Author: Peter Smith

Source: The Courier-Journal

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071106/NEWS01/711060443/1008/NEWS01

The University of Louisville is playing host to 14 Asian Muslim scholars and activists on a three-week trip designed to launch projects that will build bridges between the United States and predominantly Muslim nations.

The program, "Religion and Society:...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7080327.stm

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican - the first audience by the head of the Roman Catholic Church with a Saudi monarch.

The Vatican described the private meeting as "warm" and said the two men discussed the presence and hard work of Christians in Saudi Arabia.

An estimated 1.5m Christians live in Saudi Arabia but are...

Author: Greg Krikorian

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-holyland4nov04,1,7903830.story

While the U.S. Justice Department ponders how it will retry its troubled terrorism finance case against a now- defunct Muslim charity, debris from the recent mistrial here shows signs of piling up at the White House doorstep.

The nation's biggest terrorism finance case...

Author: JANE PERLEZ

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/world/europe/04megamosque.html

Disputes over mosques have broken out across Europe. Residents from Belgium to France to Germany have expressed unease at minarets competing in the urban landscape with the spires and stones of centuries-old cathedrals.

But the fight raging over an abandoned lot in London’s East End is of an altogether grander...

Author: Rich Barlow

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/03/writing_the_book_on_islam_in_america/

During the Middle Ages, Muslim scholars played a key role in the development of the encyclopedia, attempting to pool all knowledge in one accessible place. Among others, the Brethren of Purity, a group of scholars in what is modern Iraq, compiled an encyclopedia of Greek and...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_east/7074756.stm

A 21-year-old man who pulled a head scarf - or hijab - from the head of a Muslim woman has publicly apologised.

Damien French, 21, of Rhyl, was given an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and sent on probation service courses at Mold Crown Court.

He admitted racially aggravated common assault and public...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Australian

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22687268-16947,00.html

KHALID Khreis is an optimist. Sort of. The Jordanian artist and museum director is confidently talking up the power of art to transcend borders, promote understanding between cultures and allow potential enemies to see each other as dignified fellow humans worthy of respect, even admiration. Is he optimistic, then...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/7071504.stm

Police in Tayside are to be trained how to tackle terrorism without alienating the Muslim community.

A number of the force's senior officers are attending a seminar at the Al-Maktoum Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies.

The one-day course will explain key elements of the religion and...

Author: Lila Carney

Source: www.whec.com

http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S244193.shtml?cat=566

ROCHESTER - There is a new debate in Monroe County related to Governor Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. The debate has worked its way into the county legislature races. It has to do with a campaign mailing sent out by the Republican Party.

It is not so much what it says but what it shows that has members of...

Source: Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/10223/story/1523374.html

A campaign to free a journalist imprisoned at Guantanamo gained support Thursday from the first Muslim member of Congress, who urged authorities to prosecute or release him after more than five years without charges.

Sami al-Haj, a Sudanese cameraman for Al Jazeera, was captured in 2002 as he tried to enter Afghanistan to cover the war. His lawyer says he denies any connection to terrorism and...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7071258.stm

The government wants to stop violent Islamist extremism - and is looking at ways to do it at grassroots level.

A £70m fund to build resilience to violent extremism among the Muslim community has been promised by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears.

It is designed to fight extremism in schools and colleges, using drama, media, arts and sport; as well...

Source: PRNewswire

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071101/clth085.html

DETROIT, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Six Michigan men who in August were escorted off an American Airlines flight and then detained filed a race discrimination lawsuit Wednesday against the airline, saying the incident was a clear case of racial profiling, false imprisonment and a violation of civil rights.

Filed in U.S. District Court by Allen Brothers PLLC of Detroit, the lawsuit seeks hundreds of thousands...

Author: Emily Buchanan

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7071731.stm

Cherie Blair has dedicated much of her career as a barrister to the field of human rights, and has long campaigned on the issue of women's equality.

Her lecture though was an unusual one for her in arguing so forcefully against the role religion can play in perpetuating prejudice. Mrs Blair is herself a committed Roman Catholic.

"...

Author: Eliza Barclay

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1031/p01s04-woaf.html

For years, Salim Haji was told by government officials and international groups that his methods of fishing were destroying the coral and weren't sustainable. But few fishermen on this small island off Tanzania's coast paid much heed.

Then, the local imam told him that using dragnets to fish and spears to catch octopuses was wrong...

Author: Tariq Ramadan

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1031/p09s02-coop.html

Living in a democratic society that grants an individual's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the cherished privilege and pride of Western citizenry and the dream longed for by the rest of the world.

Countless have fought and died to secure these rights in the West, and millions the world over are dying for...