Deadly storm hits Philippines

Flash floods and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Jangmi leave at least 31 people dead and seven missing.

Source: aljazeera.com

Flash floods and landslides triggered by Tropical Storm Jangmi have left at least 31 people dead and seven missing in the Philippines, including in areas still recovering from last year’s Typhoon Haiyan, officials have said.

Jangmi, packing winds of 65 kilometres per hour and gusts of 80 kph, had dumped heavy rains on southern Mindanao Island.

Floods destroyed bridges and highways, sending thousands of residents to evacuation centres.

The storm then pushed its way through eastern and central islands, where most of the deaths occurred on Tuesday.

The government weather bureau said that as of late Tuesday afternoon, the eye of the storm was 140 kilometres southwest of central Iloilo City, moving west at 19kph towards western Palawan Island.

Record Number Evacuated in Malaysia’s Worst Floods

(Reuters) – More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes by authorities in five northern states of Malaysia hit by the Southeast Asian’ nation’s worst monsoon floods in decades.

Extremely high levels of floodwater and bad weather have made relocating victims and the transport of food supplies by helicopters difficult, Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement.

A total of 103,412 people have been displaced in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Perlis, state news agency Bernama said, surpassing the previous record of 100,000 people evacuated during floods in 2008.

Northeastern peninsular Malaysia, which is worst affected, is regularly hit by flooding during the annual Northeast Monsoon, but this year’s rains have been particularly bad.

On Tuesday, nearly 60 foreign tourists were among almost 100 people rescued by boat and helicopter from a resort in a Malaysian national park lashed by its highest rainfall since 1971.

The flooding comes as communities in northwestern Malaysia mark the 10^thanniversary of the devastating tsunami that hit on Dec. 26, 2004.

Turkey: the rise of Islamic education angers secularists

Source: voanews.com

By: Reuters

Turkey has seen a sharp rise in religious schooling under reforms that President Tayyip Erdogan casts as a defense against moral decay, but which opponents see as an unwanted drive to shape a more Islamic nation.

Almost a million students are enrolled in “imam hatip” schools this year, up from just 65,000 in 2002 when Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party first came to power, he told the opening of one of the schools in Ankara last month.

The schools teach boys and girls separately, and give around 13 hours a week of Islamic instruction on top of the regular curriculum, including study of Arabic, the Koran and the life of the Prophet Mohammad.

Egyptian president says his regime is ready to protect Israel

Source: middleeastmonitor.com

Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi told an Italian newspaper that his country is ready to send troops to Palestine in order to guarantee Israel’s security and work jointly against terrorism.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Al-Sisi said: “We are prepared to send military forces inside a Palestinian state. They would help the local police and reassure Israelis in their role as guarantors.”

Israel Announces Massive West Bank Land Grab

It’s quiet in ‪#‎Gaza‬ but apartheid ‪#‎israel‬ is still stealing land! ‪#‎FreePalestine‬‪#‎Boycottisrael‬ ‪#‎bds‬ ‪#‎icc4israel‬

Source: huffingtonpost.com

By: Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years, drawing Palestinian condemnation and a U.S. rebuke.

UK: British Muslim women fight Islamophobia with faith

Source: http://www.worldbulletin.net/

When youth worker Sumreen Farooq was abused in a London street, the 18-year-old decided it was time to take a stand – and she started to wear a headscarf.

Farooq is one of many young Muslim women living in Britain who have, for various reasons, chosen to adopt the headscarf to declare their faith to all around them, despite figures showing rising violence against visibly identifiable Muslims.