Turkey Prez Leaves US After Ali Funeral Snub

(ABC NEWS) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut short his trip to the United States today after being denied permission to participate in critical aspects of Muhammad Ali’s funeral, according to a report published by Turkey’s Dogan news agency.
Erdogan traveled to the U.S. to partake in Ali’s funeral services. He decided to leave after reportedly being denied the right to drape a piece of ceremonial cloth on Ali’s coffin during funeral prayers. Before arriving on U.S. soil, funeral organizers had removed him from the list of potential speakers at Ali’s funeral, citing a limitation of time as the cause for his exclusion, according to Dogan.
Adding to an air of discord surrounding the Turkish president’s trip was a short quarrel that allegedly occurred between U.S. secret service officials and Turkish presidential body guards over a matter of standing room. A request for comment by ABC News to the U.S. Secret Service was not immediately returned.

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‘Tel Aviv attack is just like the terror in Europe’

FM Director sent a letter to 38 foreign ministers worldwide noting how Palestinians encourage terrorism rather than suppressing violence.

Following the shooting attack in Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market, Foreign Ministry Director-General Dr. Dore Gold on Thursday sent a letter to 38 foreign offices of his colleagues around the world.
In his letter, Gold explained how radical terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and ISIS, take advantage of the Ramadan observance in order to escalate tensions. He noted that the key to achieving peace lies in the willingness of the Palestinians to give up the use of terrorism and violence.
“The brutal terrorist attack that occurred yesterday in Tel Aviv had all the hallmarks of similar acts in which armed gunmen opened fire on innocent civilians – in Brussels, Nairobi, Paris and San Bernardino," Gold wrote to the foreign ministers.
"Many of the organizations involved in the recent attacks, from ISIS to Hamas, openly admit to taking advantage of the period of Ramadan in order to lead to a significant escalation in a new round of terror that will spread in our region,” he wrote.
Gold stated that "the attack proves once again that the fundamental obstacle to the advancement of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is the refusal of the Palestinian Authority to renounce the violence, which they use as a tool in attempt to implement their policy."

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First right-to-die clinic opens in California

The Washington Times reports: “For the tidy sum of $2,000, terminally ill Californians can now pay a doctor to help them commit suicide.
Dr. Lonny Shavelson, who heads Bay Area End of Life Options, said he charges $200 for an initial evaluation and $1,800 in other fees to help patients kill themselves.
The medical practice began offering the service Thursday, after a law permitting physician-assisted suicide officially went into effect…
He advocated legalizing euthanasia for several decades, writing a book in which he documented the underground black market for death…”

Continued, here.

France Deploys Special Forces in Syria as IS Loses Ground

Voice of America News reports: “French special forces in northern Syria are assisting Kurdish-led militias in a drive to retake a pocket of territory west of the Euphrates River from the Islamic State terror group, according to French officials.
The French news agency, AFP, reports the commandos are not participating in combat in the so-called Manbij pocket and are restricted to advisory and training roles. U.S. officials have also insisted about 300 American Special Forces in northern Syria and embedded with the Syrian Democratic Forces are not involved in combat.
‘The offensive at Manbij is clearly being backed by a certain number of states including France. It’s the usual support – it’s advisory,’ a French defense ministry official told AFP. Until now France has only acknowledged a ground deployment of around 150 members of its special forces in Iraq’s Kurdish region…”

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IS Imposing New Dress Codes on Women

Islamic State has imposed new dress codes in areas it controls in Syria, forcing women to wear only black clothes and punishing those who don't obey, according to residents and activist groups.
For IS, any women's clothing that is not black is considered seductive.

"They [IS] arrested me because my wife and mother had colorful clothes on," Abu Hassan, a resident from the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, told a Syrian opposition website, All4Syria. He disguised his name for fear of retribution.

Abu Hassan said the women were in their house recently when religious police drove by and noticed their colorful clothing.
"They didn't release me until I paid the equivalent of one gram of gold," he told All4Syria on Wednesday.
His story could not be independently verified by VOA; but IS prohibits contact with outsiders in areas it controls.

Since gaining control of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, IS has imposed harsh guidelines on civilians, particularly women.
In addition to penalizing women for the way they dress, IS religious police — also known as al-Hisbah, Arabic for “accountability” — have arrested a number of women for hanging laundry on rooftops.

IS "considers anything related to women as tempting for men," said a resident in the IS de-facto capital of Raqqa, Syria, who insisted on anonymity. He told VOA that in order for his wife and two adult daughters to leave the house, he must accompany them.



He also recalled what happened to his ailing neighbor who let his wife visit her sister in a nearby district with no male escort.
"They gave him 40 lashes in public in addition to several days in prison," he said.
As the U.S.-led international coalition ramped up its bombing campaign against IS positions in Syria and Iraq, IS recently increased its already strict moral codes, local activists say.

"The bombing campaign has affected Daesh [IS] on so many levels," said Hussam Eisa, a member of "Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently," a group that reports on IS abuses in Syria.

Eisa said the U.S.-led coalition, Russian and Syrian government airstrikes against IS have made the group look weak in the eyes in locals. "And therefore, Daesh is desperately taking these measures," Eisa said, using an Arabic term for IS.

Despite these airstrikes, IS militants have made some advances in government-held areas of oil-rich Deir Ezzor in recent weeks. According to local reports, IS controls much of the area around a military air base that it has besieged for months.

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Nasrallah: We must be vigilant against the ‘Zionists’

Israel National News reports: “The Muslim world must be vigilant against ‘the Zionist regime’s moves’, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Sunday, according to the Fars news agency.

Nasrallah’s spoke in a meeting with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, during which he expressed gratitude to Tehran for helping regional states in fighting against terrorist groups and establishing security in the region.

‘If the resistance forces had not sacrificed their lives in the fight against the Zionist regime and terrorism and if the martyred Iranian military advisors (in Iraq and Syria) had not extended their cooperation, there would have been no security left in the region,’ Nasrallah said during the meeting in Beirut on Sunday.

He then blasted certain states for ‘sowing discord’ among Muslims, and underscored the necessity for the Muslim world to keep an eye on Israel’s moves…”

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Putin says Russia will 'neutralise threats' after US opens missile base

President Vladimir Putin has escalated Russian criticism of a new US missile defence station in Romania, saying his country will "neutralise emerging threats".

He argued it was aimed at weakening Russia's nuclear power and vowed to increase Russian defence spending.
US President Barack Obama voiced concern about Russia's "growing aggressive military presence".
Nato says the base is aimed at potential threats from the Middle East.
The US on Thursday activated the estimated $800m (£550m; €700m) missile shield in Deveselu, southern Romania.

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Saudi TV host goes nuclear on terror 'hypocrites'

A female news anchor in Saudi Arabia blasted fellow Arabs for terrorism in a video clip that’s going viral.

Saudi columnist and television anchor Nadine Al-Budair harshly criticized Muslims in the Arab world as “hypocrites” for failing to admit terrorism does represent their faith. She said it was time for Muslims to own up to elements of their faith that encourage followers to commit terrorist attacks.

In an April 3 monologue on Saudi Arabia’s Rotana Khalijiyah TV following the Brussels attacks, Al-Budair said, “After the abominable Brussels bombings, it’s time for us to feel shame and to stop acting as if the terrorists are a rarity. … We must admit that they are present everywhere, that their nationality is Arab, and that they adhere to the religion of Islam.”

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Syria war: IS group killed 21 Christians in al-Qaryatain, says patriarch

Reports are emerging of the killing of Syrian Christians by Islamic State militants in the town of al-Qaryatain.

The town was retaken by Russian-backed Syrian forces and their allies earlier in the week.
Some 21 Christians were murdered when almost 300 Christians remained in the city after IS captured it last August, said the head of the Syrian Orthodox Church.
They included three women, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II told the BBC.

He said some died whilst trying to escape while the others were killed for breaking the terms of their "dhimmi contracts", which require them to submit to the rule of Islam.

Five more Christians are still missing, believed dead. Negotiations and the payment of ransoms have seen the remainder of the group re-join their families.

The patriarch said warnings had come that Islamic State planned to sell Christian girls into slavery.
But despite the murders, he said restoring harmony among faiths remained his goal.
"We lived this situation for centuries, we learned how to respect each other, we learned how to live with each other," said the patriarch. "We can live together again, if we are left alone by others."

The town is now utterly devastated, with street after street and building after building - including a 1,500-year-old Catholic monastery - in ruins.

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British Muslims call for death of other British Muslims.

(Washington Post) Last month, after being offended by a tweet, Tanweer Ahmed traveled 200 miles in an Uber car from Bradford, in England, to Glasgow, in Scotland. The seemingly innocuous, even heartfelt tweet was written by Asad Shah, and wished his adopted countrymen a happy Easter.

Ahmed waited for 40-year-old Shah to leave the convenience store in Glasgow where he worked, then stabbed him 30 times, stamped on his head, and sat on his chest while Shah lay unconscious, authorities allege. Shah died of his wounds later that night.

The hatred that Ahmed, 32, apparently felt for Shah wasn’t because of his kind words about Christians, but because Shah was a member of the small and long-persecuted sect of Muslims called the Ahmadiyya.

This week, leaflets have been found in universities, mosques and shopping centers across London advocating that each Ahmadiyya be given three days to “get back into the Islamic fold. If he does not, he will be awarded capital punishment.”

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