The country’s highest Islamic authority is refusing to take the blame for issuing an incorrect edict in March, which stipulated that worshipers had to face westward in order to be praying toward Mecca.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) announced on Wednesday that Mecca was actually to the northwest of Indonesia, and not to the west as it said earlier.

“Just because we revised our edict doesn’t make the previous ruling completely wrong,” MUI councilor Umar Shihab told the Jakarta Globe.

“We’re just fine-tuning it to make it more precise.”

“It’s not a big problem, as not all Indonesian mosques are incorrectly oriented,” he added.

“Many have pointed toward the wrong direction for years.”

Mecca is located on the 21st parallel north, while the northernmost point of Indonesia is on the 5th parallel, Umar said.

He called on local worshipers not to be too concerned about the change, saying their previous prayers would “still be valid”. He also made assurances that mosques would not have to be renovated to reflect the change.

Intentionally praying in the wrong direction is considered a sin in Islam, while unintentional mistakes are not.

“There’s no need to change the building structure,” he said, adding the MUI would officially inform mosque managers through an edict.

“Just make a minor adjustment by rotating the prayer mats slightly,” he said.

KH Said Aqil Siradj, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s biggest Islamic organization, said the MUI’s edict in March was a regrettably poor decision by the body.

“They shouldn’t have rushed to such an important decision,” he said. “Anything concerning public law should be made after a long contemplation.

“It’s good that the MUI realized their mistake and took steps to rectify it, but let this be a lesson to them not to churn out edicts in such haste.”

Said added that top NU scholars would meet in the near future to discuss the issue.

In January, Islamic scholar Mutoha Arkanuddin claimed that anything between 50 and 80 percent of the country’s mosques and graves were not properly oriented toward Mecca, drawing the ire of conservative clerics. (dar)

“Their prayers will still be heard by Allah” said to REUTERS the head of the MUI, Cholil Ridwan

http://www.nu.or.id/page.php?lang=en&menu=news_view&news_id=2383

Direction of Mecca wrong at 20 percent of Indonesia’s mosques: ministry

http://www.nu.or.id/page.php?lang=en&menu=news_view&news_id=2102

Selon un véritable jeu de “poupées russes”, les bureaux de Ketchum, Inc. et de Gavin Anderson à Londres coordonnent toutes les activités d’influence privées de la présidence russe et de Gazprom, sous-traitant en cascade à d’autres firmes contrôlées par le groupe de communication Omnicom (voir schéma). Dernier contrat en date, Ketchum vient de signer avec le cabinet de lobbying Alston & Bird basé à Washington, où le Kremlin emploie déjà le Washington Group et Integrated Solutions Group. Au Kremlin, le principal intermédiaire avec ces firmes est Dmitry Peskov, chef du service de presse du premier ministre Vladimir Poutine.

Ces sociétés de lobbying sont des relais indispensables pour défendre les positions russes dans la crise du gaz en Ukraine ; pour promouvoir l’adhésion de Moscou à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), pour laquelle la Russie milite depuis 1996 ; ainsi que pour gérer la réputation des dirigeants du Kremlin. Moscou sous-traite également des opérations de séduction pour attirer des investisseurs étrangers.

[intelligenceonline.fr]

Some news and not to read about the biggest and the others…

[economist.com]
And then there were none
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The chairman of the Federal Reserve and the treasury secretary give Congress a gloomy prognosis for the economy, and propose a drastic remedy

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[monde-diplomatique.fr]
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Energy Wire: PostGlobal at washingtonpost.com

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