BBC News
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VIDEO: Drone footage shows migrants' arrival September 23, 2015
Matthew Price looks at one of the Greek hotspots for migrants entering Europe.
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VIDEO: The Olympian who never gave up September 23, 2015
In 1992, 400m medal hopeful Derek Redmond pulled up injured in the semi-final of the Barcelona Olympics, but still finished the race.
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VIDEO: Football legend Pele at 75 September 23, 2015
Football legend Pele is 75 this year. He talked to the BBC about what inspires him and what he makes of football today.
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VIDEO: Pope Francis lands to cheers in US September 22, 2015
President Obama and his Family have greeted Pope Francis upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
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VIDEO: Lesbos struggles as 4,000 arrive daily September 22, 2015
The Greek island of Lesbos is still struggling to keep up with the steady flow of migrants and refugees.
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VIDEO: How much does making a drug cost? September 22, 2015
As Turing Pharmaceuticals raises the price of an Aids treatment, Daraprim, BBC News looks at how the pharmaceutical industry tries to balance the pursuit of profit with a patient's need to access medication.
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VIDEO: Refugee crisis: Food and phone charging September 22, 2015
The BBC's Mark Lowen reports from a sports stadium on the Turkey-Greece border where agencies are providing shelter and food to refugees trying to reach Europe.
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VIDEO: On the ground at refugee hotspots September 22, 2015
EU ministers have approved a controversial plan to relocate 120,000 refugees and migrants across the EU using compulsory quotas.
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VIDEO: A guide to strange initiation ceremonies September 22, 2015
Initiation ceremonies are in the news, here are some of the stranger ones from around the world.
– RIFAAI AHMAD TAHA
* Rifaai Ahmad Taha, also known as Abu Yasir, was the Amir (Commissioner – commander) of the EGYPTIAN Jamaa Islamiya (EJI) up to his resignation in 1998.
Rifaai Taha was considered to have been the leading hawk in EGYPTIAN Jamaa Islamiya’sleadership, who was sentenced in Egypt, already in 1992, in absentia, to death. The group became notorious in the 1990s’ for its attacks on secularists, Coptic Christians, tourists, and on members of the government, culminating in the Addis-Ababa Attempt on President Mubarak in 1995. Two years later, in early 1997, a number of the group’s imprisoned leaders called a truce. Hardliners such as Rifai Taha, who was at that time in Afghanistan, rejected the truce. Rifai Taha is held to have ordered, as a signal of his faction’s refusal to abide by a ceasefire, the Luxor Massacre.
Following the Luxor Massacre in 11/1997, Rifaai Taha fell out with his successor Mustafa Hamza as the leader of the EGYPTIAN Jamaa Islamiya .
Rifaai Taha became increasingly close to the EGYPTIAN Islamic Jihad and Al Qaeda. Indeed Rifaai Taha was one of the five signatories, alongside Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahiri, Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Sheikh Mir Hamza, secretary of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan, to the founding charter of the ‘Islamic Front for the Jihad against Jews and Crusaders’ established, on 02/23/1998, when the Fatwa was issued calling for attacks on all Americans, including civilians and is considered as the Al Qaeda manifesto.
It is believed that Osama Bin Laden may have subcontracted the EJI to bomb the USA Embassies in Nairobi and Dar a Salaam, on 08/07/1998. However, immediately prior to the bombing an interview with Rifaai Taha was posted on Jamaa Islamiya web magazine, al-Murabitun, strenuously distancing the EJI from the Islamic Front (Al Qaeda) – which analysts later interpreted as an attempt to avoid the expected heat of USA retribution.
Rifaai Taha had been intercepted in 2001 on one of his frequent trips between Afghanistan, Iran and Sudan. He was caught in Syria and was extradited from Syria to Egypt in 2001, following The 9/11. Rifaai Taha is assumed to be in Egyptian jail since then.
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