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Tony Blair receives a warm ” shoe and egg” welcome from the public of Dublin during his visit to publish his own book.

Tony Blair in his book named “A Journey”  has defended his policies on War on Iraq and in  a subsequent interview with BBC  has mentioned Islam as a “wicked and backward-looking”

Which made Mr Blair a guest of Shoe and egg from the hundreds of protesters surrounding him.

Blair told the BBC World Service “the biggest threat in international security is this broader radicalized movement, because I think it is rather similar to revolutionary communism.”

He said al-Qaida-linked extremism was “loosely a global ideological movement, but Iran is a state sponsor of it.”

If you ask me i dont think Al Qaida ever exist! When did we last hear of Osama bin Laden? 2 years back?

The question of  air safety  is becoming a huge factor of concerns these days. The public have right to feel insecure of what is going on with the Airport department! I feel much anger on seeing the air accidents these days. Why don’t they adopt a  safety procedure?

The accidents involving Plane Crash is growing rapid high then compared to other accidents involving train.

The UPS plane crash is the latest candidate to the plane crash incident. Though the cause of the accident is not known, it is sad to quote both the pilots died on the blast.

UPS plane was a cargo ship that was on its way to Germany before ending up in a crash in the middle of the desert of Dubai.

An eyewitness Omanakuttan told Emirates 24|7 “I could see a ball of fire and smoke in the desert area on the Al Ain Road. I was heading towards Dubai from the Global Village. The entire area was on fire.”

General Civil Aviation Authority have confirmed the crash adding that bodies of the pilots have been recovered.

An official at Dubai International airport said the crew had reported fire on board and was attempting to turn around to the airport when the plane went down.

Let the souls of the victims rest in peace.

After 7 years of war in Iraq, the American President has  announced that Operation Iraqi Freedom now comes to an end.

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country,” he said, according to the excerpts.

The president addressed the economic crisis in America by talking about how restoring prosperity at home is critical to maintaining the nation’s strength abroad. Obama said getting the economy back on track is his “central responsibility as president,” according to the excerpts.

“Today, our most urgent task is to restore our economy, and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work,” the president said.

Obama said ending the war in Iraq is in the United States’ best interest and “now, it is time to turn the page.”

“Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility,” the excerpts said.

You can watch the address tonight at 8p ET by CLICKING HERE

Miss Universe 2010 was celebrated with much excitement. It was the 59th edition of the beauty pageant which was held at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada , United States. This special day was organised on August 23rd , 2010 which started in the early hours of Monday morning.

The Miss Universe 2010 was a spectacular evening which was hosted by rocker Bret Michaels and NBC correspondent Natalie Morales. Its the biggest beauty pageant across the world which is seen by nearly 190 countries and territories. Miss Universe 2010 was the most watched event on all the television sets in every home all over the world.

The beauty pageant was well organised. The first part of the selection was the top 15 semi-finalists who were judged on their swimsuit , evening gown and the first round of interview test. The countries Ireland, Albania, Phillipines, Jamaica, Mexico, Ukraine, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Guatemala and Australia were selected to the Top 10. After the highest tallied score was announced , countries Mexico, Australia, Jamaica,Ukraine and Philippines were selected as the Top 5.

There were special awards like the Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality which was won by Fonthip Watcharatrakul, Miss Thailand and Jesinta Campbell, Miss Australia respectively. Miss Thailand had also won the award for the Best National Costume.

After a tight competition, Miss Mexico , Jimena Navarrete, 22, was crowned the Miss Universe 2010.The 23-year-old Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps finished second, and 19-year-old Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell ended as third runners-up. The fourth and the fifth spots went to Miss Ukraine and Miss Philippines respectively.

Miss Universe 2010 was crowned by last year’s winner, Stefania Fernandez who represented the country Venezuela. Last year too, Miss Australia ,Rachael Finch came in as the third runner up.

Iran has begin powering-up its first Nuclear Power Plant. The Iranian and Russian engineers have began loading into the plant.

This has been a great achievement for Iran in its atomic research since it has reached this far despite all the US sanctions against it.

The weeklong operation to load uranium fuel into the reactor at the Bushehr power plant in southern Iran is the first step in starting up a facility the U.S. once hoped to prevent because of fears over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

“The startup operations will be a big success for Iran,” conservative lawmaker Javad Karimi said in Tehran. “It also shows Iran’s resolve and capability in pursuing its nuclear activities.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a Automic Research Lab

Russia, which helped finish building the plant, has pledged to safeguard the site and prevent spent nuclear fuel from being shifted to a possible weapons program. After years of delaying its completion, Moscow says it believes the Bushehr project is essential for persuading Iran to cooperate with international efforts to ensure Iran does not develop the bomb.

The United States, while no longer formally objecting to the plant, disagrees and says Iran should not be rewarded while it continues to defy U.N. demands to halt enrichment of uranium, a process used to produce fuel for power plants but which can also be used in weapons production.

In Iran, nationwide celebrations were planned for Saturday’s fuel loading at Bushehr.

“I thank the Russian government and nation, which cooperated with the great Iranian nation and registered their name in Islamic Iran’s golden history,” said Iranian Vice President and nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi. “Today is a historic day and will be remembered in history.”

Capitalizing on the renewed interest in and high price of gold the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) and the World Gold Council have launched the latest in the Visions of Dubai gold coin series. The new coin features the image of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on the front and The Palm Jumeirah, one of Dubai’s iconic landmarks, on the reverse.

The coin is made of 24-karat (999.9) gold and supported by the World Gold Council. The VoD coins are produced by Emirates Gold Refinery DMCC and the collectibles have been especially designed to represent Dubai to the world, sending the message that the emirate is an important hub for gold in the Middle East region. The coins come in four sizes: 1oz (34 g), ½ oz (17 g), ¼ oz (8.5 g) and 1/10 oz (3.4 g) and are sold through Dubai Duty Free and gold retailers including Siroya Jewellers LLC, Joy Alukkas Group, Mahallati Jewellery and Popley Jewellers. The coins are also being promoted by DMCC through an extensive range of creative marketing activities and promotions.

Source

Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid al-Qaeda No.3

ISLAMABAD: Al-Qaeda’s third-in-command, whose role spanned from operations to fundraising, is believed to have been killed last month in a US missile strike in Pakistan.

Sheikh Sa’id al-Masri, also known as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was believed to be killed along with members of his family in a strike by a pilotless CIA-operated drone attack.

Al-Qaeda confirmed his death in a statement on a website earlier on Monday.

“We have strong reason to believe…that al-Masri was killed recently in Pakistan’s tribal areas,” a US official in Washington said on condition of anonymity. “In terms of counterterrorism, this would be a big victory.”

A Pakistani security official said Yazid was most probably killed in a missile strike in North Waziristan on the night of May 21.

“We had a report at the time that one Arab was killed in that strike with some of his family members and I think it was probably him,” said the official, who declined to be named.

The attack targeted a house owned by a tribesman some 25 km west of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, a stronghold of al-Qaeda and Taliban militants that borders Afghanistan.

Intelligence officials at the time said six militants were killed but residents said 12 people, including four women and two children, were killed. Six women and two children were wounded and treated at a hospital in Miramshah, residents said.

“He was known as Mustafa in the area. His wife was killed in the strike,” a resident of the village where attack took place said on condition of anonymity.

The US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant websites, said earlier on Monday that al-Qaeda announced al-Masri’s death in an Internet posting.

In addition to al-Masri, the announcement stated that his wife, three of his daughters, his granddaughter and other men, women and children were killed, according to SITE.

The CIA has stepped up the pace of unmanned aerial drone attacks, targeting not only high-level al-Qaeda and Taliban targets but largely unknown foot soldiers as well.

A US official said al-Masri was widely seen as al-Qaeda’s No. 3 figure and its main conduit to leader Osama bin Laden.

As al-Qaeda’s chief operating officer, he had a hand in everything from finances to operational planning, the official said.

Capacity damaged, commitment remains

Analysts say his death will be a major loss for al-Qaeda but there would be no weakening of the group’s fighting resolve.

“Definitely it will have an impact because it was their important figure, it’s a big loss for them but there appears to be a generational change taking place in al-Qaeda where new ones are replacing old ones,” said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a newspaper editor and expert on militant affairs.

“Al-Qaeda’s capacity to operate and strike has been badly damaged because of their losses in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq but we have not yet seen any weakening of their commitment.”

A senior intelligence official in Islamabad said al-Qaeda’s No. 3 position was “the most dangerous” rank in the group.

Five other al-Qaeda leaders considered third-in-command have been killed or captured since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, but al-Masri may be the most difficult to replace.

“They’re not getting enough people of the right calibre that they require as they were getting earlier,” the intelligence official said, crediting pressure from the drone strikes, Pakistani military actions in the tribal areas and stepped-up intelligence actions in the rest of Pakistan.

Yazid served as al-Qaeda’s leader in Afghanistan and as well as al-Qaeda’s “chief financial officer,” according to the US 9-11 commission.

As chief financier, he was responsible for disbursing al-Qaeda funds, making him one of the most trusted and important leaders of the group.

He was a founding member of Ayman al Zawahiri’s branch of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, one of the original groups that merged to form al-Qaeda. Following the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981, al-Masri was implicated in the killing along with Zawahiri and others, and they spent time in jail together.

He also served as a top propagandist for al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

In March, US officials said a drone strike in Pakistan killed a key al-Qaeda planner.

Courtesy : DawnNews.