Hooked on to the News!!

Hi friends,

*** News Alert ***
Pictures of four men have been released in London who were thought to have carried explosives onto the public transport system. The bombs were detonated but did not explode. It was a day full of fast developing stories, and the killing of a “south Asian” man at one of the tube station created an almost near chaos situation. A house was raided in Harrow (that’s close to where most of my extended family lives, including my brother and his family!) A Muslim woman was taken away in the police van. The fear is mounting, and there is no peace in knowing that there could be another attack again. As one of my friends wrote in her email to me: “What now? Are we going to have attacks every Thursday in London?”

***News Alert***
President Musharraf of Pakistan gave an interview to ABC News in Pakistan. I am glad for one he has taken a strong stance against the idea that the London bombs have been blamed on Pakistan unfairly. He argued that the four bombers were born and brought up in London. They had been indoctrinated with hate literature in London by these groups, which are not even banned in London. Just because three of the bombers visited Pakistan doesn’t mean that it is Pakistan’s fault. Obviously, the nation of Pakistan is divided clearly into two camps: Anti-Musharraf and Pro-Musharraf.

*** News Alert***
Turkey: a bomb blast blew up a bus, which killed a Briton and an Irish. Others were injured.

***News Alert***
Now, there have been 7 explosions in Sharm el Sheikh, the popular sea resort in Egypt. The resort is frequented heavily by the Britishers and the Russians. In the last 15 minutes the figure for the dead has risen from 36, to 43 to 45. More than a hundred are injured, some very critically.

*** News Alert***
Dubai is a place heavily filled with Britishers and other western expats. If London is targeted, Turkey has been a target and now Sharm el Sheikh, is Dubai on the list of cities to be targeted? I know I may be taking an alarmist attitude here, but I couldn’t help but think of Dubai could be a potential target. Saudi Arabia has had its share of bombings, which drove many expatriates families away from the country. There are bombs being blown in Lebanon. Iraq is a war zone. Will Dubai be a target one day given its high population of westerners?

*** News Alert***
Check out what Katie Benton had to say. Katie and her sister were in the carriage when the bomb blew. She describes the situation vividly, and says that the passengers were “phenomenal” in helping other escape the carriage. However, it was what she said to the terrorist that caught my attention. “Both said they've yet to awaken with self-pity or hatred for the attackers. They see their wounds as "souvenirs" and believe the experience has only served to strengthen their Christian faith and their appreciation for what they have.There's no better way to fight terrorism than to turn what they meant for evil into good and the Lord is certainly capable of that," Katie Benton said.

***News Alert***
Mansur is hooked onto news channel now! That's all Mansur have been watching all day Friday afternoon and evening. :-)

Mansur