Egypt mourns 'headscarf martyr'

The body of Muslim woman, killed in a German courtroom by a man convicted of insulting her religion, has been taken back to her native Egypt for burial.

Marwa Sherbini, 31, was stabbed 18 times by Axel W, who is now under arrest in Dresden for suspected murder.

Husband Elwi Okaz is also in a critical condition in hospital, after being injured as he tried to save his wife.

Ms Sherbini had sued her killer after he called her a "terrorist" because of her headscarf.

The case has attracted much attention in Egypt and the Muslim world.

German prosecutors have said the 28-year-old attacker, identified only as Axel W, was driven by a deep hatred of foreigners and Muslims.

'Martyr'

Medics were unable to save Ms Sherbini who was three months pregnant with her second child. Her three-year-old son, was with the family in court when she was killed.

Axel W and Ms Sherbini and family were in court for him to appeal against a fine of 750 euros ($1,050) for insulting her in 2008, apparently because she was wearing the Muslim headscarf or Hijab.

Newspapers in Egypt have expressed outrage at the case, asking how it was allowed to happen and dubbing Ms Sherbini "the martyr of the Hijab".

Senior Egyptian officials and German diplomatic staff attended the funeral in Alexandria along with hundreds of mourners.

Media reports say Mr Okaz was injured both by the attacker and when a policeman opened fire in the courtroom.

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Teacher killed by alleged insurgents in Thai south

uspected Muslim insurgents fatally shot a Buddh ist teacher Tuesday in southern Thailand, where violence has continued since a massacre at a mosque last week, police said.

The 55-year-old teacher was riding a motorcycle to her school in Yala province when at least two assailants killed her in a drive-by shooting, said police Col. Poompetch Pipatpetchpoom.

An Muslim separatist insurgency in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat has led to the deaths of more than 3,400 people, both Buddhist and Muslim, since early 2004.

Violence has spiked since the killing of 10 Muslims at a mosque in Narathiwat on June 8.

Authorities suspended classes at the school after Tuesday's shooting, Poompetch said.

“The school will remain closed until we can be sure we can provide security for teachers and students,” he said.

Public school teachers in the three provinces are viewed as symbols of government authority and are regularly attacked. At least 90 have been killed in the five-year-old insurgency.

Teachers and Buddhist monks are frequently escorted by soldiers or police. The escorts have themselves become frequent targets of the insurgents. A massive counterinsurgency effort had slowed the pace of attacks in recent months but violence has occurred daily since the attack at the mosque last week.

On Monday, a beheaded and charred body of a Buddhist rubber plantation worker was found in Yala province. His head was found nearby along with his severed limbs.

Thai authorities said the mosque attack was meant to inflame tensions between the Muslim and Buddhist communities. Some local Muslims said the attack was masterminded by Thai authorities, a charge the government and military have denied.

Security forces often blame the insurgents for attacks on Muslim individuals and institutions, saying they are attempting to incite hatred to boost their cause and trigger sectarian strife.

Coke suffers brand backlash

KUALA LUMPUR - Coca-Cola needs to raise its local relevance following a wave of boycotts in Malaysia over US support for Israel's attacks on Gaza. The brand, say industry sources, has not done enough to present itself as a local operation. Ismael Ibnoulouafi, CEO of The Brand Union’s Southeast Asia Hub, said Coke required a longer-term approach than it has so far adopted, pointing to action taken by McDonald’s including partnering with schools and other CSR activity. “As evident from this episode, brands these days have to do more to be a part of a country’s social, cultural and economic climate.” Another regional PR agency CEO argued that Coke should start leveraging on local communities and meetings, such as “local mosque heads and Malay-language publications and blogs” to do damage control. Over 2,000 Muslim restaurants in Malaysia have pledged to remove Coca-Cola from their menus as part of a boycott of US products. The nationwide boycott is led by the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association with support from the Muslim Restaurant Operators Association. Besides Coke, 100 other US brands including Starbucks, Colgate and McDonald’s could be caught up in the action, which has been encouraged via social media.Coke’s PR strategy has to date focused on emphasising its political neutrality and its role in the local economy. “Given the local nature of our business, we believe that calls for boycotts of our products are not the appropriate way to further any causes, as they primarily hurt the local economy, local businesses and local citizens,” said Kadri Taib, public affairs and communications director for Coke Malaysia. Jorg Dietzel, principal of Jorg Dietzel Brand Consultants Singapore, said Coke is the latest brand to be targeted due to US foreign policy. He said stressing the local nature of its business is the right approach. “When people realise how important these brands are to their economy, the boycotts will stop.”

ASIA “Who is God?” is the most googled question of 2007

Numbers show that Internet is home to religious and spiritual quests. Burma, Christians in Muslim lands, China and the Vatican are AsiaNews’ top searched words.
Rome (AsiaNews) – Internet helps religious quests. According to Google Zeitgeist’s second annual report, “Who is God” was the most searched question on the search engine last year. It was first in the “Who is . . . ?” category. As for “What is . . . ?,” love came on top.
All this confirms that thoughtful and existential questions play a hugely important role on the net.
Google Zeitgeist looked at all the questions internet surfers placed in the search engine. The study indicated that most questions came from the United States, the country with the most developed Internet.
A study by the Pew Internet Project also showed that in the United States 64 per cent of Americans connected to the net use it for religious or spiritual purposes.
The “religious” trend is confirmed by AsiaNews. Among its top tend most searched topics are: Burmese monks, the situation of Christians in Indonesia, Pakistan and Iraq, and relations between China and Vatican. An article on the economy only comes in seventh place: the financial crisis caused by subprime lending.