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1 March 1953: Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later. (Source)

Many people have been surprised by the level of cooperation these days between Russia and Israel, two seemingly very different countries. Yet this relationship is not just based on current parallel needs but on the history of the creation of Israel in which Russia played a major, if often forgotten, role. The fact that the creation of Israel owed a lot to that well-known anti-Semite, Joseph Stalin, is truly ironic. For Stalin launched the black years of Soviet Jewry (1948-1953) in which thousands of Jews were assailed as "rootless cosmopolitans" and lost their jobs. In 1952 he promoted the vicious...

45 Muslim doctors planned US terror raids By John Steel, Crime Correspondent Last Updated: 2:25am BST 05/07/2007 A group of 45 Muslim doctors threatened to use car bombs and rocket grenades in terrorist attacks in the United States during discussions on an extremist internet chat site. Police found details of the discussions on a site run by one of a three-strong "cyber-terrorist" gang. They were discovered at the home of Younis Tsouli, 23, Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London heard. One message read: "We are 45 doctors and we are determined to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America....

An NHS doctor accused of the Glasgow airport attack today admitted planning to set cars on fire to give Britain a "taste of fear". Bilal Abdulla, 29, an Iraqi, said he had wanted the incendiary devices to throw the spotlight back on the devastating effect of war on his homeland. He branded the British government "democratically elected murderers" and said he wanted Muslims to escape oppression and leave Britain. But Abdulla told Woolwich crown court in London that he knew the "horror and terror" of the July 7 attacks and had not wanted to injure or kill anyone. Going into...

The recent failed terror attacks in London and Glasgow provoked a great deal of commentary among liberals in the Middle East and North African media, in particular due to the alleged involvement of a number of doctors in the plot. Some writers dwelt on the paradox of those trained to save lives becoming terrorists; others pointed to the suspects' backgrounds in order to argue that poverty and ignorance are not the main cause of terrorism; and a number of writers addressed the issue of Muslim immigration in Europe and the U.S. The following are excerpts: 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed: How Can...