Day: July 9, 2009

Jordanian stabs sister in “honor killing” for rumors she was dating a man

Jordanian stabs sister in honor killing
— “A Jordanian police official says a 24-year-old farmer has stabbed his sister to death with a dagger to cleanse the family’s honor. The official says the man turned himself in and confessed to killing his 27-year-old sister because he heard rumors she was dating a man.”
— Additional AP report: “An autopsy showed the victim, who was 27 years old, was four weeks pregnant, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists”

Afghanistan revises contentious marriage law

Afghanistan revises contentious marriage law
— “Afghanistan’s government has revised a marriage law that sparked an international outcry over sections that appeared to legalize marital rape, Justice Ministry officials said Thursday.”
— “Women’s rights activists welcomed the changes, which must still be approved by parliament, but many said while the government had deleted the worst violations, it has not done enough to guarantee women’s rights”

— April 11: Afghan Extremist Cleric Defends Rape as “Democratic Right”

— April 7: Afghanistan: Law Permiting Rape Dropped After Publicity

DC – Report: “‘Mainstream’ Islamist Convention Features Hate Speech” — ISNA Convention

IPT: DC – “‘Mainstream’ Islamist Convention Features Hate Speech” — ISNA Convention
— IPT reports: “During a “meet the authors” session, Imam Warith Deen Umar, former head of the New York state prison chaplain program managed to:”
— “Argue that key Obama aides are ‘Israeli,’ proving Jews ‘have control of the world'”
— “Malign the motives of Jews active in the Civil Rights movement”
— “Portray the Holocaust as punishment of Jews for being ‘serially disobedient to Allah'”
— “Insinuate that Hurricane Katrina was a result of tolerance for homosexuality”

—- July 4, 2009 – Independence Day: Defending Equality And Liberty at DC ISNA Conference

New Jersey: Man in cross burning guilty of 2 intimidation counts

New Jersey: Man in cross burning guilty of 2 intimidation counts
— Philadelphia Inquirer reports: “Terence Jones was driving his new BMW down a country road in Gloucester County three years ago when a pickup truck pulled up and the driver shouted a racial epithet.”
— “Jones, who is African American, took down the license-plate number and told police the man had also pointed a gun at him and his brother, Douglas, before speeding off”
— “Yesterday, Terence Jones said ‘justice was served’ after James J. Trexler, who is white, pleaded guilty to two counts of bias intimidation in state Superior Court in Woodbury”
— “Trexler, 24, formerly of Pittsgrove, Salem County, also faces an additional 18 months for violating the terms of his probation after his conviction in a cross burning. He had been sentenced to probation only 11 days before the April 29, 2006, incident with the Jones brothers.”
— “His lawyer, Leonard S. Baker, asked whether he had called them a slur and said they ‘shouldn’t be driving a BMW,’ and whether he was aware the statements would be intimidating. Trexler, dressed in a white, long-sleeved shirt with a tie and black pants, calmly answered, ‘Yes.'”

Arizona: Judge delays decision on releasing alleged bomber — reported white supremacists

Arizona: Judge delays decision on releasing alleged bomber — reported white supremacists
— “A federal judge on Wednesday delayed a decision on whether to release one of two alleged white supremacists charged in a 2004 bombing that injured a black city official in Scottsdale”
— “U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow said at the Phoenix hearing that Daniel Mahon, 58, has a right to attend the court hearing, agreeing with his lawyer and prosecutors”
— “Daniel Mahon and his twin brother Dennis Mahon are charged with conspiracy to damage buildings and property by means of explosive. They were arrested June 25 at their home in Davis Junction, Ill., where authorities say they found assault weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and white supremacist material.”

— July 6: Arizona: Bombing case suspect could be released – white supremacist suspects

Yemen: Jewish bridge vanishes – reports of kidnapping

— “Young Jewish bride vanishes in Yemen”
— “A young Jewish woman, Lia Saed Hamdi, either fled her husband’s family in Sana’a on Tuesday, or was kidnapped by a Muslim man from the family’s hometown.”
— “According to the sources, Hamdi was kidnapped by a Muslim man from Kharef whom she had refused to marry. The kidnapper reportedly also stole her jewelry and some money from her new husband.”

Iran police fire tear-gas as 1000s mark 1999 unrest

Iran police fire tear-gas as 1000s mark 1999 unrest

(Iran) Hundreds protest in Iran, defying crackdown vow
— “Hundreds of young men and women”… “confronting police wielding batons and firing tear gas in the capital Thursday as opposition activists sought to revive street protests despite authorities’ vows to “smash” any new marches”

North Korea: US reporter jailed in North Korea calls sister

US reporter jailed in NKorea calls sister
— AFP reports: “One of the two US reporters jailed in North Korea made a telephone call to her US-based sister, Lisa Ling said in an interview broadcast on Thursday.”
— “‘It was a tremendous relief to hear Laura’s voice last night,’ Lisa Ling told CNN affiliate KOVR in California.”
— “Border guards detained American TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee on March 17 along the frontier with China while they were researching a story about refugees fleeing North Korea.”
— “A court on June 8 sentenced Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, to 12 years of ‘reform through labor’ for an illegal border crossing and an unspecified ‘grave crime.'”
— “Laura Ling ‘was very specific about the message she was communicating and she said, ‘look, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. We’re sorry about everything that happened but now we need diplomacy,’ Lisa Ling told KOVR.”
— “Without actually seeing her sister ‘and without people actually seeing her physically, it’s very difficult to tell’ how she is doing in prison, Lisa Ling said.”