Titles:

• €750 fine for anyone wearing veil in France
• Islam is filling Europe's faith void, says Bishop
• Al-Azhar issues fatwa to support the construction of  a wall with Gaza 
• Iran- Turkmenistan  Gas pipeline to weaken Russia's grip
• Military expert predicts 300 to 500 US casualties per month in Afghanistan
• Yemen warns U.S. intervention could strengthen al-Qaeda

News Detailes:

€750 fine for anyone wearing veil in France

A French MP says he will soon put forward legislation that would make wearing face-covering Muslim veils in public an offence subject to a €750 fine. Jean-Francois Cope, who heads the governing UMP party in the National Assembly, said in an interview with Le Figaro that the ban on wearing burkas and other face-shrouding veils would extend to all public spaces, including the street. He said certain cultural events and carnivals would be exempt from the legislation. Those who oblige women to wear the head-to-toe veils also would be subject to fines. The opposition Socialist party is against the proposal.

Islam is filling Europe's faith void, says Bishop

Europe faces Islamisation because it has denied its Christian roots, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague has warned. Cardinal Miloslav Vlk said Europe will "pay dear" for having left its spiritual foundations, and said that it was now in the last period when a chance remained to do something about it. Cardinal Vlk made his remarks in an interview to mark his retirement after 19 years leading the Czech Roman Catholic Church. "Unless the Christians wake up," the Cardinal said, "life may be Islamised and Christianity will not have the strength to imprint its character on the life of people, not to say society."He also said that one motive of Muslims immigrating to Europe was to bring their religion to "the pagan environment of Europe, to its atheistic style of life". But he said that Europeans had brought the crisis on themselves by exchanging European Christian culture for an aggressive atheistic secularism. Europe is home to 38 million Muslims, around 5 per cent of its population.

Al-Azhar issues fatwa to support the construction of  a wall with Gaza

A council of leading Muslim clerics has supported the Egyptian government's construction of an underground barrier along the border with Gaza to impede tunnelling by smugglers. The Islamic Research Council of Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, said that the tunnels were used to smuggle drugs and threatened Egypt's security, the Al-Masri Al-Yawm newspaper reported."Those who oppose building this wall are violating the commands of Islamic law," they added, after a meeting attended by Egypt's top cleric Sheikh Mohammed Said Tantawi, who is a government appointee. Israel has sealed off Gaza and caused a humanitarian disaster . Now  Al-Azhar is following the sunnah of the Jews and supporting the Egyptian  regime to persecute Muslims of Gaza in the name of Islam.

Iran- Turkmenistan  Gas pipeline to weaken Russia's grip

A new gas pipeline that will allow for a sharp increase in natural gas deliveries from Turkmenistan to Iran was opened on Wednesday. The 19-mile pipeline, which weakens Moscow's grip over the region's gas supplies, is the second new route tapping into the region's vast gas resources to begin operating in the space of a month.  Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the route could have a global impact. "This pipeline will be a good stimulus for energy co-operation between Turkmenistan and Iran, as well as for delivery of Turkmen gas to the Persian Gulf and the world market," Mr Ahmadinejad said. Iran currently imports around 8 billion cubic metres of gas annually from Turkmenistan through the existing 125-mile Korpeje-Kordkuy pipeline under the terms of a 25-year deal reached in 1997.

Military expert predicts 300 to 500 US casualties per month in Afghanistan

Last month, President Obama announced that he would send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Shortly after the decision was made, General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, warned of increased violence in the Central Asian country as the new troops arrived. Now, retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who teaches international affairs at West Point and who has repeatedly visited Afghanistan to assess the situation there, is estimating that American casualties could go as high as "300 to 500 killed and wounded a month by next summer". "What I want to do is signal that this thing is going to be $5 billion to $10 billion a month and 300 to 500 killed and wounded a month by next summer. That's what we probably should expect. And that's light casualties," said McCaffrey, who is also president of his own consulting firm in Arlington, Va., and has conducted numerous trips to the war zones to assess the political and military challenges at hand.

Yemen warns U.S. intervention could strengthen al-Qaeda

US military intervention in Yemen to help fight Al-Qaeda militants could backfire and strengthen the jihadists believed behind the botched attack on a US airliner, a top Yemeni official said Thursday."Any intervention or direct (military) action by the United States could strengthen the Al-Qaeda network and not weaken it," deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs Rashed Al-Aleemi told a press conference."Our position is clear; we will fight and chase the Al-Qaeda group depending on Yemeni forces and security agencies (alone)," he said. Aleemi however said that Yemen needs the United States to help in training Yemeni counter-terrorism units.