 Pope Benedict stuck to his guns at a meeting with Muslim diplomats and representatives today aimed at launching talks between the Roman Catholic church and Islam into a new phase of more substantial - but perhaps thornier - debate. "We are in great need of an authentic dialogue between religions and between cultures," he said. Barely pausing to acknowledge the furore caused by a lecture he gave earlier this month, the pontiff went on to make a coded appeal for discussions on the two issues that most concern the Vatican. One is the scant religious freedom of Christians in predominantly Muslim countries. The second is the issue that ignited the latest row - Pope Benedict's view that too many Muslim clerics are willing to tolerate, if not actively encourage, violence. "Christians and Muslims must learn to work together, as indeed they already do in many common undertakings, ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk
censor News |
Editor - 10:08:00 09-25-06
|
 Hamas MPs refused release on bail |
An Israeli military court has ordered the detention of a group of Palestinian legislators from Hamas until the end of judicial proceedings against them. The decision reverses an earlier ruling ordering the release of the legislators on bail until they faced trial. The group includes three members of the Hamas-led Palestinian government who were seized after Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier in June. They are charged with membership of an illegal terrorist organisation. "The state of Israel has the right to defend itself against terror. Terror will not be allowed to continue," the appeals court said in its ruling. The BBC's Wyre Davies in Jerusalem says there has been speculation that the politicians could be released as part of a prisoner-swap with the abducted soldier. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5379150.stm
full News |
Editor - 10:03:00 09-25-06
|
| U.N. Peacekeepers in Lebanon Put Up Defenses, Concerned About Being Attacked by al-Qaida. Better worry about being attacked by Israel. |
U.N. troops sent to keep the peace in southern Lebanon are taking strong defensive measures against possible suicide attacks worried because al-Qaida has warned they are considered enemies of Islam. The peacekeepers are putting up checkpoints and picking remote spots for their bases. French soldiers, for instance, plan to set up one of their main bases in Baraachit, on a plateau that is more than 2,600 feet high. France is taking no chances in light of an earlier aborted peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. It pulled out of that operation after a suicide truck bombing in Beirut killed 58 French soldiers on Oct. 23, 1983 the same day a similar attack killed 241 U.S. Marines. "For us, the protection of the force is the top priority because it could be a target for an attack by al-Qaida or another group," French Col. Olivier de Cevins said at his temporary headquarters near Deir Kifa, a town 12 miles from the Israeli border. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2488190
full News |
Editor - 10:01:00 09-25-06
|
| Exam Ordered For Family Slay Suspect Woman Charged With Killing Mother, Unborn Child; Other Kids Found In Washer, Dryer |
A judge on Monday ordered a psychological examination for a woman accused of killing a pregnant acquaintance and cutting her fetus from her womb. Tiffany Hall, 24, looked sullen as she appeared at an arraignment hearing via video conference from the St. Clair County Jail, where she is being held on a $5 million bond. Prosecutors say she killed Jimella Tunstall, 23, who was about seven months pregnant, and her fetus. St. Clair County Associate Judge Heinz Rudolph entered not guilty pleas on Hall's behalf on charges of first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child. Each charge carries a penalty of 20 to 60 years or life in prison, prosecutors said. The murder count could be punishable by the death penalty. According to authorities, Hall told police she also drowned Tunstall's three children — ages 7, 2 and 1 — and stuffed them into a washer and dryer at the apartment they shared with their mother. Hall has not been charged in the children's deaths. ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/25/national/main2037757.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2037757
full News |
Editor - 09:57:00 09-25-06
|
| Pope stresses respect for Muslims |
Pope Benedict XVI has expressed "total and profound respect" for the Muslim faith, as he attempts to defuse a row between Islam and the Catholic Church. He made the remarks in a meeting with envoys from the Muslim world, weeks after a speech in Germany prompted an angry reaction by some Muslims. Iraq's ambassador said it was time to move on from the row and build bridges. But the Indonesian envoy said he was surprised that there was no direct dialogue at the meeting. In the space of just half an hour, the pontiff made a brief speech to envoys before greeting them individually, but there was no general discussion. Muslim leaders had been demanding an unequivocal apology from the Pope for his words. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5376556.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:56:00 09-25-06
|
| U.S., EU spar in private on terrorism |
Officially it was all smiles when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met the 25 foreign ministers of the European Union on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last week. But a pointed exchange behind closed doors on methods of fighting terrorism between Rice and Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, highlighted transatlantic tensions lurking below the surface.It began near the end of the meeting, according to one participant, when Tuomioja said ministers were bound to be asked if they had discussed the issue of secret Central Intelligence Agency prisons for suspected terrorists and "rendition flights" to transfer prisoners to states where they may face torture.Since the matter was not on the official agenda, he suggested they should all agree to say it had not been discussed and that they had agreed on all the points on the agenda....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060925/ts_nm/security_eu_usa_dc
full News |
Editor - 09:54:00 09-25-06
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
