Emir of Qatar's state visit

BBC News - Emir of Qatar begins state visit in Windsor, 26 Oct 2010 "Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani will be met by the British monarch and Duke of Edinburgh ahead of a horse-drawn carriage procession to Windsor Castle."

Tony Blair's sister-in-law converts to Islam

The Independent, Tony Blair's sister-in-law converts to Islam, 25 Oct 2010: "Tony Blair's sister-in-law, Lauren Booth, has become the latest in a long line of Western Islamic converts. From Chris Eubank to Jermaine Jackson to Alexander Litvinenko, she joins an eclectic list, yet she is markedly different from most of its names, for one key reason – she is female." Booth is a presenter on PressTV.

CCTV Birmingham 'to be dismantled'

The Guardian, CCTV aimed at Muslim areas in Birmingham to be dismantled, 26 Oct 2010 "More than 200 cameras targeted at Muslim suburbs of Birmingham as part of a secret counter-terrorism initiative are to be dismantled, it emerged today."

Taliban: 'Britain is our greatest source of funding'

Telegraph, Taliban: 'Britain is our greatest source of funding' 21 Oct 2010 "“We are not like a government, we depend on individuals,” a Taliban commander told Sky News. “We get donations from our Muslim brothers in Britain for jihad and they help us. It is the duty of all Muslims to pay towards fighting a jihad. And this is how we get our money and buy our weapons and carry on fighting.”"

Opinion on 'How Fair is Britain?'

Nadine el-Hadi, UK Human Rights Commission: British Muslims underpaid, underqualified and underemployed, 22 Oct 2010, "The report does not offer explanation or analysis of the thousands of statistics it presents, and instead leaves the reader to wonder why some groups are excelling where others aren’t. A lot of Muslim communities live in more deprived urban areas which means that socio-economic factors are at play. However, they have also been the victims of negative stereotyping and prejudice since the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States. The situation begs the question as to whether there is a link between this type of social disadvantage and Islamophobia."

Discusses the report 'How Fair is Britain?' and 'Islamophobia' [blogged here last week]

Tower Hamlets

Andrew Gilligan, Telegraph, Labour: London borough becomes 'Islamic republic', 22 Oct 2010 opinion piece

"For the last eight months – without complaint or challenge from Mr [Lutfur] Rahman – this blog and newspaper have laid out his close links with a group of powerful local businessmen and with a Muslim supremacist body, the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) - which believes, in its own words, in transforming the “very infrastructure of society, its institutions, its culture, its political order and its creed… from ignorance to Islam.” Mr Rahman has refused to deny these claims."

Report: Women, Islam and Western Liberalism

Telegraph, Islamic face-veil part of 'British way of life' 16 Oct 2010 "In a new report, Women, Islam and Western Liberalism, Mrs [Alveena] Malik said: “We in Britain need to take a different direction from others in Europe and to accept the veil as part of a modern British way of life.”"

See Civitas, British tolerance means recognising freedom of religious expression, say Muslim women for more information, and links to purchase the report [cover, left].

I haven't read this report. I'll add it to my reading list!