Headlines:

• European debt crisis poses grave threat to world economy
• US confirms Russia is arming Syria with attack helicopters
• Scholars ban the use of Jihad and Caliphate
• Saudi religious authority forbids 'jihad' in Syria
• Washington wants Pakistan out, India in as Afghanistan mentor

Details:

European debt crisis poses grave threat to world economy:

Worsening sovereign debt problems in euro zone countries pose the biggest single threat to the world economy at present. However, European leaders have yet to summon the political will and employ the most powerful policies to tame the crisis as time and opportunities are being lost again and again. Unemployment in the 17 countries that use the euro is already 11 percent, the highest rate since the single currency was introduced in 1999. Three nations -- Greece, Ireland and Portugal -- have asked for outside bailouts, crumbling under mountains of public debt. Meanwhile, Italy and Spain, the fourth and fifth largest economies in Europe respectively, look likely to become the next domino to fall. Europe has been struggling with its debt problems for nearly three years. Prolonged uncertainties over whether the euro can hold together and for how long have spooked global investors and could trigger a devastating second meltdown of the world economy that is still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis. Greece's upcoming parliamentary election on Sunday could mean a potentially catastrophic Greek exit from the currency union as the anti-bailout party is now running neck-and-neck with pro-euro coalition. If Greece drops the euro in the worst scenario, the knock-on dislocations to the real economy could lower euro area GDP by up to 2 percent, Goldman Sachs, an influential U.S. investment bank, predicted. The ripple effect of the European woes will hit both its developed and emerging trade partners. East Asia and Pacific regional growth rate may slow down by 2 to 4 percent if Europe's situation deteriorates, due to reduced import demands, disruptions in cross-border capital flow and increased prudent savings, World Bank simulation test results showed.

US confirms Russia is arming Syria with attack helicopters:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday accused Russia of providing attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. The statement put the Pentagon in an awkward position, as the U.S. military has come under criticism in Congress for working through what is apparently the same Russian firm to purchase helicopters for the Afghan army. It also followed a blunt acknowledgement by the U.N. Tuesday that the country has descended into civil war, only adding to the concern that violence could continue to escalate in Syria. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, had initially raised questions about the Russian contractor. He had written a letter Monday to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta expressing "grave concerns" about U.S. dealings with the firm that is "arming the Assad regime" in Syria. Asked about those concerns Tuesday, Pentagon spokesmen did not deny that Russia was allegedly providing attack choppers to Assad through the same firm the U.S. uses to buy Mi-17 helicopters. The spokesmen also struggled to answer why the U.S. is not pushing for an arms embargo against Syria, as it did against Libya and Yugoslavia.

Scholars ban the use of Jihad and Caliphate:

Islamic scholars from 23 countries have arrived at a joint conclusion that condemns extremism. An international conference "Islamic Doctrine Opposes Radicalism" started in Moscow on the 25th of May and ended in the capital of Chechen Republic, Grozny three days later. A fatwa, which condemns the display of radicalism as well as bans the use of basic Islamic terminology such as "jihad" and "caliphate" for political purposes, is a need of the day. This is crucial not only for the Muslim world, says supreme mufti of the Central Spiritual Department of Muslims in Russia, Albir Krganov. "At present, there are various interpretations of Islamic terminology, and various people try to use it in different ways. Unfortunately, this stirs many problems, especially among young people who do not know the basic principles of the religion fairly well, and various radical groups are trying to use them for their opportunistic purposes. In view of this, the duty of the official priesthood and the spiritual department is to explain to people what these terms mean and what the Islamic laws appeal for," Albir Krganov said. According to the theological conclusion drawn in Grozny, the term "jihad" is a fight against malice rather than a holy war as claimed by extremists, while "takfir" means only an accusation of disbelief but not a call for destroying the unfaithful. "Caliphate" is no more than a system of Islamic states, and it has nothing to do with total domination.

Saudi religious authority forbids 'jihad' in Syria:

A member of Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority prohibited on Thursday any acts of jihad in Syria. Sheikh Ali al-Hikmi of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars issued a fatwa forbidding jihad after calls for such action have increased in recent months. Al-Hikmi warned, in a statement to the Saudi daily Alsharq, against the calls for jihad in Syria on online social networks, adding that different methods can be used to support Syrian people. "The Syrian people are facing injustice, persecution and the force of an arrogant and haughty regime, and needs our prayers and help in every possible way," the Saudi sheikh said to the daily. Al-Hikmi explained that the act of jihad fell under the authority of the guardian - a reference to Saudi authorities - and any such act, which was not approved by the guardian, is a form of disobedience and should be prohibited. "The support for the Syrian people should be in harmony with the country's policy," the scholar added. "Everything is linked to a system and to the country's policies and no person should be allowed to disobey the guardian and call for jihad." The Saudi sheikh said that unapproved jihad would embarrass the country, adding that "there should be coordination with the government, regarding organized support, because the government is fulfilling its duties towards the Syrian people." Early last year, the council issued a fatwa, forbidding any form of protests or petitions for reforms in the oil-rich kingdom, fearing a similar uprising inspired by the Arab Spring.

Washington wants Pakistan out, India in as Afghanistan mentor:

Washington wants India to fill up the post-US vacuum in Afghanistan and play a bigger role training Afghan security forces as a NATO deadline to withdraw all its combat troops from that country by the end of 2014 draws near. There is irony in the situation as the same US administration wanted India to downsize its footprint in Afghanistan till a couple of years ago for fear of offending Pakistan. Now US criticism of Pakistan is no longer hush- hush. In fact, the mood on Capitol Hill is so rabidly anti-Pakistan that a US Senator held up a Farm Bill in the Senate last week by wanting to tack on a bill to choke aid to Islamabad. Tired of catering to Pakistan's sulks about an Indian presence in Afghanistan, the US is increasingly looking to India as a partner in developing Afghanistan. New Delhi has provided some $2 billion in assistance to Afghanistan since 2001. Both the US and India have strategic partnership agreements with Afghanistan. At the cost of sending Pakistan into a paroxysms of rage, US Secretary Hillary Clinton proposed a trilateral engagement between the US, India and Afghanistan. Nirupama Rao, India's ambassador to Washington, made clear this month that India has every intention of preventing "a regression in Afghanistan to the situation it was before 2001."