Planned east London Islamic center sparks 'Mega Mosque No Thanks' campaign

An artist's impression of the London mega-mosque

A planned 10,000-capacity ‘mega mosque’ in East London is under consideration by city authorities as locals mount a campaign to halt construction amid fears it will become a hotbed of Islamic extremism.

The gigantic mosque, four times the size of St. Paul’s Cathedral, will sport towering 40-foot minarets, an Islamic library, sports facilities and eight apartments.

Planning permission for the place of worship is being considered by Newham Council, despite controversy and fierce opposition from the local community, including many Muslims.

The plans were submitted by Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim missionary movement, which some have described as an ‘antechamber of fundamentalism’.

Critics claim the Islamic group preaches separatism and segregation. Two of the July 7, 2005, London bombers – Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammad Sidique Khan – are believed to have prayed at a Tablighi mosque in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, before committing their terror attack.

“They teach that if you want to be a good Muslim you must separate off from non-Muslims…It's only Tablighi Jamaat – of all the Islamic groups – that has created ghettos over in Toronto, in Canada. They're all around the world, this is a huge group and wherever they go they create barriers, hostility, division, they create separatism," Alan Craig, campaign director of ‘Mega Mosque No Thanks,’ which is actively opposing its construction, told RT.

If given the go-ahead, the massive mosque could be the first Sharia-law-controlled area in Britain. Many East Londoners are worried that flouts Prime Minster David Cameron’s policy of a multicultural Britain that embraces all ethnic groups.

“The grounds on which they're trying to set-up here in Britain are anti-British, anti-Western. This is not just going to be a Mosque – this is going to be a centre of training, where they are going to try to reach out to Islamist Muslims. To harden up and medieval-ize the Islam of ordinary Muslims in this country. And I meet so many Muslims, who don't want that," journalist and cultural analyst Dr. Jenny Taylor, founder of religious literacy consulting group Lapido Media, explained to RT.

That view is shared by many Muslims in East London. Asqhar Bukhari, a spokesperson for the UK branch of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, told RT, “Muslims themselves oppose this mosque. Not on the grounds that, they don't want to worship their God, but on the grounds that women aren't allowed, the local population, the Muslim population, has no say in how the mosque itself is governed."

The proposal has sparked intense opposition in the years since the plans were first submitted in 1999.

In 2001, Tablighi Jamaat agreed worship would only be on a temporary basis at the site of the proposed mosque. In 2010, Newham Council issued an enforcement notice, but Tablighi successfully appealed it in 2011 and now more than 5,000 people worship at the ramshackle site every week.

The plans had initially included a provision for retail units and 300 houses, which were shelved in place of the mega mosque. The Muslim community refused to allow their donations to contribute to commercial businesses.

Newham Council, which received the proposal from Tablighi on September 5, 2012, issued a statement in response: “We can confirm we have received a planning application. As this is currently being processed it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”

The Mega Mosque No Thanks website contains a checklist for mobilizing activists, including signing an e-petition on the government’s website and contacting local MPs.

Craig explained to RT, “If this went ahead it would be like a tipping point – there will be no stopping fundamentalist Islam. If that happens – well we'd all need to leave the county."

Tablighi Jamaat maintains that their purpose is peaceful missionary work. Spokesperson for the group’s charitable trust and site owner Anjuman-E-Islahul-Muslimeen previously told reporters, “The door is always open and we are happy to meet and discuss in depth our proposals.”

Iran in possession of intel obtained by Hezbollah's Ayub drone: Iran MP

Hezbollah recently sent a radar-evading drone deep into the Israeli airspace. The operation, code-named Hussein Ayub, saw Hezbollah’s drone fly hundreds of kilometers into the Israeli airspace.

A senior Iranian lawmaker says the Islamic Republic is in possession of intelligence on Israeli secret sites obtained by Hezbollah’s Iranian-developed drone Ayub, which recently flew over occupied Palestinian territories.

“These aircraft transmit their images online and we are now in possession of the images of [Israeli] restricted areas,” Deputy Head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Esmail Kowsari said in an interview with Al-Alam on Sunday.

Hezbollah recently sent a radar-evading drone deep into the Israeli airspace.

The operation, code-named Hussein Ayub, saw Hezbollah’s drone fly hundreds of kilometers into the Israeli airspace and get very close to Dimona nuclear plant without being detected by advanced Israeli and US radars, Hezbollah Secretary General Nasrallah said during a televised speech on October 11.

The Iranian lawmaker further expressed confidence that Hezbollah is in possession of aircraft more advanced than Ayub.

Kowsari reiterated that Iran has the technology to build armed unmanned aircraft.

On Sunday, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran currently has unmanned aerial vehicles that are far more advanced than the drone recently flown by Hezbollah in the Israeli regime’s airspace.

The technology of Hezbollah’s Iranian-made drone was not “Iran’s latest technology,” Vahidi said.

On October 14, Vahidi confirmed that Ayub had been developed by Iran.

YH/HMV/HJL

Sixty million at risk as deadly 'Frankenstorm' Sandy triggers mass evacuations

People stand on the Ocean City Music Pier watching heavy surf caused by Hurricane Sandy, on October 28, 2012 in Ocean City, New Jersey

The ‘Frankenstorm’ Sandy is set to be unprecedented in size once it hits the US mainland Monday night. Tens of millions of people could be affected as the hybrid hurricane wreaks havoc from the East Coast to the Great Lakes on Halloween week.

Increasingly dire warnings of powerful winds, power outages, widespread flooding, torrential downpours and even snow are being sounded in New York and other major population centers as Hurricane Sandy continues its trek up from the Caribbean.

President Obama signed an emergency declaration for the states of New York and Massachusetts and District of Columbia on Sunday evening.

Forecasters said Sandy is set to transform into "super storm," as the tropical storm merges with a winter storm and a cold front, threatening up to 12 inches of rainfall in some areas and heavy snow inland.

"We're looking at impact of greater than 50 to 60 million people," says Louis Uccellini, head of environmental prediction for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Set to approach the coasts of the mid-Atlantic states by Monday, Sandy is likely to make landfall in the New York metropolitan area, home to about 22 million people, on Monday night.

The Category 1 storm’s sustained winds of 75 mile per hour are nothing extraordinary, but with hurricane force winds reaching out 105 miles from its center and weaker tropical storm-force winds extending 700 miles, forecasters are on edge about its potential impact.

The powerful gusts are expected to stretch as far inland as Pennsylvania.

“These winds are just amazing in terms of their high speed. I cannot recall ever seeing model forecasts of such an expansive areal wind field with values so high for so long a time. We are breaking new ground here,” a National Weather Service meteorologist in the agency’s Washington, DC/Baltimore office said on Saturday night.

"The size of this [Sandy] alone, affecting a heavily populated area, is going to be history making," said Jeff Masters, a hurricane specialist who writes a blog for Weather Underground.

Hurricane Sandy off the US East coast

Those far away from costal areas still have cause for alarm, as forecasters predict that inland flooding from the storm surge could pose a much greater risk than the winds.

Utilities officials have also warned that rain-saturated grounds could send trees plummeting into power lines, leaving residents at home without electricity for days.

Officials have urged residents to stock up on food, water and batteries, with grocery stores being swamped in anticipation of the potential power outages.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered a mandatory evacuation of Gotham's low-lying areas, home to some 375,000 people in total.

"If you don't evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you," Bloomberg said at a news conference Sunday.

The city's school system will also be closed on Monday, the mayor continued.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) had previously noted that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had directed "an orderly shutdown and suspension of all subway, bus and commuter railroad service" beginning at  7 pm Sunday.

Cuomo also said the decision to shut down the state's bridges and tunnels would be made on a case-by-case basis.

The city closed the subways before Hurricane Irene last year, with a Columbia University study predicting that an Irene surge just one foot higher could have shut down lower Manhattan.

Bloomberg's stark warning to residents regarding evacuation might have been spurred by fears that complacency had set in once Hurricane Irene turned out to be far weaker than initially predicted.

Irene, which struck the eastern US in August 2011, was responsible for 56 deaths and $15.6 billion dollars in damage, making it the fifth costliest storm in the country's history.

"The National Weather service believes there is increasing potential for high winds, coastal flooding and heavy rains across a broad area for a lengthy period of time Sunday through Tuesday," said Howard Glaser, director of New York State Operations.

Next door in New Jersey, hundreds of coastal residents started moving inland after Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on Saturday. A dozen Atlantic City casinos were closed following the declaration, as the gambling hub is located on a barrier island. The town’s nearly 40,000 residents will be evacuated Sunday, city officials said.

Atlantic City is likely to flood, as National Weather Service Forecasters in New Jersey predicted “larger mainstream flooding for Tuesday through much of the week.”

A sign reads "Danger Ocean Closed" at the entrance to the beach, due to approaching Hurricane Sandy, on October 28, 2012 in Ocean City, New Jersey (Mark Wilson / Getty Images / AFP)

A man surfs as Hurrican Sandy approaches on October 28, 2012 in Long Beach, New York (Mike Stobe / Getty Images / AFP)

As of 8:00 am EST, Hurricane Sandy was located roughly 395 miles south of New York City and is moving over the Atlantic parallel to the coast at a clip of 14 mph. It is expected to make a sharp westerly turn towards the coast on Sunday night.

Sandy is expected to transform into “a large and intense post-tropical cyclone as it turns toward the northwest," Environment Canada said early Sunday morning.

"It is possible that this transition could intensify the storm slightly further prior to moving inland somewhere along the New Jersey coast late Monday night or Tuesday morning," the agency continued.

"As many as 23 million Canadians stand to be affected by this storm. That's 70% of the country," meteorologist Mark Robinson at The Weather Network warned on Saturday.

Sandy has already been felt on the campaign trail, as President Barack Obama was forced to cancel campaign stops in Virginia on Monday and Colorado on Tuesday, while Republican contender Mitt Romney canceled all his scheduled events in Virginia and moved to the crucial swing state of Ohio instead, where he is currently neck and neck with the president.

Obama said he was working with state and local officials to make sure they had ample resources to prepare for the potential disaster, which could leave millions of Americans in its wake.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is readying water, meals, blankets and other resources at support bases, the White house announced on Saturday.

A sign announces "Danger Rip Current" as Hurricane Sandy approaches on October 28, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey

A loader makes a sand barrier on the beach to help stop storm surge from approaching Hurricane Sandy on October 28, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey

Carpenters Frank Jiacopello (L) and Ron Skinner put plywood over the doors at the Bally's Casino on the boardwalk as Hurricane Sandy approaches on October 28, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey

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Pentagon developing robotic soldiers for future wars

The US Pentagon has begun a contest to advance its efforts to develop robotic soldiers to fight the wars of the future.

The DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), which kicked off at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) conference center in Arlington, Virginia on Wednesday, focuses on testing robots' abilities to work in difficult situations designed for humans that “simulate conditions in a dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environment.”

US officials and the designers of the robots say they are only being built to provide emergency services during disasters and have made no comments on any possible military applications.

The DRC has four tracks, with teams participating in tracks B and C competing for access to a modified version of the Atlas robot for use in live disaster-response challenge events in 2013 and 2014.

One of the robots, called Pet-Proto, a predecessor of DARPA's Atlas robot, can maneuver over and around obstacles, using “capabilities, including autonomous decision-making, dismounted mobility and dexterity.”

DARPA project leader Gill Pratt says the DRC is "about trying to use robots to improve the resiliency of the US and world to natural and man-made disasters."

According to DARPA's $2.8 billion budget for 2013, the US military's research arm intends to invest $7 million in a project to create robotic partners for its soldiers.

The project, called the Avatar Project, was devised to "develop interfaces and algorithms to enable a soldier to effectively partner with a semi-autonomous bi-pedal machine and allow it to act as the solder's surrogate," DARPA announced.

Earlier this year, DARPA released a video of the robodog, which is capable of hauling a soldier's gear and following the soldier using its “eyes” -- which are actually sensors that can distinguish between trees, rocks, terrain obstacles, and people. 

British officials reject US request to use UK bases against Iran

British officials have reportedly rejected a request made by the United States to use its military bases in the UK as staging grounds for a possible attack on Iran.

According to The Guardian, the British government spurned the request citing advice from the attorney general’s office that such an attack could violate international law.

"The UK would be in breach of international law if it facilitated what amounted to a preemptive strike on Iran," a senior Whitehall source told The Guardian.

"It is explicit. The government has been using this to push back against the Americans," the source added.

The report also said that US diplomats have lobbied for the use of British bases in Cyprus, and for permission to fly from US bases on Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, both of which are British territories.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program with Tel Aviv recently stepping up its threats against the Islamic Republic.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of International Atomic Energy Agency it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Iran will never initiate a war but will give a crushing response to any military strike against the country, warning that any such measure could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East.

TE/HGH/SS

Worst storm in 100 years: East Coast waits in terror for Frankenstorm

This October 26, 2012 GOES -East satellite image courtesy of NOAA shows Hurricane Sandy. (AFP Photo)

Some Americans may have to think twice about going trick-or-treating this year. A massive storm is expected to hit the East Coast during the days leading up to Halloween, which meteorologists anticipate will cost at least $1 billion in damages.

The “Frankenstorm” may bring high winds, heavy rain, extreme tides and even snow to some states. The storm will evolve from a collision between Hurricane Sandy, which has already swept through Haiti and Cuba and is now heading north, and a winter storm coming from the west. Government forecasters say there is a 90 percent chance that the hurricane will make landfall on the East Coast.

The two weather systems are predicted to collide in New York or New Jersey Tuesday morning, bringing those states about 5 inches of rain and winds close to 40 mph. Forecasters say it could be the worst US storm in 100 years. Chuck Watso, director of research and development at Kinetic Analysis Corp., announced Thursday that it may cost more than $5 billion in damages.

“It’s pretty much the worst case scenario with the potential for historic coastal flooding, copious amounts of rain, and damaging winds,” Jason Samenow of the Capital Weather Gang wrote in the Washington Post.

“It’s definitely something that everyone should be watching,” Nelson Vaz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the Wall Street Journal. “A storm that maintains its strength, coming in to central New Jersey would focus the storm surge in the New York harbor area.”

Forecasters have compared the predicted weather system to the 1991 Perfect Storm, also known as the Halloween Nor’easter, which had winds blowing at 75 mph and cost more than $200 million in damages. This year’s storm will fall during a full moon, which will cause the tides to rise 20 percent higher than normal even without the storm surge.

Utility companies are preparing for the worst. In the Washington area, Pepco is gathering help from power companies in other parts of the US to gain additional assistance in the case of fallen power lines or power outages. Other companies are canceling their employees’ days off to have them available for help.

Baltimore Gas and Electric spokesman Robert Gould told the Post that he expects to see “a couple hundred thousand outages or more” when the Frankenstorm makes its appearance.

Amtrak has expressed concern that fallen trees and debris could make it difficult for trains to keep running between Washington and Boston.

As power companies, airports, rail lines and supermarkets are undergoing emergency preparations for a potentially record-breaking storm, residents of the Northeast may have to forego their Halloween plans.

“It’s looking like a very serious storm that could be historic,” Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground, told the Associated Press. “Mother Nature is not saying, ‘Trick or treat.’ It’s just going to give tricks.”

US keeps nearly 70 nuclear bombs in southern Turkey

The thermonuclear bomb, which is 3.53 meters long and weighs 320 kilograms, is considered as one of the most strategic weapons of the US.

About 10 to 20 of the bombs were stored at Turkey’s Balikesir and Ekinci airbases before they were transferred to Incirlik, the report said.

Turkey is also home to a controversial NATO radar base manned by US forces, which is part of a larger US-led missile system.

The missile system became operational in Turkey’s eastern province of Malatya in early 2012.

Some leading Turkish politicians and lawmakers have cautioned that the system will not be beneficial to Turkey and will only serve the interests of the Israeli regime.

The stationing of the US-sponsored radar system in Turkey was hailed by American officials as the most significant military cooperation between Washington and Ankara since 2003, when Turkey refused to allow a US armored division to cross Turkish territory to join the military invasion of Iraq from the north.

ASH/HSN