The Catholic League says Pope Benedict XVI - in a speech that angered many Muslims - was trying to make the point that faith must be linked to reason. And he made his point - but not in the way he expected. "Ironically, the violent reaction, and the calls for more violence, on the part of some Muslims underscores the pope's point," said Catholic League President Bill Donohue. "The response of violence to non-violence is barbaric."
A Muslim extremist in London told demonstrators Sunday that the pope should face execution for insulting Islam, the Evening Standard reports. Anjem Choudary, a 39-year-old lawyer, organized the rally, where some carried signs that read "Behead Those Who Insult Islam." This as a nun in Somalia was fatally shot by Islamic gunmen. "Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment," said Choudary. "I am here have a peaceful demonstration. But there may be people in Italy or other parts of the world who would carry that out," he said. "I think that warning needs to be understood by all people who want to insult Islam and want to insult the prophet of Islam."
Those who hold that the world is heading towards a "clash of civilisations", namely open conflict between Islam and the (nominally) Christian West, must have felt vindicated these past few days when most of the Muslim world reacted strongly to what Pope Benedict XVI said during a lecture to academics at Regensburg University on Tuesday.
Islamic Movement leader Sheikh Raed Salah tells rally of 50,000 in Umm al-Fahm: Jerusalem will be the capital of the new Muslim caliphate sooner than is thought; says Sharon, Katsav,
Muslim political and religious leaders around the world have been reacting to a speech by Pope Benedict XVI in which he mentioned the Prophet Muhammad.
Muslim religious leaders have accused Pope Benedict XVI of quoting anti-Islamic remarks during a speech at a German university this week.
Questioning the concept of holy war, he quoted a 14th-Century Christian emperor who said Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things.
Fluoride will no longer be added to Del Rio's drinking water.
The Del Rio City Council made that decision Tuesday night after a presentation by John Morony, a retired college biology professor, who characterized fluoride as a poison and showed the council numerous research references that link fluoride to higher rates of cancer and other health hazards.
In the five years since 9/11, a clear-cut and well-supported "war on terror" declared by President Bush has become confused and divisive. Whereas Le Monde declared the day after 9/11: "We are all Americans now", a placard at a demonstration in London recently read: "We are all Hezbollah now". American policy has had successes. The quick war in Afghanistan after 9/11 (now flaring up again in the south) toppled the Taleban and has denied al-Qaeda its training bases, which were important to it.
Al-Qaeda has lost much of its leadership. It has not toppled governments as it had hoped. Western forces have not left the Middle East, and in particular the government of Saudi Arabia, guardian of Mecca, which is probably Osama Bin Laden's ultimate target, stands.
Yet Western and other publics are left in fear, and rightly so. Al-Qaeda is no invention. Its impact - or that of its sympathisers - was seen not only in New York and Washington but in Bali, Madrid, London, Morocco, Istanbul and elsewhere.
A police force was caught up in a freedom of speech row after its officers arrested an anti-gay campaigner for handing out leaflets at a homosexual rally.
South Wales police admitted evangelical Christian Stephen Green was then charged purely because his pamphlets contained anti-gay quotations from the Bible.
In interview to Iranian news agency, group representative in Tehran says his organization is preparing for 'second round against Israel,' contrary to UN resolution
Top members of Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath Party were advised in a private briefing to purchase real estate in the Golan Heights because, they were told, the strategic territory will soon be returned to Syria, Baath official claims
UNIFIL--United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, a nearly 2,000-man blue-helmet contingent that has been present on the Lebanon-Israel border since 1978--is officially neutral. Yet, throughout the recent war, it posted on its website for all to see precise information about the movements of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and the nature of their weaponry and materiel, even specifying the placement of IDF safety structures within hours of their construction. New information was sometimes only 30 minutes old when it was posted, and never more than 24 hours old.
US has been knowingly shipping banned food here all year.
But only now do they tell us Britons have unwittingly been eating banned GM rice imported from the United States for months, if not years, food safety experts fear.
Imports of the rice were stopped by the European Commission (EC) on Thursday. But investigations in the US show that it has long been "wide-spread" in grain destined to be shipped overseas.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested Europe needs a constitution that makes reference to Christianity and God following her audience with Pope Benedict XVI on Monday (29 August).
The German leader, the daughter of a protestant pastor, visited the Pope at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, to discuss several issues in European and international politics, ahead of the Pope's September visit to Germany, his homeland.
Benedict XVI received German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a 40-minute private audience, which she later described as "intense."
The meeting held in the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo came two weeks before the [Pontiff's] apostolic trip to his native Bavaria, from September 9-14.
Speaking to reporters after the audience, Merkel said that the two "had an intense conversation on world politics, especially on the situation in the Middle East and on what the international community is doing with Iran."