Pi Magazine October 2014

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US leads UK into the abyssHistory revisited itself last week with the announcement that the UK has followed the US into the unknown by declaring war against the Islamic State (IS) raising the prospect of a repeat of the bloodshed, murder and mayhem that plagued Iraq in 2003.

The beat of the drums of war and the echoes of the vicious and brutal Iraq 2003 conflict will no doubt raise a few eyebrows in the weeks to come.

MPs voted by 524 to 43 to sanction

the UK air strikes, limited to Iraq, with 69 MPs abstaining . A total of 23 Labour MPs, six Tories and one Lib Dem voted against UK action along with MPs from the SNP, SDLP, Green party and Respect.

The MP for Tower Hamlets, Rushanara Ali, resigned as shadow education minister before the vote in order to abstain, saying she feared “further air strikes will only create further bloodshed and pain in Iraq”.

Recent US airstrikes have already seen over 15 civilians killed with a 6 month old baby the youngest being murdered.

A British aid worker Mohammed Shakil stationed in Syria told PI Magazine “You haven’t been here; you haven’t spent last 2 days and nights pulling out babies, women men from the rubble., some dead and others badly injured. You haven’t had to collect body parts from the rubble.

2 I Editorial www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

Write to: Editor, PI Media, PO Box 159, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1ADor email: [email protected] - www.pi-media.co.uk - mob: 07506 466 385

This Magazine contains Ayaat of the Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (SAW), please ensure you handle it with respect & care - Sukran - Views expressed in the Passion column are of the contributers and not necessarily of PI

t h e P a s s i o n By CageHuman Right Organisation

www.cageuk.org

CAGE has argued in its report Blowback – foreign fighters and the threat they pose, that there is no empirical evidence to suggest that blowback from Syria or Iraq will occur in Britain. However, the possibility of violence in the UK – largely due to long-standing grievances over foreign and domestic policy – still remains. CAGE advocates that the following steps be taken in order to keep the UK safe and avoid community tensions being unnecessarily inflamed:

1. Returning fighters from Syria should be allowed to return to the UK and be granted an amnesty. However, where police have found clear evidence of war crimes, then those crimes should be prosecuted accordingly.

It is important to remember that most of the few hundred young men that have travelled to Syria over the last few years travelled there in order to fight Bashar al-Assad as part of the rebel movement that was supported by the British government. They should not be stigmatised as terrorists by virtue of their going out there.

CAGE’s amnesty call follows reports that Britons who have fought

in Syria/Iraq are stuck in Turkey in a limbo: fleeing from a war they no longer feel is for them, but afraid to travel onto Britain lest they be immediately imprisoned.

2. UK’s commitment to peace and toward ensuring the safety of its own citizens, means that it should handle this matter sensitively and refrain from implementing blanket measures i.e. imprisoning or putting all returnees under control orders, passport revocations. A considered approach is essential here.

3. As with soldiers returning from conflict abroad, it is likely that returnees may experience PTSD or other conditions, and so programmes ought to be offered to help them reintegrate into society. This should be led by members of the Muslim community, and should be as independent as possible. Any such programmes should not have a criminalisation element, but rather should be more pastoral.

A programme set up in Denmark that takes a ‘soft-hands approach’, though not perfect, is along the right track. Rather than criminalise fighters, the programme treats any psychological trauma or physical

injuries, and helps them find work or restart studies.

4. A mandatory de-radicalisation programme that focuses on the ‘theology’ and ‘ideology’ of participants will only antagonise and will do nothing to actually reintegrate returnees.

This has already been proven by the failure of PREVENT, the current counter-terrorism policy that has failed to eradicate the domestic ‘terrorist’ threat. There must be a move away from PREVENT-based strategies as this will stoke further tensions and not lead to positive results.

5. As mentioned by Richard Barrett, former MI6 Global Counter-terrorism chief, returnees from Syria themselves have a key role to play in helping re-integrate their peers. Imprisoning or ostracising them will make it difficult for them to co-operate at efforts to resolve conflict and keep the peace.

6. CAGE views dialogue, dignity and respect essential to the way authorities deal with returnees from Syria. This will keep Britain safe and allow returnees from Syria/Iraq to safely slip back into society.

British Foreign FightersA Way Forward

www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014 NEWS I 3

The widow of Dr Abbas Khan, a British aid worker killed in Syria has called on IS to release Alan Henning.

In an audio recorded appeal exclusively published by CAGE in Arabic with an English and Arabic translation, Umm Abdullah appeals to the captors of Alan Henning for his release.

Umm Abdullah describes her appeal as ‘a humble call to the men of the Islamic State from Umm Abdullah’. Invoking Allah, she then

goes on to ask IS to recognise that Alan Henning was an aid worker and that they should release him. ‘This is my call to you, in which I beg you in the name of our Almighty to protect Alan Henning and release him. By Allah I cannot see you killing him after he left his joyful world for no purpose other than aiding our Muslim women and children in Shaam [Syria].

She also refers to herself as the widow of a shaheed or martyr

Widow of Dr Abbas Khan appealsto IS to release Alan Henning

- a status considered lofty in Islam - because of the circumstances surrounding the death of her husband who was a medical doctor and humanitarian aid worker.

Her husband Dr Abbas Khan died while in the custody of the Assad regime in Syria. It is widely thought that the Syrian regime were responsible for his death.

Cerie Bullivant, spokesperson for CAGE, said: ‘ From a wife who knows exactly what Alan Henning’s wife is feeling, this is a welcome appeal. As Britain moves toward intervening in Iraq and Syria we ask the British public to call on the government to do more to protect its citizens .’

Umm Abdullah has also translated into English an interview between CAGE and Heba al-Debbagh, who was tortured by Syrian state authorities in the 1980s, during a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

4 I LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

Jordan’s state security court acquitted radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada, who was on trial on terrorism charges, and ordered his immediate release.

The preacher was on trial on charges of involvement in the “millennium bomb plot” in 2000 in a hotel in Amman, Jordan.

Abu Qatada was found not guilty of conspiring to attack

tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations and granted “immediate release”, a judicial source told AFP.

The source said the court found there was not enough evidence to convict Abu Qatada, who had pleaded not guilty.

Abu Qatada -- once described as “Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe” -- was deported from Britain to Jordan in July 2013 after a

10-year legal fight.He faced two retrials after he

was convicted in his absence on the charges in 1999 and 2000 and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment.

In the first retrial in June he was acquitted of plotting a 1999 attack on the American school in Amman.

www.pi-media.co.uk

Jordan clears Abu Qatadaof terror charges

A small number of accredited journalists are to be allowed to cover a forthcoming terrorism trial which is shrouded in an unprecedented level of secrecy.

Mr Justice Nicol ruled in May that the trial would be held entirely in secret.

Following a challenge by a coalition of the UK’s leading news publishers, the Court of Appeal decided in June that the defendants could be named and that some elements of the trial could be held in public.

Giving its reasons the court also decided that up to ten accredited journalists will be allowed to over the trial provided they submit to strict conditions which mean their reports must remain secret until they are reviewed by the judge at the end of the hearing.

Some elements of the trial of

Erol Incedal and Mounir Rarmoul-Bohhadjar will still be held in total secrecy.

Incedal is charged with an offence contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 (preparation of terrorist acts) and an offence contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (collection of information).

Rarmoul-Bouhadjar is charged with an offence contrary to section 58 of Terrorism Act 2000 (collection of information) and an offence contrary to section 4 of the Identity Documents Act 2010 (possession of false identity documents etc with improper intention).

Lord Justice Goss said in his judgment: “We are persuaded on the evidence before us that there is a significant risk – at the very least, a serious possibility – that the administration of justice would be frustrated were the trial to be

In Case YouMissed It

Small number of ‘accredited journalists’to be allowed to cover secret terror trial

conducted in open Court.“For good reason on the material

we have seen, the Crown might be deterred from continuing with the prosecution.”

However the court will allow the following elements of the case to be heard in public:Swearing in of the jury, Reading the charges to the jury, At least a part of the Judge’s introductory remarks to the jury, At least a part of the Prosecution opening, The verdicts, If any convictions result, sentencing (subject to any further argument before the trial Judge as to the need for a confidential annexe).

He said that “up to ten accredited journalists (as defined in the order) may attend the trial subject to the terms as to confidentiality there set out”.

Adding that “the proposal for the attendance of accredited journalists means that the scrutiny function of the media will be preserved throughout the trial (save for the discrete ex parte aspects)”.

It will be up to the news groups which brought the legal challenge to decide which journalists will be allowed to cover the trial.

A transcript of the public and private proceedings (excluding the secret elements) will be available for review by any of the accredited journalists at the conclusion of the trial. PG

www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014 ADVERTORIAL I 5

6 I ADVERTORIAL www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014 LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS I 7

Britain and France have agreed to improve border controls and cooperate more closely in an effort to control a growing number of illegal immigrants trying to cross the English Channel from the French port city of Calais to Britain.

The port has long been a magnet for illegal migrants trying to reach Britain, which is not one of the 26 European Union members to have abolished controls at common borders.

France has said the number of

migrants gathering in Calais has shot up as more people flee humanitarian crises in the Middle East, and northern and eastern Africa.

Britain will contribute 5 million euros ($6.4 million) annually over three years under the deal, according to a joint statement from British interior minister Theresa May and her French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve.

“This fund will finance moves to secure the port of Calais and protect the vulnerable,” Cazeneuve said in

Britain, France agree totackle illegal immigrants

The UK-based Refugee Council has called on the British government to take in more people fleeing the conflict in Syria after the U.K.’s Home Office disclosed it had accepted 50 Syrian refugees into the country in the first six months of 2014.

Critics said the U.K figure was in stark contrast to 11,800 Syrians, according to U.S. reports, who arrived in Germany seeking asylum in the first half of 2014.

“Since the crisis in Syria began we have granted asylum or other forms of leave to more than 3,000 Syrian nationals and their dependents,” a home office spokesperson told The Anadolu Agency.

He said the U.K. had accepted 50 refugees in the greatest need in the first half of the year, including people requiring urgent medical treatment and survivors of torture and violence,

under its Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme.

The figure indicates the country lags behind other EU nations including Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.‘Extend compassion’.

Anna Musgrave, advocacy manager for the U.K.-based charity Refugee Council, told AA: “The UK should urgently expand its resettlement scheme for refugees from Syria.

“How can we ask Syria’s neighbors to keep their borders open to refugees if we won’t help share some of the responsibility?”

“Surely our compassion should extend to helping more than several thousand people over three years,” she said.

Germany, the highest contributor for Syrian refugee relocation in

Europe, is estimated as have accepted 20,000 refugees.

Syria’s neighboring countries are currently hosting more than three million refugees, with Lebanon at about 1.2 million, Turkey 850,000, Jordan 620,000, Iraq 215,000 and Egypt 44,000, according to figures from the UN’s refugee agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

The number of Syrian people accepted by Turkey after the attacks by the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL is 138,000, the UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming confirmed.

She said it was the “equivalent of what was received by Europe throughout the past three years,” adding that Europe should stand alongside Syria’s neighboring countries by opening its doors.

the statement.The port layout will be changed to

make it easier to carry out controls and improve traffic flow, and barriers will be put up along the bypass leading to the port area, the ministers said.

British and French police forces plan to work more closely to dismantle criminal networks seeking to transport migrants to the UK, they added.

France estimates the number of illegal immigrants in Calais at 1,500, up by 50 percent in the past year as Europe struggles to deal with the influx of the world’s poor into a region they see as a haven in which to build better lives.

In Britain, the latest build-up of illegal immigrants in Calais has fuelled anti-European Union sentiment. In France, Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Front party, which won around 14 percent of the Calais vote in town hall elections in March, says it is seeing local support rise.

UK urged to do more for Syrian refugees



The plans will now go out for public consultation before being considered by Dudley Council’s development control committee.

New plans have been revealed for a new mosque in Dudley on the controversial Hall Street site.

Previous plans for the site faced strong opposition from protestors who said the building would dominate the Dudley skyline, it sparked violent demonstrations in the town from the English Defence League in 2010.

The new design has been

developed after consultation with town planners and features a shorter minaret, down from 109 feet to 61 feet, and the floor area of the building has been cut by 16 per cent.

The proposed mosque’s designer, Al Samarraie of Archi-Structure (Consultant), said: “The community has been at its existing site for over 35 years and the building is not fit for purpose, particularly for women, children, elderly and disabled people. The community want to build modern facilities that will be accessible to local people and offer a modern

place of worship.”The is development is lower than

the highest roof level of the adjacent Allan Nuttall’s Limited warehouse and designed to be environmentally friendly with green living roofs.

The new mosque would replace the current facility in Birmingham Street and will provide community and sporting facilities in addition to a place of worship.

The plans will now go out for public consultation before being considered by Dudley Council’s development control committee.

A top British state school has reportedly banned a 16-year-old student from attending classes because she wears a niqab which covers her hair and face.

London’s Camden School for Girls is reportedly stopping the Muslim teenager from beginning her A-levels unless she removes the covering, The Independent reported this week.

The girl has, according to the newspaper, been enrolled in the school for the past five years and was supposed to start her A-levels this month.

Her 18-year-old sister told the newspaper that the decision was “very upsetting” for the family and

added: “My sister just wants to wear the niqab for her own reasons and attend a school. I don’t feel like her education should be compromised or the way she dresses should affect the way anyone looks at her.”

The decision has led more than 700 people to sign a “Stop the Islamophobia” petition protesting the move. The online petition was started by an anonymous user and states: “This school is renowned for its ‘individuality’ and ‘strong feminist views’. However, this poorly thought out decision made by the school contradicts this. What happened to ‘freedom of expression’?”

The school was previously

New plans revealed for Dudley Mosque

London school bansstudent over niqab

named as one of the top 100 best performing schools in the country by Schools Minister David Laws in 2013. Previous pupils include actresses Emma Thompson and Tamsin Greig and Sarah Brown, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s wife.

In a released statement, the governing body of the school cited “an appearance policy” as the reason for the move.

“Inappropriate dress which offends public decency or which does not allow teacher student interactions will be challenged.” According to the statement, the policy was instated “several years ago” and “written at a time when a girl wished to wear a niqab, and teachers found that this made teaching difficult.”

The decision was “very much an educational one,” the statement said, before adding: “teachers need to see a student’s whole face in order to read the visual cues it provides. In addition, it is important for the safety and security of the school community to know who is on site, and to be able to see and identify individuals.”

According to The Independent, Dept for Education guidelines state that schools can set their own uniform policy and can ban on the grounds of security, safety or learning.




A food wholesale firm that sold meat with counterfeit halal labels has been fined £7,500.

Zaman Brothers Wholesale Halal Meat Limited in Bradford supplied 65 boxes of meat and fat to Golden Delight Foods Limited in Saltley, Birmingham in 2012.

At Birmingham Crown Court, director Munawar Zaman admitted using fake labels on non-halal products.

He was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and pay court costs of more than £8,000.

Zaman was also issued with a £3,500 confiscation order.

Birmingham Trading Standards said all halal meat must be approved by the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) and that an HMC inspector should be present each time approved meat was subject to any process.

The inspector then issues stickers and tags when the meat is cut.

Zaman also admitted having 5,000 consecutively numbered labels in the style of the HMC with a view to applying them to meat products which had not been

inspected.Jacqui Kennedy, from Birmingham City Council

said: “Advertising and supplying non-Halal Monitoring Committee products and passing them off as approved is a serious criminal offence, as it deceives consumers.”

A British parliamentary candidate has been suspended after she tweeted anti-Israel messages in which she asked why the ISIL had not yet attacked Israel.

The Sunday Times reported that the labor party candidate for Woking, Vicki Kirby said, “Apparently you can

ask IS/ISIS/ISIL questions on ask.fm. Anyone thought of asking them why they’re not attacking the real oppressors #Israel?”

Kirby, 34 and mother of two, was announced as Woking’s Labor parliamentary candidate on September 11.

UK politician suspendedover ‘anti-Israel’ tweets

In another message Kirby is alleged to have said, “We invented Israel when saving them from Hitler, who now seems to be their teacher?”

In another tweet she said, “I will never forget and I will make sure my kids teach their children how evil Israel is!”

She also said Hitler might be the “Zionist God”, in a series of comments made on her Twitter account, according to the Sunday Times.

“Vicki Kirby has been suspended as a Labor candidate,” said a Labor party spokesperson.

Kirby received a backlash on twitter from Israel supporters and was accused of being an anti-Semite.

In July, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, David Ward, caused controversy by suggesting that he would probably fire rockets at Israel if he lived in Gaza. The liberal democrats later said that he had “categorically apologized” for his comments.

Bradford meat firmfined for fake halal meat


www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014 WORLD NEWS I 13

Member states of the U.N. nuclear agency rejected an Arab resolution targeting Israel over its atomic arsenal, in a diplomatic victory for the Jewish state and Western countries opposing the initiative.

Arab states had submitted the non-binding text - which called on Israel to join a global anti-nuclear weapons pact - to the annual meeting of the 162-nation International

Atomic Energy Agency, in part to signal their frustration at the lack of progress towards banning atomic arms in the Middle East.

The United States and its allies argued that the resolution would have been counterproductive. Western officials said progress has been made in preparatory talks over the last year on holding a

conference to discuss the creation of a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction.

Fifty-eight countries voted against the Arab proposal and 45 states for, a clearer outcome than in a similar vote last year. Other countries either abstained or were absent.

Intense lobbying by both sides underlined the resolution’s symbolic

geo-strategic significance and deep divisions on the issue of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, where some Arab countries joined the United States this week in air strikes on ISIL.

Israel is believed to possess the region’s only nuclear arsenal, drawing frequent condemnation by Arab countries and Iran. It is also the only Middle Eastern country outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

A draft text circulated at the IAEA meeting by 18 Arab states expressed “concern about the Israeli nuclear capabilities and calls upon Israel to accede to the NPT and place all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards.”

A number of countries have called on Libyan leaders to find a peaceful solution to the political and military turmoil that has gripped the country since the overthrow of slain dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

In a high-level meeting held on the sidelines of the 69th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, 40 countries as well as the African Union, European Union and Arab League warned Libyan leaders over the “dangerous and significant threat” of the crisis plaguing the North African country.

A statement by the chairman of the meeting, which was convened by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said, “The political transition process is facing its biggest challenge since the revolution. We must do our utmost to reverse this course and help the Libyan people safeguard their democratic transition.”

The Libyan parliament approved Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani’s cabinet after rejecting a previous line-up.

The new cabinet includes 13 ministers and three deputy prime ministers. The lawmakers rejected the previous line-up of 18 ministers, calling on Thani to pick a smaller team.

The government and the parliament are largely considered to be in a virtual exile in the eastern city of Tobruk due to widespread insecurity.

A militant group from the city of Misrata captured the capital Tripoli in August and forced the elected parliament to move to the east of the country.

Thanni, who has been Libya’s acting prime minister since March, stood down after the June elections and the new parliament reappointed him at the beginning of September.

His administration has so far failed to restore law and order in Libya.

A rival administration in Tripoli backed by militia groups from Misrata is making the situation even harder for the prime minister.

40 countries sign up tostop violence in Libya

Head of the Popular Committee against the Siege Jamal Al-Khodari has described living conditions in the Gaza Strip as “disastrous” after the latest Israeli war.

Al-Khodari said that more than 90 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza live under the poverty line because of the sharp increase of unemployment rates.

“Displaced Gazans, who live in shelters, experience disastrous conditions,” Al-Khodari said, “as they lost the basic needs of life after the collapse of almost all facilities of major services such as electricity, water and sanitation.”

He noted that the humanitarian crises had increased after the latest Israeli war on the coastal enclave. “Individual income became below $2 per day,”.

Al-Khodari said that around 95 per cent of Gaza’s water is undrinkable and the sea water is polluted because 40 million litres of untreated sewage water is pouring into it every day. “This has catastrophic effects on the public health and the fishing industry as well,” he said.

Al-Khodari called for all world bodies and Arab organisations to urgently offer swift solutions in order to save the lives of Gaza’s residents.

90% of Gazans live below poverty line

U.N. nuclear assembly rejectsArab bid to pressure Israel


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The first edition of a specialized Islamic magazine titled “Ayah” in Dutch was published in Brussels, Belgium.

According to bahethat website, the magazine covers issues on Islamic clothing, Hijab and Muslim women’s wearing styles, the importance of Islamic designs for clothing, the newest designs for Muslim women’s clothing and introduction to designers of Islamic clothing.

Kowthar Najjar, from Morocco, is the managing director of the magazine which aims to promote Islamic Hijab in Western societies and fill the gaps in this field, particularly in non-Muslim countries.

The Magazine attempts to make Muslim women aware of their rights and does not get involved in political issues.

An interview with Rashidah ‘Aziz, designer of Islamic Hijab in Morocco, has been published in the first volume of the issue. She has talked about her intentions and stated that preserving Islamic values is her main objective.

The volume also includes a report on tourism and pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, the most popular girl’s names, cooking instructions, guidelines on training children, etc.

The auction house Sotheby’s has put a collection of 52 original architectural drawings and 216 photographs of the first expansion of the Prophet’s (PBUH) Mosque in the holy city of Medina in 1951.

The documents, which belong to the family of Egyptian architect Fahmy Moemen Bey who was commissioned to design the

expansion of the mosque, had been kept for 60 years, World Bulletin reported.

However, the family recently decided to auction the documents as they felt it was a “a collection that should be in a university or in a museum and available for a lot more people to enjoy.”

www.pi-media.co.uk

Palestinian lawyers have confirmed torture evidence after visiting prisoners detained during the Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Lawyers from the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) who gained access to four prisoners held at the Ashkelon prison, confirmed in a Sunday report on its website that the prisoners were beaten and shackled between two chairs for hours.

The PCHR said dozens of Palestinian civilians were apprehended by Israeli troops during the offensive on the coastal sliver, 31 of whom were later transferred to Israeli jails.

Four of the detainees were freed, but the 27 who remained in custody were charged of being members of armed groups.

PCHR lawyers are continuing their efforts to pursue Israeli war

Rights group confirms Palestinianstortured in Israel jails

criminals through international courts.Israel started pounding the Gaza

Strip on July 8, inflicting heavy losses on the Palestinian land. Over 2,140 Palestinians, including a large number of women, children and elderly people, were killed in the

Israeli onslaught. Around 11,000 others were injured.

The brutal Israeli war ended on August 26 with an Egyptian-brokered truce that took effect after Cairo negotiations. Palestinian experts say it costs more than $7.5 billion to rebuild the Gaza Strip, ravaged during the recent Israeli onslaught.

1st Magazine for Muslim women published in Belgium

Rare photo archive of Prophet’s(PBUH) Mosque to go on auction

16 I WORLD NEWS ww.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency has launched extensive restoration work on the oldest mosque in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo.

The damaged Emperor’s Mosque was built in the 15th century by Gazi Isakovic Isabey, who had been governor of the Ottoman province of Bosnia, and was exposed to many attacks throughout its history, the last one being during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

The Mosque Imam and Preacher Hafiz Sadru Iseric told Anadolu Agency: “This mosque is not only the most important historical structure in Sarajevo, but in all of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Al-Masjid Al-Haram in the holy city of Mecca will host the 36th edition of Saudi Arabia’s international Holy Quran competition.

138 individuals from 59 countries are expected to take part in the competition, which is slated for November 16-23.

The competition will be held in the categories of Quran recitation, memorization and interpretation, Al-Riyadh daily reported.

According to Mansour bin Muhammad al-Samih, an official with the organizing committee, those scheduled to participate in the Quranic event have been selected from among applications sent through Quranic centers and associations in different countries.

He said the competition aims to encourage Muslim youth to memorize the Holy Quran and contemplate its teachings.

A new poll says Americans’ confidence in the US media’s ability to report “the news fully, accurately, and fairly” has reached an all-time low.

After registering slightly higher trust last year, confidence in US mainstream media returned to its previous record low level of 40 percent this year, the new Gallup survey found.

Before 2004, Americans placed more trust in mass media than they do now, with slim majorities saying they had a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust, according to the poll.

However, over the course of former President George W. Bush’s re-election season, the level of trust fell significantly from 54 percent in 2003 to 44 percent in 2004, Gallup

Trust in US mass media returnsto all-time low: Gallup poll

said.“Americans’ trust in mass media

has generally been edging downward from higher levels in the late 1990s and the early 2000s,” said Gallup, a research-based, global performance-management consulting company headquartered in Washington.

Americans’ trust in the media in recent years has dropped slightly in election years, including 2008, 2010, 2012, and again this year, suggesting that something about national elections triggers skepticism about the accuracy of the news media’s reporting.

The poll also indicates how bias is a key issue for Americans with most of the respondents complaining the media is “too conservative” or “too liberal.”

Declining trust in the news media comes amid a backdrop of lower confidence in many public institutions. Recent Gallup surveys have shown low levels of confidence in Congress, the White House and public schools.

Masjid al-Haram to hostInternational Quran contest

Turkey to restore oldest mosque in Sarajevo


A 5.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia’s southern East Java province, causing residents to run from buildings to the streets.

According to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, the earthquake struck at latitude 8.86 south and longitude 111.09 east, or nearly 52 miles (83 kilometers) from Pacitan city.

Occurring at 4:06 p.m., it had an epicenter depth of over 121 miles (195 kilometers) from the sea and its tremors could be felt in Central Java province’s Yogyakarta city and East Java’s Trenggalek.

The earthquake does not have the potential to cause a tsunami, and no casualties or damage have been reported.

Laila Rochmatin, a private sector worker in Yogyakarta, told the Anadolu Agency she was “somewhat surprised and ran directly outdoors.”

She added that she was still traumatized from a major earthquake that struck near the city in May 2006, leaving 5,700 people dead and 37,000 others injured.

Indonesia lies within the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic

Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni has warned the North African country will sever relations with Qatar if the Persian Gulf state continues interfering into Libya’s internal affairs.

The Libyan premier said that Qatar has sent three military planes loaded with weapons and ammunition to an airport in Tripoli.

“Unfortunately they (the planes) reached (Tripoli) Matiga airport,” he further noted, adding, “We will consider... breaking off relations if this interference into Libya’s internal affairs continued.”

“We confirm that we have official

reports that these war planes carried weapons and ammunition,” he said.

In August, an alliance of Libyan militias, known as Fajr Libya, accused the UAE and Egypt of having a hand in two airstrikes targeting their positions in Tripoli.

The alliance announced on August 23 that they were in control of Tripoli International Airport, which has remained closed since July 13 amid skirmishes in the area.

Over the past weeks, the strategic area situated 30 kilometers south of Tripoli has witnessed clashes between Fajr Libya militiamen, partly

comprised of men from Misrata, and Zintan forces loyal to former renegade General Khalifa Haftar.

Earlier this month, Libya’s newly elected parliament asked the United Nations for military intervention to protect civilians amid relentless clashes. The legislative body also voted to dissolve rival militias, giving them an ultimatum to join the military and police by the end of 2014.

Nearly three years after a popular uprising, Libya is still grappling with rising insecurity despite efforts by the central government to impose law and order.

Libya threatens to cut ties with Qatar

5.1-magnitude earthquake hits southern Indonesia

and volcanic activity.In 2004, an earthquake in the

western island of Sumatra caused a series of devastating tsunamis around the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in 14 countries.

Most of the victims were in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra on the island.

A US airstrike has killed many civilians, including children, in northern Iraq, sources said.

The attack targeted an eastern neighborhood in the city of Mosul as part of the US-led military campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, according to Iraqi sources.

A UK-based Syrian opposition group said that the US-led coalition has bombed oil facilities in east and northeast Syria.

The United States has conducted dozens of airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq since mid-August.

US Airstrike Kills Seven Civilians in Iraq, Including Children

18 I WORLD NEWS www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

A 20-year-old German man charged with joining ISIL militants in Syria last year went on trial in Frankfurt, the first such case in Germany.

Kreshnik B., who was born in Germany and whose parents are from Kosovo, is charged with membership of ISIL (or ISIS) between July and December 2013.

German prosecutors say Kreshnik B. travelled to Syria with others to fight and once there received

weapons training, fulfilled guard and medical duties and took part in a recruitment campaign close to the city of Aleppo. They say he engaged in combat on three occasions.

Prosecutors said they did not believe Kreshnik B. had planned any attacks on his return.

Germany announced a ban on ISIL, making IS propaganda, symbols and activities illegal. Austria said it planned a similar crackdown.

Senior Palestinian politicians have warned that the Gaza Strip is on the verge of a permanent split from the West Bank and that the prospect of two separate entities constitutes a grave existential threat to the Palestinian national project.

Qais Abdul Karim (Abu Layla), the Deputy Undersecretary of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine and member of the Palestinian delegation to the Cairo talks, warned that the ongoing propaganda attacks between Fatah and Hamas could easily destroy whatever has been achieved

between the two groups and possibly reverse the course of Palestinian internal reconciliation.

“The dispute between Fatah and Hamas is totally focused on the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation [PLO] and the Palestinian National Authority [PNA],” he said, adding that their split does not have anything to do with the ideology or the means to achieve goals.

“The indirect talks that Hamas has been conducting with Israel are similar to recognising Israel. Hamas’s direct talks with Israel are only a

Gaza and West Bankon ‘verge of split’

matter of time and circumstances,” he said.

Abu Layla said that the Palestinian national consensus government had been set up by Hamas and Fatah and that the rest of the Palestinian factions and political parties had not played any role in setting it up, but blessed the government to give the reconciliation a push forward.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, the PLO Secretary-General, said that the Gaza Strip is today at the closest point of splitting from the West Bank and the danger of that point is greater today than ever. “Israel has been trying for years to split the Gaza Strip from the West Bank by planting and watering the dispute seeds between the Palestinian rival factions,” he said.

Abed Rabbo said the world is busy fighting terrorism and Palestinians must send positive signals to draw international attention towards the Palestinians cause.

Qadourah Fares, a key Fatah leader and head of the Palestinian Prisoner Club, said that there has been no Palestinian reconciliation although there have been many signed reconciliation deals.

By Nasouh Nazzal

German man goes ontrial for ISIL membership Representative of India to the

State of Palestine Mahesh Kumar handed over a cheque of 1 million dollars to UNRWA’s Director of External Relations and Communications Salvatore Lombardo as India’s annual contribution to UNRWA.

The Representative of India underlined the Government of India’s continued support to UNRWA in its operations and in its efforts to alleviate the sufferings of Palestinian refugees.

India donates $1 million to UNRWA


Chinese authorities in the autonomous region of Xinjiang have conducted a number of raids on Quran schools in the regional capital Urumqi, arresting a total of 35 people.

According to Chinese media sources, 190 children were ‘rescued’ from 26 ‘secret’ Quran schools set up by and for the native Muslim Uighur community.

The raids come as China continues to crackdown on ‘radical and separatist’ groups in the region, which seemingly targets Uighurs who consider their homeland, which they call East Turkestan, to be under Chinese occupation.

Xinjiang has been troubled with increasing violence between ethnic Uighurs, who are a Turkic-speaking people, and Han Chinese settlers.

Uighur groups have blamed increasing tensions on the Chinese communist government, which has suppressed Uighur culture and religion in the region.

In the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the local authorities outlawed fasting and forced Muslims to eat and drink during the day.

Religious education and public display of religion is also outlawed by the communist regime.

www.pi-media.co.uk

Thousands of people are still displaced in Indian-controlled Kashmir after devastating floods hit the region.

Flooding hit the state almost two weeks ago after River Jhelum’s water level crossed the danger mark due to heavy rains, devastating residential areas and the entire city center of Srinagar.

The massive flooding has killed more than 300 people and forced another 287,000 out of their homes

in the Indian-administered area of the terrain. Officials say the death toll is expected to rise as the number of missing people continues to swell.

“We are scared to go back to our homes, and, in most areas, water continues to be logged inside the houses. Many houses have collapsed. There is a fair chance our houses might have collapsed as well,” a Kashmiri local told Press TV.

The flood-hit Kashmiris are unhappy with the governments’

Floods leaves thousandsdisplaced in Kashmir

China raids Quranschools in East Turkestan Armenia has rejected a request

to open up a mosque for the performance of Friday prayers by a Turkey-based non-governmental organization.

The ASIMDER association had asked for the 250-year-old Gok Mosque, otherwise known as Goy Mosque, in the capital Yerevan to be opened for Friday prayers

The request, which was put forward by ASIMDER General Manager Goksel Gulbey with the support of 14 non-governmental organizations, was turned down by the Armenian authorities.

Armenia rejects request to reopen 250-year-old Mosque

relief and rescue measures, saying a lot more could have been done to protect the residents.

“We were caught unaware. The government did not warn people of such destruction and expected us to evacuate overnight when doors were already filled with flood water. I have seen death with my eyes and I was rescued by locals three days after flooding hit the area,” another resident said.

According to reports, the destruction made by the recent flood is the worst in the past 109 years of Kashmir’s history.

Health experts, meanwhile, have warned that stagnant waters in the aftermath of the devastating floods could create conditions for serious disease outbreaks in the Himalayan region.

Doctors say they have already witnessed cases of diarrhea, skin allergies and fungus, and worry that a crisis could be looming with countless bloated livestock carcasses floating across the waterlogged region.

20I WORLD NEWS www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

Spain may be considering a ban on burqas as part of the country’s Citizen Security Law, Interior minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz told a press conference.

According to Spain’s 20 minutos newspaper, Diaz said that it was a “good moment” to obtain “a level of consensus” to introduce the ban into security reforms.

The local government of Catalonia, which later this year plans

to hold an independence referendum, has already made steps to ban the burqa and face-veils in the region.

A wave of proposed burqa bans have been sweeping Europe since the Strasbourg court ruled in France’s favor in July, prompting similar efforts in Norway and Austria.

The head of Spain’s Islamic federation, Riay Tatary, responded by saying the ban was “unnecessary,” The Local reported.

Spain to consider burqa ban

The United Nations took over a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic previously run by the African Union, a move that rights groups said must lead to more action to protect civilians from attack.

The former French colony has been paralysed by violence for nearly two years and is now deeply divided, with its north mostly occupied by mainly Muslim Seleka rebels who seized power nationally last year but were forced to step down in January.

Members of a 6,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force, which has struggled alongside some 2,000 French troops to restore order, on Monday swapped their green AU berets for the blue ones worn by U.N. peacekeepers across the world.

The existing African troops are being joined by soldiers from elsewhere, including Morocco, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

In Bangui for the ceremony, Herve Ladsous, the head of U.N. peacekeeping, said U.N. forces would take firm steps to protect civilians, build zones of

confidence and support the country’s government.

U.N. command will see the mission increase numbers to about 12,000 and should secure better financing and air support for peacekeepers.

While levels of violence have eased in parts of the country, especially in the capital, rights groups said sectarian violence had risen in the centre and the east in recent months.

“Civilians are being killed by all sides at an alarming rate and people are desperate for protection,” said Lewis Mudge, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“There is no time to lose. The new U.N. mission urgently needs to get more troops into eastern and central areas and take bold steps to protect civilians from these brutal attacks.”

The violence has killed thousands and forced around 1 million -- about a quarter of the population -- to flee their homes.

“Today’s deployment is important,” said Anne-Marie Brinkman, country

UN takes charge of CARpeacekeeping force

Two Turkish mosques in Germany’s Lower Saxony state have come under attack by unknown assailants.

The molotof cocktail attack on the Haci Bayram mosque in Oldenburg was an attempt of arson, police said.

German authorities have begun an investigation into the attack on the mosque, which is bound to the Turkish Religious Affairs department and serves as an official Turkish diplomatic mission for Turkish citizens abroad.

No one was injured in the attack, which was said to be politically motivated.

Another attack on a Turkish mosque, again bound to the Turkish Religious Affairs department, took place in the city of Mölln.

There have been five attacks in mosques around Germany in the past 30 days, four of which involved attempted arson.

Two Mosques attacked in Germany

director of the International Rescue Committee, an aid organisation.

“However it is crucial that the international community honour their commitment to CAR and scale up to the full complement as soon as possible.”

The deputy head of the interim parliament said elections set for February would probably be delayed because of persisting insecurity.

The country is rich in gold and diamonds but has seen little but conflict and political instability since independence from France in 1960.

With neighbours like Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad, its conflicts have often been allowed to fester.

“Today’s events mark a clear shift - a new stage in the stabilisation of the country after the cycles of barbaric and aimless violence of the last three decades,” said interim President Catherine Samba-Panza.


Muslim groups say new counter-terrorism law proposals would adversely affect the rights of innocent people.

Australia’s Muslim community has protested that they have not been given enough time to consider new terror laws aimed at tackling jihadist recruits.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned of dozens of Australians fighting with the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Muslim groups said innocent people will be greatly affected by the proposed laws.

Nail Aykan, general manager of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said: “This bill will be passed by the parliament and we will not have any influence on the issue.”

Last month, a photograph of a young child holding aloft a severed

head shocked the world. It was later claimed that the child’s father was convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, an Australian national believed to be fighting in Syria.

The government plans to strengthen community programs to combat involvement with extremist groups and establish a new police monitoring unit for returning jihadists. It also proposes a “national disruption group to investigate, prosecute and disrupt foreign fighters and their supporters.”

Banks in the U.S. have been sending letters to their American Muslim customers telling them that their accounts will soon be closed.

There has been no explanation as to why certain Muslims have been targeted.

It is not just Muslim organizations being targeted, but individuals as well.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Florida businessman Sofian

Zakout, who runs the American Muslims for Emergency and Relief Inc., had both his personal and business accounts closed at Chase Bank shortly after opening a new account.

Zakout, whose charity has helped a wide range of people from the victims of Hurricane Katrina to the needy civilians caught up in the Syrian civil war, told the Los Angeles Times, “I’m not going to be quiet. I

US banks closes Muslim accountsdon’t want to see this happening to anyone again.”

The newspaper also reported that a Kuwaiti dentist based in Minneapolis had an application to open a bank account at TCF Bank rejected last summer, with no reason offered.

A Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) attorney has submitted a complaint to the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, but a Justice Department spokeswoman said the issue was a matter for banking regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“The bureau takes seriously any allegations of discrimination in the consumer financial marketplace and is committed to ensuring consumers have fair and equal access to credit,” she said, adding “We cannot confirm or comment on whether any investigation is ongoing.”

CAIR Executive Director Dawud Walid said that the organization’s Michigan chapter is now considering a lawsuit against the banks.

Innocent Australian Muslimsalarmed by anti-terror plans The Moroccan government has

gifted Quran copies to Muslim citizens of Touba city in Senegal.

According to Almaghribia newspaper, a collection of Holy Quran copies published by Muhammad Saadis Publication Institute in Morocco were gifted to the city’s Muslims.

Talib Baradah, Moroccan ambassador to Senegal, presented the copies to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Ambaki, a community leader.

Ambaki said that Morocco and Senegal have developed friendly relations, particularly in religious fields.

The Moroccan government had previously gifted copies of the Holy Quran to Muslim tribes in Kaolack, Dakar and Tivaouane cities of Senegal.

Islam is the predominant religion in Senegal, which is a country in West Africa.

Around 92 percent of the country’s population is estimated to be Muslim.

Morocco gifts Qurancopies to Senegal

22 I SPORT www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

England cricketer Moeen Ali said “One of the biggest things I’d like to achieve is to encourage other people of faith, any sort of faith, to play cricket, or professional sport, and follow your faith.”

England’s famous Muslim cricketer Moeen Ali, who has made both headlines in the British media for both his superb performances on the field and his unique appearance, has said that he wishes to be a role-model for people of faith to participate more in the sport.

Speaking in an interview with Mehdi Hassan for the Huffington Post, Moeen Ali - who has been dubbed ‘The Beard That’s Feared’ - explained his journey through his Cricketing career and his struggle to overcome prejudice in order to be accepted into the hearts of English sports fans.

Detailing his introduction to religion as a teenager who was

not practising his faith and at the time never thought he’d become an England cricketer let alone a religious, bearded England crickets, Ali said that he started looking into Islam after a discussion he had with a Christian convert to the religion.

“I asked him why he had become a Muslim.. I said to him: ‘Why would you follow a religion which has [forced] marriages and all these wrong things?’ And he said, ‘That’s not your religion, that’s from your culture, your Pakistani culture’ and from there we just started talking,” Ali explained.

Today, however, Ali said his religion means “everything” to him, adding “My relationship with the creator, following the prophet.. This is where we Muslims have gone wrong. We stopped following the Quran and the ‘sunnah’ [the life example of the prophet] and have been deluded by the world...People get involved not

Basketball’s world governing body has agreed to allow players to wear head coverings such as hijabs and turbans, during a two-year trial.

Previously, players could only wear a 5cm headband to control hair and sweat.

Muslim and Sikh players had argued the ban discriminated against

those who wear head coverings for religious reasons.

However, the trial will only apply in countries where the national basketball federation has sought permission from FIBA.

Once approved, the federation will have to submit follow-up reports twice a year, AFP said.

The international board will evaluate the rule again in 2015 and determine whether testing at the lowest official international level should begin next summer. A full review will be done in 2016 on whether it will be a permanent rule change after the 2016 Olympics.

www.pi-media.co.uk

Basketball’s world body allowsreligious head coverings

England’s Muslim cricketerbridging sport and faith

just in politics but in groups and sects and.. forget the main reason why we’re here: to worship Allah.”

Regarding the reaction he gets as a bearded, Muslim cricketer, Ali said, “I get asked a lot of questions about my beard, about my religion, and I feel I have to answer them. Be honest with [people].”

However, admitting that he has faced criticism for his very obvious representation of his religion in the British media, Ali brushed off negative comments saying “At the end of the day, I’m a Muslim and it doesn’t bother me what someone like him [says]. It doesn’t bother me one bit.”

“To be honest, throughout my cricket career, since I’ve had a beard, I’ve had to explain a lot of things to people. I try and say, ‘This is not Islam, this is just being people brainwashed or whatever’.. If you look at Islam, it condemns this sort of thing,” he added.

Ali’s political affiliations have also been under scrutiny after turning up on the second day of the third Test with India in Southampton on July 28, wearing two wristbands with the messages “Free Palestine” and “Save Gaza” on them, which got him in trouble not only with the match referee but also the International Cricket Council (ICC) which forbids players from wearing anything related to “political, religious or racial activities” during matches.

27-year-old Ali, whose grandmother is English, said that although he is a Muslim he is also “very happy” and “very proud” to call himself English and British.


www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014 SPORT I 23

Dubai real estate firm Allsopp and Allsopp has signed a shirt sponsorship deal with English club Coventry City FC.

The League One side, who last weekend returned to their home stadium Ricoh Arena for the first time since April 2013, signed a deal with the property agency to sponsor the home shirt for the remainder of this season. The company will also have first option for next season.

Based in Dubai, Allsopp and Allsopp also have a branch in

Coventry, the hometown of company directors Carl and Lewis Allsopp.

Carl Allsopp said the sponsorship is the next step in developing the business in Coventry, which opened less than a year ago.

“I have been a Coventry City supporter all of my life – the whole family follows the Sky Blues – so this a fantastic moment for us personally but it has also been done as a hard-nosed business decision,” he said.

Lewis and Carl, who were born and raised in Coventry, established

the estate agency in Dubai in 2008 and it is regarded one of the most successful in the UAE.

Allsopp & Allsopp employs around 100 staff across two offices in Dubai and has won a string of international awards.

As part of the deal, the company is also sponsoring Coventry City’s under-18s side.

Coventry City owners moved their home games to Northampton last season after a dispute with the stadium owners over rent.

Dubai real estate firm signs shirt deal with Coventry City

A Muslim schoolgirl became an internet sensation after she escorted Manchester City’s Yaya Toure on to the pitch wearing her headscarf - in the club’s sky blue colors.

A’isha Dalal is believed to be the first mascot to wear a headscarf on to the pitch in the Premier League and the image went viral after it was shared across the world via social media.

The youngster, from Blackburn, said: “It was a very surreal experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

“The players were so friendly and made us feel at home.“We were lucky to have been allowed to pick our players.“ A’isha and younger brother Khalil, who escorted French midfielder Samir Nasri, joined players from the current Premier

League champions’ and Capital One Cup holders before the Liverpool game at the Etihad Stadium on August 26, which City won 3-1.

A’isha was happy to accompany former Barcelona player, who became the only second midfielder to score 20 Premier League goals in a season as City won the title in May.

Speaking of her big moment A’isha said: “I really enjoyed buying my kit.

“Looking for the right color scarf was time consuming but my mum’s friend managed to eventually find one.

“Wearing a scarf wasn’t something I gave a second thought to as I wanted to show that you don’t have to be shy about showing your faith.

“If you want to wear it then feel

An entire football team of young Cameroonian football players have declared their conversion to Islam after spending two months at a football training camp in the United Arab Emirates.

A total of twenty-three players in their twenties who came as part of a program run by a football academy for poor, homeless and orphaned youngsters in Cameroon, openly read out their testimony of faith at the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD) in Dubai.

It was reported that the players and coaches decided to accept Islam for various reasons, including the peace they felt in the religion and the kindness of Muslims they came across during their stay in the country.

Cameroonian football team accepts Islam

Muslim schoolgirl ss ‘first football mascot to wear headscarf’

confident to wear it anywhere.”A’isha added: “Khalil wanted to

walk with Samir Nasri, as he is a big fan.“Yaya was very friendly and asked if I was nervous. I said a little. He reassured me not to be scared and I wished him good luck. It was a day Khalil and I will never forget.”

24 I FEATURED www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

The importance of parental involvement in children’s reading is vital.

There are many ways in which parents contribute to children’s literacy at key stage 1 and 2. Home influences impact significantly on children’s attainment. Parent’s, who introduce children to reading from an early age, considerably improve their child’s chances to achieve later. Where there is a lack of books exposure at home, little children progress little at foundation literacy-stage.

This is because children are unfamiliar with letters and sounds, whereas parents who introduce their children to phonics have a head start in reception.

Parent’s who have a positive attitude towards their children’s literacy influences progress, and this is regardless of the social class of the parents. Research illustrates, a direct correlation between, parent’s reading to their children at an early age and children pursuing an active interest in reading in later life. When parent’s talk to children about the content of the books they see their children develop a higher comprehension than those who

don’t. Making a conversation about

books is necessary. Talk improves understanding.

It also improves speaking and listening. This is a valuable tool in the development of a child’s learning because proactive reading is better than passive reading.

Another factor that helps children’s learning is the quality of institutional school support. It is necessary for schools to share what type of literacy activities can help children at home.

With parents acting as tutors and children acting as tutees, teacher’s efforts are supported and massive progress is made over time. With schools training parents and how to get help, children improve incredibly because parents thrive on developing their own English reading skills in an effort to help their children.

Schools that encourage parental involvement in a child’s reading see the most progress. Since September 1999, schools are required to make home-school agreement with the hope to build a strong link with parents. Become familiar with your home-school-policy.

Parental involvementand your child’s english

Parents who don’t speak English should require a translated copy. Otherwise, speak to the school if you have concerns. If you have little luck then speak to the local authority. That’s if you feel your school is not adhering to its home-school agreement. Parent’s who don’t speak English should get family or community to support translation.

Parent’s who can’t support their children due to their inability to read English can seek help from local tutors. Selecting a good tutor in English by researching track records is essential. Ensure your child is not put into tuition where everyone does the same work as this is the same as how schools approach teaching.

However, a mixture of tuition and small class based learning is fine. Tuition where your child does different work from others is best.

In summary:Home reading culture, supported by partnerships with schools and tutors is important to foster interest in children’s literacy.

• Reading at home to young children, then speaking and listening about the stories helps children to build strong language skills, helps to create a strong positive attitude and helps motivation for later learning.

• Getting involved with schools family reading programmes helps build positive attitudes towards reading.

• For busy parent selecting tutors is an option but do your research on track record.

• AVOID small “class-based-tuition” over “small group tuition” otherwise it’s the same as school. Children need their own learning path to make progress in Reading and English.

By Mr G Dabhad 01924 506010

www.ImproveTuition.orgwww.fb.com/improvetuition

www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014 FEATURED I 25

The health benefits of figs or anjeer include treatment of sexual weakness, constipation, indigestion, piles, diabetes, cough, bronchitis, and asthma. It also helps in gaining weight after illness.

Figs are seasonal fruits that are found in the western parts of Asia. However, dried figs are always available. The figs tree is a member of mulberry family.

Health benefits of figs can be attributed to the presence of minerals, vitamins and fiber in them. Figs contain vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, calcium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, sodium, potassium and chlorine.

A few of its health benefits include:

• Prevent constipation: There are 5 grams of fiber per three-fig serving. So, it helps in healthy bowel function and prevents constipation.

• Weight loss: The fiber in figs also helps to reduce weight and is recommended for obese people. Take care - figs also result in weight gain, especially when consumed with milk.

• Lower cholesterol: Figs contain Pectin, a soluble fiber. When fiber goes through the digestive system, it mops up globes of cholesterol and carries them out of body.

• Prevent coronary heart disease: Dried figs contain phenol, Omega-3 and Omega-6. These fatty acids reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

• Prevent colon cancer: The presence of fiber helps to mop up and usher out cancer causing substances.

• Protection against post-menopausal breast cancer: Fiber content in figs give protection against breast cancer.

• Good for diabetic patients: Figs

Health benefitsof Figs (Anjeer)

have been recommended for a high fiber treat. Fig leaves reduce the amount of insulin needed by diabetic patients who have to take insulin injection. Fig is rich in Potassium. Potassium helps to control blood sugar. Fig leaves have anti-diabetic properties

• Prevention of hypertension: People used to take more sodium in the form of salt. Low potassium and high sodium level may lead to hypertension. Figs are high in potassium but low in sodium. So, it helps to avoid hypertension.

• Sexual weakness: Figs are known since ages for reducing sexual weakness. Soak 2-3 figs in milk overnight and eat them in the morning to enhance your sexual power. It also helps in gaining weight.

• Strengthens bones: Figs are rich in Calcium. Calcium helps to strengthen bones.

• Urinary calcium loss: People having high salt diet may be affected by increased urinary calcium loss. Potassium content in figs helps to avoid that.

• Prevent macular degeneration: Vision loss in older people is due to macular degeneration. Fruits and figs

generally are good for avoiding this condition.

• Relief for throat: The high mucilage content in figs, helps to heal and protect sore throats.

Figs are quite useful in various respiratory disorders including whooping cough and asthma.

Since they are also good for digestion, they help in treating constipation, indigestion, stomach ache, etc. Figs are also good for fever, earache, boils, abscesses, venereal diseases and is excellent for the liver. Fig is a highly alkaline food, therefore helps to regulate the pH of the body.

Figs are rich in flavonoids and polyphenols. These are antioxidants, which prevent the damage caused by free radicals. Fig is known for its soothing and laxative properties. Figs are low in fat and sugar.

Figs are sweet and soft and their paste is used as a replacement for sugar. Processed figs are used to make pies, pudding, cakes, other bakery products, jam, jellies and preserves.

This beneficial fruit has been mentioned in the holy Quran in Surah At-Tin [95:1]

26 I I ADVERTORIAL www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014

www.pi-media.co.uk I October 2014 PUBLIC NOTICE I 27

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