A car rammed the doors of a synagogue in Toulouse in southern France on Monday night, causing the building to catch fire. Nobody was hurt in the blaze
A car packed with petrol bombs was set on fire and pushed by another car into a synagogue. At the time of the attack, twelve people were attending a lecture given from a rabbi. The synagogue door caught fire, but there was no other damage. No arrests have been made by the police till now.
The attack appears to be a spill over of anger over Israel's attacks in Gaza. France has the largest community of Muslims and Jews in Western Europe. The attack comes just one day after French defence minister met Jewish and Muslim community leaders requesting to stay away from violence.
Dominique Sopo, the head of France's main anti-racist movement SOS Racisme condemned the incident.
Those who want to import the Middle East conflict over here aren't helping the Israelis or the Palestinians, unless they can explain why hitting a Jew here improves the situation in Gaza, or how Arab-bashing helps protect Israel.
France has seen an increase in Anti-semitic violence since 2002 when Israel launched it's offensive on West Bank. Over 2,000 Jews have left France for Israel since 2002 as they felt insecure in France. France which had seen rioting by North African immigrants in the past fear more such incidents if the situation in Gaza deteriorates further. An Anti-Israel demonstration held on Monday in Paris had turned violent with the demonstrators torching cars and vandalizing several shops.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Contraceptive pill is polluting environment : Vatican newspaper
A report in the semi-official Vatican newspaper claims that contraceptive pill is polluting the environment and is a key cause for the increase in male infertility.
L'Osservatore Romano ( The Roman Observer) is the semi-official Vatican newspaper published from Vatican. It covers views from important churchmen and runs official documents released from the Pope.
A report published in the newspaper by Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, claimed that they have enough evidence that contraceptive pill is a cause for male infertility. According to the report, the Pill is responsible for releasing tons of hormones into nature through female urine, polluting the environment . It quotes various WHO reports for substantiating it's claim.
The report says
We have sufficient evidence to state that a non-negligible cause of male infertility in the West is the environmental pollution caused by the pill. We are faced with a clear anti-environmental effect which demands more explanation on the part of the manufacturers.
Many organisations have dismissed the claims made by the report saying it as baseless. Gianbenedetto Melis, vice-president of a contraceptive research association said.
Once metabolised, the hormones contained in oral contraceptives no longer have any of the characteristic effects of feminine hormones.
Over the years, Vatican has been against the use of contraceptives equating it to abortion. Many Women's rights organizations have voiced their concern over Vatican's stand on issues such as emergency contraception to rape victims.
L'Osservatore Romano ( The Roman Observer) is the semi-official Vatican newspaper published from Vatican. It covers views from important churchmen and runs official documents released from the Pope.
A report published in the newspaper by Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, claimed that they have enough evidence that contraceptive pill is a cause for male infertility. According to the report, the Pill is responsible for releasing tons of hormones into nature through female urine, polluting the environment . It quotes various WHO reports for substantiating it's claim.
The report says
We have sufficient evidence to state that a non-negligible cause of male infertility in the West is the environmental pollution caused by the pill. We are faced with a clear anti-environmental effect which demands more explanation on the part of the manufacturers.
Many organisations have dismissed the claims made by the report saying it as baseless. Gianbenedetto Melis, vice-president of a contraceptive research association said.
Once metabolised, the hormones contained in oral contraceptives no longer have any of the characteristic effects of feminine hormones.
Over the years, Vatican has been against the use of contraceptives equating it to abortion. Many Women's rights organizations have voiced their concern over Vatican's stand on issues such as emergency contraception to rape victims.
Iranian newspaper closed for anti-Hamas article
Iranian reformist newspaper Kargozaran has been closed down by the authorities for publishing an article criticizing Hamas and allegedly justifying ' Zionist crimes '.
Kargozaran is a reformist daily close to the former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. It carried an article on last Tuesday calling Hamas a terrorist organization and accusing them of hiding in kindergartens and hospitals causing the death of many children and innocent civilians. On Wednesday, the authorities issued an order to close down the newspaper.
Mohammad Parvizi , Spokesperson of the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry of Iran said
The reason for the closure of the newspaper is because it published an article yesterday in which it sanitized the Zionist regime's crimes in Gaza.The paper is banned upon articles 6 and 12 of Press Law and the case has been sent to the court.
Kargozaran is the latest among a group of publications to be closed by the government since President Ahmedi Nejad took office in 2005. Last month, Shahrvand-e Emrouz, a reformist magazine was asked to stop publishing for carrying articles against the regime.
Kargozaran's director Morteza Sajadian hoped that the closure will be temporary. He regretted for carrying article and said it was mistakenly printed.
Kargozaran is a reformist daily close to the former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. It carried an article on last Tuesday calling Hamas a terrorist organization and accusing them of hiding in kindergartens and hospitals causing the death of many children and innocent civilians. On Wednesday, the authorities issued an order to close down the newspaper.
Mohammad Parvizi , Spokesperson of the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry of Iran said
The reason for the closure of the newspaper is because it published an article yesterday in which it sanitized the Zionist regime's crimes in Gaza.The paper is banned upon articles 6 and 12 of Press Law and the case has been sent to the court.
Kargozaran is the latest among a group of publications to be closed by the government since President Ahmedi Nejad took office in 2005. Last month, Shahrvand-e Emrouz, a reformist magazine was asked to stop publishing for carrying articles against the regime.
Kargozaran's director Morteza Sajadian hoped that the closure will be temporary. He regretted for carrying article and said it was mistakenly printed.
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