Putin Says Islam Is A Threat To The Western World  Muslim radicals pursuing systematic annhilation of non-Muslims Tuesday, November 12, 2002 In a European Union summit in Brussels, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the western civilization is in danger from Islamic terrorists. He also claimed that Islamic terrorists want to create a 'worldwide caliphate'. He said that the world no longer faced isolated acts of terrorism but a concerted and well programmed effort by a global terrorism network to slaughter non-Muslims. He warned that if terrorism is not stopped immediately there will be many more Moscow Theatre siege and the Bali bombing incidents, the world over. The Telegraph

Top FBI Woman To Head Catholic Church's Child Abuse Office  Role to include crime prevention Friday, November 8, 2002 Kathleen McChesney, a third most senior official and a highest ranking woman in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was appointed by the Roman Catholic Bishops in the US, as the head of their Child and Youth Protection office. A life-long lay Catholic, Kathleen is quitting the FBI to assume her new role. This office aims at removing pedophiles from the clergy. About 300 American priests were removed from office in 2001 amidst the child sex abuse scandal. She starts with her new assignment on December 2, 2002. BBC

Sharon For Attacking Iran Immediately After War On Iraq  Iran a 'center of world terror' Tuesday, November 5, 2002 In an interview with The London Times, Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Ariel Sharon issued a stern warning against an Iraqi chemical and biological attack. He said that no matter what Washington says, this time, Israel 'will' retaliate. He further suggested that once Iraq is dealt with, it should be Iran's turn next. Iran is developing weapons of mass destruction and there is a concern that it will be used against Israel and Western interests including Europe. Iran is also the sponsorer of Lebanese Shia militants, Hezbollah. Times Online

Turkey's New Pro-Islam Political Party Wins Parliamentary Majority  "I hope this party respects the secular and democratic regime," Bulent Ecevit, outgoing PM of Turkey Monday, November 4, 2002 Taking a clear majority of 34.2%, the Justice and Development Party (AK) has started the procedure to form a new government. The outgoing Prime Minister of Turkey, Bulent Ecevit, has handed over his resignation amidst fear that Turkey's Secular Constitution might be threatened. The leader of Justice and Development Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an ex-convict and is not in favor of war with Iraq. Many of Erdogan supporters want the party to stick to its Islamist roots. BBC

Indian Born Canadian Author Cancels US Tour Over Racial Profiling  Wants to stay home to avoid any further degradation Saturday, November 2, 2002 Booker Prize nominated Canadian author, Rohinton Mistry has cancelled his second half of a US Book Tour. Mistry complained of 'unbearable humiliation' due to racial profiling at the American airports. This incident also coincides with the Canadian government's recent travel advisory, to all Canadian citizens born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen. Interestingly, Rohinton Mistry is neither a Muslim nor was he born in any of the designated country. The Globe & Mail

Fiftieth Anniversary Of The First H-Bomb  The blast produced light brighter than a 1,000 suns Friday, November 1, 2002 Known as Mike, the first ever H-bomb was tested at Elugelab Island in the Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands. It was about 20 ft. high, 6 ft. 8 in. wide and weighed 164,000 lbs. The detonation left an underwater crater 6240 ft. wide and 164 ft. deep. Mike created a fireball which was 3 miles wide. In just 90 seconds the mushroom cloud rose to about 57,000 ft. and reached its peak at 135,000 ft., after five minutes. The cloud was measured at 1,000 miles and the stem spanned 30 miles. The blast lifted 80 million tonnes of soil from the ground. BBC