till sunset in the most spiritual moment of the Hajj. They will pray, supplicate and recite Quran till su...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's civil defence said Thursday that 77 people were killed in intense flooding in Jeddah and nearby areas, and that scores could still be missing. Jeddah civil defence spokesman Abduallah al-Omary said most of the deaths occurred in vulnerable areas in the city's eastern and southern districts after a downpour on Wednesday. Many of the dead were in automobiles and buses caught up in the rising waters, according to witnesses. Based on calls from worried locals, 351 people were missing, Omary said. In some areas roads were still under more than one metre (three feet) of water on Thursday. "The water has gone down and things are getting better today compared to yesterday. We are doing our best to make things easier for the people still stuck," he said. A 90-millimetre (3.5-inch) downpour hit the Red Sea city and its surroundings, flooding roads and tunnels and collapsing some older buildings and homes. At least four of the d...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 NEW DELHI: One of the most top cop lost his life in 26/11 last year, Hemant Karkare. It has been almost one year and the investigations are going on.But the deceased cop’s wife says, “I am not happy about the investigations, because they are still going on. I don’t know when will we get justice.”On husband’s jacket not being found, Kavita Karkare says, “I am very surprised that the jacket is lost because it was an essential part of evidence.”She says further, “Our security system is completely neglected and that’s why 26/11 happened, I don’t know when will it change, whether its going to change or not.”

Thursday, November 26, 2009 LONDON: Around 150 people have been forced to abandon their homes after a huge fire broke out at a building site and engulfed adjoining buidlings in Peckham, south east London. London Fire Brigade said around 150 firefighters were tackling the blaze which is covering an area half the size of a football pitch. Residents from flats in several nearby three to four-storey buildings and a pub were moved out amid fears that the fire on the neighbouring construction site was spreading to their properties. However, the blaze, which was reported just before 4.30am, has since taken hold of the pub and maisonettes on Sumner Road and Rosemary Road. One person has been taken to hospital suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke. Their condition is understood not to be life-threatening. Ambulances are on standby but no other casualties have so far been reported from the blaze.

Thursday, November 26, 2009 WASHINGTON: Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve.The Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures after determining that a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into Tuesday night's state dinner at the White House even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said.President Barack Obama was never in any danger because the party crashers went through the same security screening for weapons as the 300-plus people actually invited to the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Donovan said.The Secret Service learned about the security breach Wednesday after a media inquiry prompted by the Salahis' online boasts about having attended the private event, Donovan said.

Thursday, November 26, 2009 INDIA: On November 26 a year ago, 10 terrorists laid siege to India's financial capital Mumbai killing more than 166 people and injuring over 300. One year on, survivors and the families of those killed are still picking up the pieces of their lives. A Pakistani anti-Terrorism Court No I (ATC-I) on Wednesday indicted seven suspects on terror charges in connection with last year’s Mumbai attacks.Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan adjourned the hearing until December 5. The seven suspects are Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum.They have been accused of abetting their co-accused in terrorist acts in Mumbai on November 26 to 28, 2008, and causing the death of more than 170 people in addition to destruction of property.Meanwhile, US and India have welcomed a Pakistani court's decision to charge seven suspects in connection with last November's Mumbai attacks.Those indicted ...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 JEDDAH: At least 24 people were reportedly killed and several injured in flash floods in Jeddah on Wednesday. Hundreds of homes and shops were flooded as streets turned into raging rivers.Altogether, some 70 millimeters of rain fell over the city in less than two hours — more than two-thirds of the Kingdom’s annual average rainfall.Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed ordered an emergency control room to be set up to monitor the situation every 12 hours.In Abraq Al-Raghama district, near the university, entire families were forced onto their roofs to escape the rising floodwaters, polluted by sewage flushed out of the drains. As elsewhere in the city, the drainage system was unable to cope with the load of water. The city’s Civil Defense services were stretched to the limit to deal with the emergency. Throughout the day, boats and helicopters were brought in to help rescue people. By nightfall many victims were still on their roofs.In the city’s Safa distric...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 BERSHIBA: A Weston man was severely injured in the center of town Thursday after he was hit by an elderly driver while walking across Rte. 27. Michael Selame was rushed to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston with what Walpole public safety officials are calling “serious injuries.”The accident occurred just after noontime Thursday, Nov. 19 according to police reports, when 90-year-old Beatrice Abramowitz, of Norton, drove through the intersection of Rtes. 1A and 27 before hitting Selame.Police said the 26-year-old pedestrian took the brunt of the hit on his right leg. The force of the strike sent him airborne, they said, slamming him onto the hood and windshield of Abramowitz’ Chrysler Pacifica. Abramowitz then swerved to the right, smashing into a utility pole at the Rte. 27 entrance to the Main Street Shopping Plaza, according to responding officers and fire officials.The turn threw Selame from the top of the car, police said, causing him to roll...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 MAKKAH: Heavy rains have failed to dampen the spirits of millions of pilgrims as they readied themselves today on the plains of Arafat where they will pray to the Almighty for His mercy and blessings.Arafat is the second day of Haj and one of the highpoints of the holy pilgrimage. When dawn breaks, pilgrims will stand on the place where Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered his last sermon 14 centuries ago.Yesterday pilgrims circumambulated the Ka’ba and then traveled to Mina for the Day of Tarwiyah, where they rested in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet.Saudi authorities have warned pilgrims to move carefully amid Wednesday’s storms, the first in years to occur during the Haj.Water seeped into tents in the sprawling tent city in Mina where pilgrims were staying. “We are staying in tents for now. Heavy rain turned red-carpeted corridors into streams of water with empty cans of soft drinks floating,” Zohra Nasef, from Morocco a...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 TOKYO: For as long as anyone can remember, the Tokyo International Robot Exhibition has been a showcase for Japan at its wackiest: stern industrial machines lurked backstage as waltzing, noodle-making or ping-pong-playing humanoids stole the limelight. But in recessionary 2009, with Japanese industry writhing in pain, the national robot obsession has turned serious. For the first time, the show explained how the machines really are going to take over. A new mood was in the air: the downturn, said one Tsukuba University engineer, had honed Japanese robotics research and forced it to be more practical. Companies and universities that were once given unlimited budgets to push the boundaries of robotics were now being told to come up with something usable and commercial and fast. Toyota’s recent decision to pull out of Formula 1 was a hot topic of discussion: would its next cost-cutting move be to close the robotics division or would it still throw millions int...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 ATLANTERRA: A Swiss adventurer trying to soar from Morocco to Spain on jet-powered wings ditched safely into the Atlantic on Wednesday after hitting turbulence and clouds so thick he could not tell if he was flying up or down.The bad weather - rather than a mechanical malfunction, as reported earlier by the project's sponsors - thwarted Yves Rossy's bid to become the first person to achieve such an intercontinental crossing.Rossy waved from the cold blue sea while awaiting rescue, his red wing and striped parachute floating beside him. In time, a rescuer helicopter winched him from the wind-swept waters to safety."I am still here - a little bit wet but I am still here," told a news conference after undergoing a medical checkup, still wearing his red and white flying suit. "I did my best," he said.Rossy, a 50-year-old former fighter pilot, took off from Tangiers but a few minutes into what was supposed to be a 15-minute flight he v...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 MAKKAH: The changing ceremony of kiswa (cloth) for the Kaaba will be held here at Baitullah Sharif (the house of Allah) on Thursday.The kiswa was presented to its eldest guardian at a special ceremony on Wednesday evening. Chairman of the Presidency of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques Sheikh Saleh ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Hussain handed the garment over to Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah Al-Shaibi at the kiswa factory in Makkah. A small bag made of green velvet with gold and silver engravings containing the key to the Kaaba, was also given to Sheikh Abdul Aziz.The Al-Shaibis have been custodians of the dressing and cleaning of the Kaaba since Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave them its key. “Oh, sons of Talha, take the key of the Kaaba and keep it for eternity,” he said at the time. Any member of the family is, therefore, authorized to open the door to the Kaaba.Sheikh Abdul Aziz said it was customary to receive the kiswa on the first day of Dul Hijjah, ...

Thursday, November 26, 2009 DUNEDIN: Pakistan were 307-8 at stumps on the third day of the first cricket test against New Zealand at University Oval in Dunedin, a first innings deficit of 122. Umar Akmal, 19, top scored with 129 - the 11th Pakistani to make a hundred on debut - while Shane Bond marked his return to test cricket with 4-93 from 24 overs.Umar's elder brother Kamran made 82 as the pair added 176 for the sixth wicket.Mohammad Aamer (12) and Mohammad Asif (0) continue batting tomorrow.Pakistan rallied in the afternoon session, with brothers Umar and Kamran Akmal leading the revival.The pair came together with Pakistan reeling at 85-5 and put on 176 for the sixth wicket, with Kamran Akmal making 82 before being caught by Ross Taylor off Daniel Vettori with the score at 261.Debutant Umar Akmal reached 129 before he was caught by Peter Fulton in the deep, to become Shane Bond's fourth victim of the innings. Pakistan were 293-7 nearing stumps on day three.A fired up Sha...