Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has apologised to people with learning disabilities abused whilst in the care of Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust. She was responding to a report last week that raised serious concerns about treatment of people in some care homes. The apology came as one family at the centre of the allegations was told there would be a new inquiry into what happened to their son, Ryan Blakey.

A few months ago, Abir Al-Janabi was just another 14-year-old Iraqi girl in a small town called Al-Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad. Both of her parents are from the Al-Janabi tribe, one of the biggest tribes with Sunni and Shia branches. Omar Al-Janabi, a neighbor and relative, was informed by Abir's mother that the young girl was being harassed by U.S. soldiers stationed in a nearby checkpoint.

At least 163 people were killed yesterday in a series of co-ordinated bomb blasts on Mumbai's suburban train network. Six of the eight bombs went off inside packed commuter trains in the middle of rush hour, injuring more than 300 people, many of them severely. Witnesses spoke of seeing severed limbs and body parts littering the tracks. Other passengers rushed to help the wounded, wrapping them in whatever scraps of cloth they could find, fashioning makeshift stretchers, and carrying them out of the wreckage. At one hospital where the wounded were treated, a witness said the floors were covered in blood.

Welcome to the world of $ 70/barrel oil. That's if there is no crisis in the Persian Gulf over Iran's nuclear ambitions. If there is, then get ready for $ 140 a barrel. Oil briefly breached the $ 70 barrier eight months ago, but this time it is going up for good. Exactly one year ago the investment bank Goldman Sachs put out a paper suggesting that the "new range" within which oil prices will fluctuate is $ 50-$ 105 per barrel.

It has been over a week and our Foreign Office has not condemned Israel's continued attack on Gaza or raised the issue of this act of collective punishment being against international law. Margaret Beckett, British Foreign Minister has refused to make any comments thus in her silence she is effectively supporting the acts of the Israeli government. Our politicians must be held to account!

Tory leader David Cameron at the ‘Conservative Friends of Israel’ annual lunch was asked what his view on anti-Semitism was and what the government should do to combat this. He replied “I have proposed actions to help the Muslim community police extremist activity in mosques and elsewhere which serves no-ones interests. Government, individuals and all community leaders have shared responsibility to tackle prejudice which, if challenged, can lead to hatred and violence”. His answer does not relate to the question.

Our challenge, as members of the American Muslim community, is to shift from a reactionary approach, in which we respond to crises as they come, to proactive Islamic work. The recent cartoon controversy underlined the necessity of a positive stance; awaiting the next media offensive is not a valid mode of operation. Among American Muslim youth, there are immense resources, energy, and potential to creatively and proactively move forward. Perhaps we are only waiting for someone to show us how to do it.

On July 7, 2005, four British suicide bombers killed 52 people — and themselves. The attacks came nearly four years after New York's 9/11, and soon became known in Britain as 7/7. The bombers and their victims were passengers on London underground trains and a double-decker bus. I heard the bus blow up near my Russell Square apartment. The physical impact of the bombs was devastating. The cultural impact still reverberates through Britain and especially in the Muslim community.

Babar Ahmad’s appeal against extradition to the United States will begin on Tuesday 11th July 2006. If he loses this appeal he could be on the plane to America to face gross Human Rights abuses within WEEKS. Join the demo to tell the Government and the world that enough is enough. British citizens will no longer tolerate second-class treatment. Bring out the evidence in Britain and give Babar a fair trial here, or release him immediately