Islamic Revival

Secret unit finds Muslims and non-Muslims blaming UK government for using terror attacks to justify aggressive foreign policy The Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU), has published for the first time some of the reports from focus groups it has conducted on the attitudes of Muslims and members of the public to terrorism. The unit was started three years ago to provide better information across government departments on how their messages on terrorism have been received. A report, called Understanding Perceptions of the Terms ‘Britishness’ and ‘Terrorism’ found that many in the focus groups could “understand why some UK Muslims resort to extreme violence.” It found that many Muslims believed terrorists were themselves victims who had been manipulated by others into believing it was their religious duty to fight back against British policy in Afghanistan and the Middle East. The research also found that many Muslims believed that the British and US governments are them

The debt crisis in Greece is ample proof that the world is still reeling from the global financial crisis that occurred in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers' collapse in September 2008. Initially only a handful of governments like Pakistan, Ukraine, Iceland and some Eastern European were affected by the credit crunch. These countries had to borrow money to meet their debt obligations and ensure fiscal stability. But now, the crisis threatens to overwhelm several European countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal and may even spread to countries like Britain and America. Just this week the IMF said that the crisis of the past two-and-a-half years had affected public finances across the globe in a way not seen since the Second World War. In 2007, when the credit crunch began, 40% of countries sampled by the IMF were running budget surpluses, but by 2009 this had dropped to 10%. Countries with deficits higher than 3% of national output (gross domestic product) increased from 20% t

Hyderabad is being described as sliding back into the Stone Age as a fourth day of riots hits the city. Curfews have been implemented and extended. Reports are emerging of mobs running riot, homes being set alight, looting, with one person stabbed to death. Pedestrians and people in their cars were targeted by the mobs and many of them had their vehicles set alight. India since its creation has been rocked by communal riots, where minority communities have been massacred. The Gujarat massacre in 2002 led to nearly 1000 Muslims being butchered with the help of the local police. This is not the first time events have simmered beyond control in India's Southern city of Hyderabad. Hyderabad saw its worst communal riots in 1989, which were triggered after Marri Chenna Reddy took over as chief minister, frustrating the attempts of another powerful faction in the Congress which wanted to see its leader in power. This latest wave of riots comes at a time when the central government ha