Jewish 'modesty patrols' terrorize Israeli citizens

Increasing amount of moral policing by ultra orthodox Jews has sparked fear among Israeli women. In recent weeks, many women were attacked by modesty squads for not following the Jewish dress code.

Taking a lead from the Islamic fundamentalists, Jewish modesty squad attacks on Women has increased in the recent months in Israel. Several incidents of stone pelting, beating, acid spilling on women have been reported.

In a recent incident a woman was beaten up in an ultra orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood. She was accused of leading an ' indecent ' lifestyle by wearing trousers and meeting men in private. A 14 year old girl was hospitalized in June after acid was spilled over her for wearing pants and a woman was stoned for wearing red blouse telling the color attracted attention.

Israeli-American novelist Naomi Ragen told AP

There are eyes and ears all over the place, very similar to what you hear about in countries like Iran.

Stores that sell MP4 players and cloth stores selling 'provocative' clothes have been vandalized in recent months.

A 17 year girl who was a attacked with pepper spray tells about the ultra orthodox neighborhood she lives in

Zealots there have thrown rocks and spat at women, and set fire to trash bins to protest impiety. Walls of the neighborhood are plastered with signs exhorting women to dress modestly — spelled out as closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts.

Although many arrests have been made by authorities in recent months, the government tolerates religious exclusive activities such as subsidizing gender-segregated bus routes that service religious neighborhoods.

Pakistani President Zardari receives fatwa for flirting with Palin

Pakistani religious leaders have issued a fatwa against President Asif Ali Zardari after his remarks on Sarah Palin. Zardari had praised Palin as ' gorgeous ' when they met last week at the UN.

lslamic leaders in Pakistan have condemned the remark made by their President on Sarah Palin during his recent visit to New York. Radical Islamic cleric at Lal masjid in the Pakistani has gone one step ahead by issuing a fatwa against Zardari. Lal Masjid ( Red mosque) was in the limelight last year when more than 100 people were killed in military action .

Maulana Abdul Ghafar, the prayer leader at the mosque said

Zardari's filthy remarks and repeated praise of a non-Muslim lady wearing a short skirt was unbecoming of a head of state of a Muslim country.

In the Video , Zardari is seen telling Palin "You are more gorgeous than you are on television .Then he turns to the others in the room to confess, "Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you." Palin accepts the complement with a "thank you". What created more anger among the fundamentalists is his final 'hug' remark. According to Islamic laws, physical contact and flattery between a man and woman who aren't married to each other is punishable.

Zardari, who became the President of Pakistan last month is the widower of Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim country. Palin had met several World leaders last week at the UN, but no other meeting received as much attention as with Zardari.

Credit crisis spreads across Europe, more banks bailed out

Fears have grown that entire Europe may slip into a recession with five banks bailed out in the last couple of days by authorities.Many more are expected to fail in the coming days.
hen the credit crisis in U S took an ugly turn with the collapse of Lehman, European regulators were saying their banks were fundamentally strong. Now, a couple weeks later, they are scrambling to rescue the troubled banks.

Five banks were bailed out by governments in France, U K, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg. Fortis, the biggest private employer in Belgium and the largest banking group in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg was partially nationalized. Other banks to be bailed out were Bradford & Bingley in Britain, Germany's Hypo Real Estate, Ireland's Glitnir Bank, the third largest in the country and Dexia, a French-Belgian lender to local banks.

Overnight, the money lending rates such as Libor and Euribor soared to their highest levels on record making the banks virtually impossible to get money. What makes regulators more worried is that Fortis, the biggest causality so far had a leverage ratio ((assets to equity) of 30 whereas other big banks such as UBS have a much worse leverage ratio at 40.

Many European banks have become too big and internationalized that it has become impossible for their home-country governments to rescue them. Many countries don't have the financial muscle to bail out their banks like in the U.S.

Senate passes bailout package

U.S Senate approved the $700 billion bailout package by a wide margin . 74 senators voted for the bill while 25 voted against.

Two days after the rejection of the bailout plan in the house, U S Senate on Thursday passed the revised $700 billion package. The earlier plan was modified by adding several sweeteners like tax breaks and other benefits.

The major changes brought in the bill after the rejection in the house include raising the FDIC insurance cap to $250,000 from the present $100,000 and a number of renewable energy tax breaks for individuals and businesses. Both the Presidential candidates, Barack Obama, from Illinois, and John McCain, from Arizona, voted in favor of the bill.

It is expected that the changes made in the bill will help garner support from the Republicans who had voted overwhelmingly against the bill in the house on Monday. The house takes up the bill on Friday.

"Hurricane fatigue" sets in as Ike targets Gulf coast

Officials in U S Gulf coast are worried that many storm-weary residents of the area may ignore orders to evacuate or stock supplies as the hurricane Ike closes in.

When hurricane Gustav was moving towards New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin called it the "Mother of all storms" and "The storm of the century". But when Gustav came ashore, it turned out to be just another storm. After one week, most of residents have come back to the city and another hurricane is looming large in the Atlantic threatening Gulf coast. Similar is the case with Houston where residents had to flee three times this year alone.

Andy Berma, a medical office manager who relocated to Houston from Chicago two months ago said

There are so many names coming by — it's Gustav, then Hanna, then Ike. It's like a herd of animals coming at you. It seems like the media needs something to talk about.

Eventually, Hurricane Ike may become another Gustav or Katrina. But public officials fear that many in the vulnerable areas may not evacuate even if a major hurricane comes ashore.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal requested people not to ignore warnings.

We are likely going to have to become accustomed to evacuating more frequently than when we were younger."Hurricane fatigue" should not prevent people there from leaving their homes for the second time in 10 days.

Meanwhile, hurricane Ike which battered Cuba overnight is moving towards the Gulf coast. Although, it has weakened to a Category 1 storm, it can regain strength rapidly as it enters the warm waters of the Gulf. Most of the models are predicting a direct hit on Texas, but it can go anywhere in the Gulf coast.