The Los Angeles Times reported that suicide bombers killed at least 39 people and wounded dozens more Wednesday while targeting a procession of worshippers observing an important Shiite Muslim holiday in
south-eastern Iran. The Jundallah organization, a militant Sunni group that claims to represent Iran's mostly Sunni ethnic Baluch minority, posted on a website that it was responsible for the attack. Iranian officials claimed that Jundallah had carried out the attack with American and Arab support. Observers say sectarian tensions have risen since the city swelled from a few thousand inhabitants to 80,000 in a few decades, as Shiites from other parts of Iran moved to the predominantly Sunni city seeking work in the new government-funded rail and port infrastructure projects.
The Guardian published an article "Turkish officers go on trial for 'coup plot'." It says that about 200 active and retired Turkish military officers, including former chiefs of the air force as well as dozens of generals and admirals, went on trial today on charges of plotting to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government in 2003. Prosecutors have not made public any evidence or details of the accusations, but the Taraf newspaper has published what it calls leaked copies of documents pertaining to an alleged conspiracy dubbed Sledgehammer. More than 400 people - including academics, journalists, politicians and soldiers - are already on trial on separate charges of plotting to bring down the government. Critics say the cases are built on flimsy evidence and illegal wiretaps, and are designed to silence Erdogan's pro-secular opponents. The government denies the cases are politically motivated.
The other article published in the Guardian is devoted to Moscow riots. "Second Moscow riot in a week sees 1,000 detained" says that up to 1,000 people were arrested in Moscow today as nationalist youths rampaged throughout the city for the second time this week, shouting racist slogans and calling for the death of immigrants. About 65 people were detained after Saturday's riot but all were soon released. So far, 11 criminal cases have been opened. Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, made no comment on the unrest until Tuesday, when he said: "If someone thinks that he can do anything he wants in the city, go around killing innocent people, then they are mistaken."
A similar situation is happening in Turkey, however, the reason is different. The information agency Hurriyet reports on student protests. Student protests against government officials showed no signs of abating in Turkey on Wednesday despite continued harsh responses from police and politicians and ongoing threats of jail time for those participating in demonstrations. Student demonstrators chanted slogans against Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party. Lack of participatory rights was also at issue in a Dec. 4 protest in Istanbul, where student groups demonstrated outside a meeting between the prime minister and university rectors, demanding their right to be present at the talks. Ankara University students who later protested the excessive use of police force in that incident were pepper-sprayed by police.
Press-TV published an article "Shia Muslims commemorate Ashura." Millions of black clad mourners in Iran and many Muslim countries are holding mourning ceremonies to pay homage to the martyrdom of Imam Hossein (PBUH), the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and 72 of his companions and family members in Karbala, Iraq, over 1,300 years ago while fighting for justice. Muslims in Iran are commemorating the occasion during the days leading up to Ashura, the tenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar year Muharram. Ashura falls on December 16 this year. Many devout Muslims across the world are also holding ceremonies to mourn the event which is one of the most important occasions on the Shia calendar. Iranian mourners usually congregate at mosques for sorrowful, poetic recitations of the tragic event or Ta'zieh performed in memory of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.
