Headlines:

• 11 Million Users Quit Facebook in the U.S and UK
• Veil Threat: UK Muslims Outraged by Possible Ban on Religious Dress in Public
• Syria crisis: Destroying Chemical Weapons 'Is Doable'
• America Still Hopes for Taliban Talks: US Envoy
• Butcher of Gujarat Modi Woos Muslims

Details:

11 Million Users Quit Facebook in the U.S and UK

Facebook users are quitting the social network in droves due to privacy concerns and fear of internet addiction, according to new research. Increasing numbers are taking part in what's been dubbed 'virtual identity suicide' and deleting their accounts.  Analysis of more than 600 people, by researchers from the University of Vienna, found that data protection issues and social pressure to add friends were also among the reasons for leaving. Others quoted shallow conversations, general dissatisfaction and loss of interest in the site. Compared to the sample of those who continued to use Facebook, the quitters were older, on average, and more likely to be male. Reasons for quitting Facebook were mainly privacy concerns (48.3 per cent), followed by a general dissatisfaction (13.5 per cent), negative aspects of online friends (12.6 per cent) and the feeling of getting addicted (6.0 per cent). Brenda Wiederhold, editor of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking which published the findings, said: 'Given high profile stories such as WikiLeaks and the recent NSA surveillance reports, individual citizens are becoming increasingly more wary of cyber-related privacy concerns. [Source: Mail Online]

 

Veil Threat: UK Muslims Outraged by Possible Ban on Religious Dress in Public

The Muslim community in the UK has been ‘disgusted' by the idea of a possible ban on Muslim girls and young women from wearing veils in public places. Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne says the government should consider the ban. "We should be very cautious about imposing religious conformity on a society which has always valued freedom of expression," a Liberal Democrat Minister told The Telegraph. "But there is genuine debate about whether girls should feel a compulsion to wear a veil when society deems children to be unable to express personal choices about other areas like buying alcohol, smoking or getting married," Browne said.  "That would apply to Christian minorities in the Middle East just as much as religious minorities here in Britain," he added.  The chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, a group that works with young Muslims in the UK, said he was "disgusted" by Browne's comments.  "This is another example of the double standards that are applied to Muslims in our country by some politicians," Mohammed Shafiq said.  "Whatever one's religion they should be free to practice it according to their own choices and any attempt by the government to ban Muslim women will be strongly resisted by the Muslim community." The debate comes after Birmingham Metropolitan College changed its rules last week in an unprecedented move. It previously banned Muslim students from wearing niqab - a veil that leaves only a slot for the eyes. An online petition against the ban was signed by 9,000 in 48 hours and forced the institution to drop the ban, which had been in place for eight years.  [Source: Russia Today]

Syria Crisis: Destroying Chemical Weapons 'Is Doable'

The chief UN weapons inspector says it will be difficult to find and destroy all of Syria's chemical weapons, but he believes it is achievable. Ake Sellstrom told the BBC much depended on whether Damascus and the opposition were willing to negotiate.  He said his team concluded after a visit to Syria that the nerve agent sarin was used in an attack in a Damascus area on 21 August. The UN Security Council is now trying to agree a resolution on the issue. Western nations blame government forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the deadly attack in the Ghouta area. Damascus - backed by Russia - says the opposition forces are to blame. Mr Sellstrom told the BBC's Newsday programme that dealing with Syria's chemical arsenal was "doable". "But of course, it will be a stressful work," he added. "Depending on the position of the Syrian government and the position of the opposition, depending on how much they could negotiate, it could be done. "It will be a difficult job." The report, however, did not apportion blame for the attack.  [Source: BBC]

 

America Still Hopes for Taliban Talks: US Envoy

A US envoy said Monday that Washington still hoped to talk directly with the Taliban to support an Afghan peace deal but that the militants seemed unwilling to do so. The Taliban opened an office in the Qatari capital Doha in June aimed at talking to the United States ahead of next year's withdrawal of most American troops, but diplomacy collapsed before it even began. "We would still like to see that dialogue initiated, a dialogue that would involve the US and Taliban directly but would also involve the Afghan government or its High Peace Council," said James Dobbins, the US special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan. "We're not giving up hope. We continue to hope that there will be a positive development at some point, but we can't predict when," Dobbins, who was expected to lead the US side at talks, told reporters in Washington. "The Taliban are now, as a practical matter, unwilling to engage with the United States, with the Afghans, with anybody," he said. The Taliban office in Doha styled itself as an embassy of a government-in-exile from the Islamists' 1996-2001 reign, angering Afghan President Hamid Karzai who briefly pulled out of separate talks with the United States on a post-2014 security agreement. In turn, the Taliban refused to talk to Karzai, calling him a US puppet, even though the United States had hoped for the Afghan government to play the main role in talks with the Taliban. Dobbins blamed a "genuine misunderstanding" over the role of the office. President Barack Obama has promised the war-weary US public to pull combat troops out of Afghanistan next year, ending the longest US war that was launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks. The United States has set a goal of concluding the security agreement with the Afghan government next month.[Source The News International]

Butcher of Gujarat Modi Woos Muslims

Four days after the BJP announced that Mr Modi will be its candidate for PM for the 2014 general elections, the Gujarat Chief Minister is doing the rounds of Ahmedabad collecting blessings and good wishes. The BJP has organised a recruitment drive with special emphasis on inducting 100,000 Muslim youth. In Mumbai, Muslims linked to the BJP's minority cell gathered at the historic Makhdoom Shah Baba mausoleum or Mahim Dargah to "pray for Mr Modi's long life."  In organised effort in Gujarat, a group of Muslims linked to the BJP celebrated the Chief Minister's birthday with a giant, 64 kg cake. Similar cake-cutting ceremonies were held in a few other cities. As Mr Modi makes a bid to be Prime Minister next year, he needs to win friends and influence people. In that effort, he is also attempting to turn a debate over his secular credentials on its head. He is accused by political rivals of being a divisive leader, but his party insists that Mr Modi enjoys support among minorities too. The Gujarat Chief Minister is accused of not doing enough to stop the communal riots that mangled his state in 2002, leaving hundreds of people, mostly Muslims, dead. [Source: NDTV]