DOHA Officials from the Libya contact group met in Doha on Wednesday to discuss providing $2.5 billion in urgently required funds for the rebels governing council and unfreezing Libyan assets globally. The meeting, attended by representatives of the United States, France, Britain, Italy, Germany and Turkey, was held at the request of the National Transitional Council (NTC), the political organ of Libyas rebellion.
The aim of the talks was to make provisions and arrange for $2.5 billion for the NTC in order to pay salaries of Libyans before the end of the month, and for humanitarian support, NTC number two Mahmud Jibril said in Doha on Tuesday.
Maybe just hand over the Qaddhafi family fortune instead?
The countries in the contact group must ensure that the NTC is provided with the required resources and support to assume its responsibilities to the Libyan people, Qatars minister of international cooperation, Khalid al-Attiyah, said on Wednesday.
According to Qatari state news agency QNA, Attiyah noted the urgency for the moment of paying unpaid salaries for the previous six months.
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British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Wednesday he would like to see convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi put back in jail after the overthow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Many U.S. politicians and victims relatives are pressing for Megrahis extradition to the United States following his release on compassionate grounds two years ago. In all, 189 of the 270 killed in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing were American citizens.
My personal view is that I would like to see al Megrahi behind bars, because whatever you think he was convicted in a court of law for one of the most atrocious terrorist acts this country has ever seen, Clegg told Sky TV.
Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 of playing a significant part in planning and perpetrating the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish border town of Lockerbie. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum jail term of 27 years but he returned to Libya in August 2009 after being freed from a Scottish jail on the grounds he was allegedly suffering from terminal prostate cancer.
Scottish authorities lied said at the time of his release he was only expected to live for another three months.
Megrahi recently passed the second anniversary of his release. He appeared last month at a rally in support of Gaddafi, sitting in a wheelchair at a tribal meeting in Tripoli.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who took office in May 2010, has called the release a mistake.
However, Scotland has responsibility for its own legal system following devolution in 1999. Scottish government sources said Megrahi had abided by the licence terms of his release submitting regular medical reports and reporting in through telephone conference calls.
How reassuring...
Megrahi had been held in Greenock prison in western Scotland. Local authority officials said on Wednesday they were trying to get back in contact with him after the turmoil of recent days to ensure he continues to meet his licence terms.
Our contact with Mr Megrahi over the past two years has been up-to date and has given us no cause for concern, East Renfrewshire Council said in a statement.
The events over the weekend in Tripoli have put us into the position where we will need to contact Mr Megrahi earlier than we would have expected to, it added.
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#1
If Megrahi were to meet an untimely end in Libya's current civil turmoil, few other than crocodiles would shed a tear.
#2
"Our contact with Mr Megrahi over the past two years has been up-to date and has given us no cause for concern," East Renfrewshire Council said in a statement.
I'm certainly glad to receive that report. How reassuring for all of us who fly.
#4
Is that what this war is really all about? The Brits are upset because they found out this guy didn't really have terminal prostate cancer? They started a war for that?
PARIS: The UN Security Council is expected to vote this week on a resolution releasing frozen Libyan assets in the US to the rebels trying to oust Muammar Qaddafi.
The US, Britain and the European Union have called for the quick release of assets to help the opposition National Transitional Council rebuild the Libyan economy, restore essential services, reform the police and the army, and pay government salaries.
Near the bottom of this piece you'll discover why we've been so gosh-darned willing to unfreeze the assets to help the NTC...
We have called a meeting today and will introduce a resolution that would unfreeze roughly $1.5 billion of Libyan assets to meet urgent humanitarian needs, Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the US Mission to the United Nations in New York, said Wednesday.
In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters we are engaged at the United Nations and elsewhere to pave the way for the unfreezing of assets, the assets that have been frozen for five months but which ultimately belong to the Libyan people.
The head of Libyas opposition government, Mahmoud Jibril, held talks Wednesday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who promised to keep providing military support for the Libyan rebels trying to topple Muammar Qaddafis regime.
Sarkozy said it would be up to the Libyan opposition government to decide when it was time for French troops to leave. Jibril indicated the rebels still needed help, saying the fighting wasnt yet finished and calling strange unconfirmed reports that Qaddafis camp was proposing a cease-fire.
But Jibril said plans for the future were already taking shape and his government was talking to the UN about sending up to 200 monitors to help ensure security in Tripoli.
The mission of protecting civilians is not over, said Jibril. The other bigger and more fierce battle has not started yet: it is the rebuilding of Libya.
Tentative discussions have also begun on a second resolution to cover the UNs mandate in Libya which currently authorizes the NATO-led air campaign to protect civilians from attack, according to a British official, who demanded anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations.
One of the biggest questions facing the opposition government is whether they will be given access to funds frozen to punish Qaddafis regime and cripple his response to the insurrection.
The US and its allies have been trying for more than two weeks to get the Security Council committee that monitors sanctions against Libya to agree to unfreeze the assets. The decision to lift the sanctions must be unanimous.
Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions have been private, said all 15 nations agreed except South Africa, so the US, Britain and France decided to introduce a resolution instead.
We expect it to have the necessary support to pass, a US diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
South Africas UN ambassador was not immediately available to comment.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has previously said the UK hopes to release about 12 billion pounds ($20 billion) in frozen Libyan assets, though it wasnt immediately clear if any of those funds would be covered under the new resolution.
French officials said Jibril was in Paris to discuss the decisive final stages of Qaddafis regime and lay the groundwork for a Sept. 1 meeting in Paris to discuss how the international community can help Libya move to the post-Qaddafi era.
As nations and companies jostle for favor with the new rebel regime, officials acknowledged that Libyas opposition has forged strong ties with those who backed the campaign to topple Qaddafi.
Many, many countries have been very resolute and strong in coming out and siding with the Libyan people from day one and I include in that the British government, Guma El-Gamaty, a British-based coordinator for the National Transitional Council told BBC radio. There are other countries who have been very slow, and, if you like, only came around very, very late countries like China and Russia.
He also said Libya was likely to improve its ties with the United States.
Qaddafis relationship with the (United) States was very erratic, El-Gamaty said.
China, which abstained from the UN resolution authorizing force against Qaddafis forces in Libya, said Wednesday it now wanted to take a role in post-conflict reconstruction.
Saket Vemprala, an analyst at the London-based Business Monitor International, said he believed Libyas incoming regime wouldnt likely restrict itself to current allies when it came to awarding new contracts, and may be open to striking deals with Russia and China.
I think the most likely outcome is pragmatic dealmaking from the National Transitional Council, Vemprala said.
El-Gamaty also confirmed the interim government would stand by commercial deals with foreign companies signed by Qaddafis regime. They will be honored, he said.
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Muslim groups are calling for a separate student loan system because the interest due to be charged will conflict with rules of Sharia law.
The changes to tuition fees, which come into force next year, will see students charged higher rates of interest on the loans they take out to pay for university. Until now they have paid the market rate of inflation but the reforms mean students who go on to earn more than £21,000 will have to pay interest of up to 3 per cent.
But in some interpretations of Sharia law, which is Islam's legal system and governs every aspect of Muslim life, loans are forbidden.
The National Union of Students has said it could be two years before an alternative system is worked out, leaving some Muslims fearing they cannot go on to further education.
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies told The Independent that the rate increase was a 'pressing issue'. A spokesman said: 'Because the rate of interest is above the rate of inflation, it is quite blatant usury.'
Mohammed Ahmed-Sheikh, 17, says the changes will discourage him from applying to university next year. 'The fees are the reason I'm having doubts. I'm Muslim and loans are against my religion,' he told The Independent.
Then get a job and save up. Really, this isn't rocket science.
Ahmad Mitoubsi, 21, who graduated this year, added: 'We've just had to adapt to the British system or else I couldn't have gone to uni.'
The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills says discussions are ongoing with student groups about a solution. But it is thought an alternative, such as already happens with mortgages in which education could be 'rented' instead, may not be agreed until the 2013/14 academic year.
Prince Harry is going to Arizona this fall to complete helicopter training, said a spokeswoman for Luke Air Force Base on Wednesday. However, it's not clear where in the state he will train.
"He's definitely not coming to Luke, but he will be in Arizona," said Capt. Carla Gleason.
The prince, recently promoted to captain, is training to pilot the Boeing Apache attack helicopter with the British Army Air Corps. Gleason confirmed that the prince is taking part in the Apache Conversion to Role course in the U.K. That course continues with Exercise Crimson Eagle in Arizona and California.
The prince's U.S. training will consist of "environmental training, live firing and tactical exercises," according to Gleason.
The British Embassy confirmed the prince will be training in the U.S. but said the British military has not given further details. A British Ministry of Defence press officer said he could not confirm the prince's plans, adding that details of his training are likely being withheld as a matter of security.
#2
Not my first choice. Helicopter flight routes have pretty narrow corridors due to Sky Harbor, which are shared with "unconventional" aircraft heading south from Nevada to far off the coast of San Diego, which is about the only place left they can go supersonic.
NORTH Korea has intensified its co-operation with Iran this year and supplied it with a computer programme that could help Tehran build nuclear weapons, according to German intelligence.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said Germany thought North Korea had delivered software, originally developed in the US, that could simulate neutron flows.
Such calculations, linked to identifying a chain reaction, are vital in the construction of reactors and nuclear explosives.
If confirmed, it could add to western suspicions about Iran's disputed nuclear activities and its links with North Korea. A confidential United Nations' report earlier this year said North Korea and Iran appeared to have been regularly exchanging ballistic missile technology in violation of UN sanctions.
Iran rejects western accusations it is seeking to develop atomic arms but its refusal to halt sensitive work has drawn gradually tightening sanctions since 2006. The Sueddeutsche said the programme, called Monte Carlo N-Particle Extended, or MCNPX 2.6.0., was used widely for civilian purposes but is subject to strict export controls because it can also be used to develop atomic weapons.
NORTH Korea has intensified its co-operation with Iran this year and supplied it with a computer programme that could help Tehran build nuclear weapons, according to German intelligence.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said Germany thought North Korea had delivered software, originally developed in the US, that could simulate neutron flows.
Such calculations, linked to identifying a chain reaction, are vital in the construction of reactors and nuclear explosives.
If confirmed, it could add to western suspicions about Iran's disputed nuclear activities and its links with North Korea. A confidential United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... ' report earlier this year said North Korea and Iran appeared to have been regularly exchanging ballistic missile technology in violation of UN sanctions.
Iran rejects western accusations it is seeking to develop atomic arms but its refusal to halt sensitive work has drawn gradually tightening sanctions since 2006. The Sueddeutsche said the programme, called Monte Carlo N-Particle Extended, or MCNPX 2.6.0., was used widely for civilian purposes but is subject to strict export controls because it can also be used to develop atomic weapons.
[An Nahar] North Korea's leader Kim Dear Leader Jong-Il ... hereditary dictator of North Korea. His definition of reunification isn't the same as the definition in Seoul... on Wednesday promised Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in rare talks, that his reclusive state was prepared to renounce nuclear testing and allow transit of a gas pipeline.
The meeting followed Kim's four-day train ride through Russia's Far East and Siberia, his third visit to the giant neighbor in the last decade but first since 2002.
The secretive Kim made no comment to news hounds after the meeting outside the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude some 5,550 kilometers east of Moscow, but Medvedev expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
"I am full of positive feelings. The meeting was substantive and open," Medvedev said.
He told news hounds that North Korea supported a planned pipeline to carry Russian gas supplies to South Korea through the North, a route that would allow Moscow to reach new energy-hungry Asian markets.
He said the proposed pipeline would stretch more than 1,700 kilometers and start with volumes of up to 10 billion cubic meters per year.
The deal would concern "the transit of gas across the territory of North Korea and accordingly the addition to this project of the Republic of Korea, considering that the main consumers are on its territory," Medvedev said.
After a long-lasting freeze in the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program, a Kremlin official said Pyongyang was ready to impose a moratorium on nuclear testing and processing if the discussions resume.
"Without preconditions, in the course of the negotiations, the North Koreans will be ready to solve the issue of introducing a moratorium on testing and spent nuclear fuel processing," Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said.
North Korea has previously called for an early resumption of six-party talks -- including China, Japan and the United States as well as the two Koreas and Russia -- "without preconditions".
But South Korea insists that its neighbor must first suspend its atomic activities. Pyongyang stormed out of the interminable six-party negotiations in April 2009 and conducted its second nuclear test a month later.
Kim earlier swept up to the meeting at the Sosnovy Bor (Pine Forest) garrison outside Ulan-Ude in a 1990s black Mercedes with no number plates.
He was personally welcomed by Medvedev, the Russian president's business suit and bright violet tie creating a glaring contrast with the dull khaki uniform of the North Korean supremo.
The two men sat at a small table decorated with white flowers, backed by the flags of the two nations. They were later joined by their delegations for full negotiations.
Kim had arrived in Ulan-Ude aboard his armored train a day earlier on a week-long Trans-Siberian journey which started at the weekend when he crossed the border into Russia's Far East.
His journey has seen him enjoy varied excursions including taking a dip in Siberian waters, touring a plant making assault aircraft, taking a trip on the famed Lake Baikal, eating local fish and visiting a hydro-power station.
"I hope that you have been able to see what you wanted to," said Medvedev. Kim replied: "Thank you for the great attention from your side Mr. President, we are having a very fun journey."
Kim is also seeking more economic and food aid from Moscow amid fears of a hunger crisis. Moscow said on the eve of Kim's arrival that it was sending up to 50,000 tons of wheat to North Korea.
North Korea's Soviet-era debt of $11 billion was also discussed at the meeting, with a Russian source saying that some progress had been made.
Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said the first step involves Pyongyang acknowledging that it owes the money to Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union, followed by agreement on the mechanism for the payback.
Kim last traveled to Russia in 2002 when he met then president Vladimir Putin ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile... in Vladivostok. In May, Kim visited China, a third visit in just over a year to his country's sole major ally and economic lifeline.
The Kremlin says any opportunity must be seized to engage the Stalinist state in dialogue and trilateral projects could help promote stability on the divided Korean peninsula.
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According to an article of the Greek newspaper "Eleftherotypia", under the scope of reforms in the Greek Family Law, the Shariah will be abolished for Greek Mohammedans.
This Mohammedan law establishes among others the right of polygamy and gives only to men the right to divorce their wives which constitutes a problem for the women in Thraki, Northern Greece. Even in Turkey, this law was abolished in 1926.
In addition, this law does not comply with the Greek constitution which establishes the equality of Greeks regarding the application of the laws and the equality of men and women. The National Committee on the Human Rights considers that the Shariah does not protect minorities but abuses the rights and values of all the Greek Mohammedans.
It is also announced that the family and hereditary relations of all Greek citizens will be regulated by Greek Laws. Thus, the Mufti will only be religious leader of Greek Mohammedans and will no longer have judicial authorities.
[Iran Press TV] Terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has warned that it will wage an intense military operation against the Turkish military inside Turkey.
PKK Presidency Council has decided to change the group's defensive policy into aggressive approach and target Turkish military headquarters inside Turkey's soil, IRNA quoted PKK front man Ahmed Denis as telling Al-Sumariya news on Wednesday.
He said the decision was made in reaction to Turkey's recent Arclight airstrikes against PKK's positions along Iraq's border.
The forces have been waging successive offensives against the bases of the terrorist group in Iraq since Wednesday, hours after the group killed 11 Turkish soldiers and a Turkish security guard in an ambush in Hakkari Province in southwestern Turkey.
Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising... the Turkish military declared on Tuesday that at least 100 terror elements of the terrorist group have been killed and over 80 of them injured in a recent wave of Arclight airstrikes against their positions in northern Iraq.
The military has vowed to continue its offensives against the group both inside Turkey and across its border with Iraq's Kurdistan region.
The Kurdish group, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, has been fighting the central government in Turkey since 1984 in quest for a separate state in southwestern Turkey.
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[The News (Pak)] Amir Jamat-e-Islami Syed Munawar Hassan ... The funny-looking Amir of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jama'at-e-Islami Pakistan in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009... Wednesday said a minus-MQM approach will have to be thought out to stop bloodshed in Bloody Karachi, adding PPP being a majority party of Sindh should, instead of being blackmailed by MQM, form its own government in the province.
Addressing a presser, the JI Amir said an unseen foreign hand was using its local activists to disrupt peace in Bloody Karachi with an aim to corrode Pakistain economically.
"Pakistain is being weakened on signals coming from India, Israel and America," he alleged.
Syed Munawar Hassan, however, claimed that his party would soon show a shimmer of hope to the Bloody Karachiites.
He announced that JI would observe a 'solidarity day' in Bloody Karachi on Friday and kick-start a country-wide peace movement after Eid.
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[Dawn] An anti-terrorist court on Wednesday ordered to drop the case against PML-N politician Anjum Aqeel Khan, who had been charged with escaping from police custody, and 32 other people, DawnNews reported.
The court issued the order of absolving the politician and his supporters of the charges due to lack of sufficient evidence.
Arrested on July 15 in a land fraud case, the National Assembly member had beat feet from custody outside the Shalimar cop shoppe with the help of supporters.
Subsequently, the court adjourned the case's hearing to August 30.
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...it just works out that way.
[Dawn] Pakistain does not want to be used as a base for beturbanned goon groups and needs the world's understanding as it tries to handle its problems, the foreign minister said Wednesday.
Hina Rabbani Khar also said after a two-day trip to Beijing that she wanted to further bolster ties with China, which has been Pakistain's main supporter.
Chinese officials have blamed Islamic fascistitrained in Pakistain for deadly attacks in the far west region of Xinjiang last month.
"Pakistain just seeks the world's understanding for the current challenges that Pakistain is going through....we are the ones and our people are the ones that are paying the price who are experiencing the brunt of it," said Khar, who was named foreign minister about five weeks ago.
Khar, who held talks with her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi and met Premier Wen Jiabao ...Wen has a professional background in geology and engineering. Unlike most American politicians, he actually knows things. ... , said Pakistain did not want beturbanned goon groups.
"We have made it clear to our neighbours and we make it clear again that Pakistain has no interest for its territory to be used by any non-state actors against any other country," she said.
Islamabad is struggling to deal with the Pak Taliban and their affiliates, which seek to topple Pakistain's government.
Khar said Pakistain was increasing its counter-terrorism cooperation with China.
Last month about 20 people were killed in violence in the far western city of Kashgar in Xinjiang, and Chinese authorities said one attack was carried out by gunnies trained in weapons and bomb-making at camps run by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement in Pakistain.
The government hasn't disclosed evidence for that allegation.
Security has been tight across Xinjiang since 2009 when almost 200 people were killed in fighting between majority Han Chinese and the Uighur ethnic group.
Uighurs say they face employment and religious discrimination. China says all ethnic groups are treated equally and government investment and aid have dramatically raised living standards.
Xinjiang is China's Central Asian frontier, bordering Pakistain, Afghanistan, Russia and other countries. Kashgar was an important hub on the ancient route through which Chinese silk and other goods reached Europe.
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[An Nahar] The March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... General Secretariat strongly condemned on Wednesday Hizbullah's position on the indictment in the Special Tribunal for Leb, slamming its "sanctification" of the four party suspects accused of being involved in the liquidation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: "One of the suspects' interview in TIME Magazine was a deliberate provocation by Hizbullah to not just the STL, but the Lebanese people's longing for justice."
"It was also a scandal to the government and its institutions that announced its inability to inform the suspects of the arrest warrants against them under the excuse that it was unable of finding their locations," it continued.
"This government is completely responsible for this scandal. It should apprehend the suspects itself or demand that Hizbullah hand them over or resign," it stressed.
Furthermore, the March 14 General Secretariat condemned Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... 's recent positions, which the statement said made it appear as if the entire Shiite sect was being targeted by the STL.
The statement warned that such actions would lead Leb to strife.
"The General Secretariat condemns the attempt to connect the Shiite sect to the accused and the liquidations," it added.
"This sect has been and will always be a key partner in the state," it stressed.
"It refuses to have their names dragged in the adventures of those who claim to represent them," it continued.
TIME Magazine recently published an interview with one of the suspects in the Hariri liquidation, who said that he is located in Leb and that the Lebanese authorities know where he is but cannot capture him.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Prince Harry is going to Arizona this fall to complete helicopter training, said a spokeswoman for Luke Air Force Base on Wednesday. However, it's not clear where in the state he will train.
North Korea
Kim 
interminable six-party negotiations
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
According to an article of the Greek newspaper "Eleftherotypia", under the scope of reforms in the Greek Family Law, the Shariah will be abolished for Greek 
Syed Munawar Hassan
