International

Several people have died in Pakistan in continuing violence over the publication in the West of cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. But some targets seem far removed from the cartoon row. Protests in Pakistan against cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad have been slow to take off but violent nevertheless. In two days of heavy rioting, five people have been killed in two major cities and...

WASHINGTON (AFX) - The cultural editor of a Danish newspaper that started a global row over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed stood by his decision to publish the controversial caricatures, saying they were aimed at promoting debate. Flemming Rose, editor of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, told a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution in Washington that his decision to commission the...

VILNIUS - A local paper’s decision to reprint the scandalous caricature of the prophet Muhammad has elicited a note of protest from Iran, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry announced last week. The ministry stated in a press release that it had received a note from Iran saying that the cartoons, which first appeared in Denmark and have since been reproduced in several European publications, including...

(CBS4) BOSTON The Salient, a conservative Harvard University newspaper, has printed the controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Four cartoons appeared in the February 8th edition of the bi-weekly newspaper. The Salient is one of just a handful of U.S. media outlets to print the drawings. One of which shows Mohammed with a turbin shaped like a bomb. Editors at the newspaper say their...

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he regrets the publication of controversial editorial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. In his first public statement on the controversy, Harper noted yesterday that Canadians have a right to free speech. But they "also have the right to voice their opinion on the free speech of others," he added. "I regret the publication of this material in several...

NEW YORK: A Doonesbury.com poll is finding, not surprisingly, that Muslims and non-Muslims have different views about the Danish cartoon controversy. Of the 88 Muslims responding (admittedly a very small sample), 48% oppose the cartoons, 27% support them, and 23% feel the cartoons weren't strong enough. Of the 2,878 Christians responding, 39% oppose the cartoons, 40% support them, and 19% feel the...

The original twelve caricatures of the prophet Mohamed were published on September 30, 2005 by the Danish daily Jyllands Posten. They have now become a major point of discord between the West (interestingly except the US and the UK) and the Muslim world. Why do the "spontaneous" demonstrations of anger and violence witnessed in the Muslim world occur four months after the fact? It is true that in...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - The head of the World Council of Churches on Tuesday called for joint efforts by Christians and Muslims to "put out the fire" provoked by the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. The council's General Secretary Rev. Samuel Kobia said both the violent protests in response to the cartoons and the attempts to justify them as an expression of freedom of...

In a meeting with religious leaders on Wednesday, Finnish President Tarja Halonen expressed regret about the posting of the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad by some Finnish websites. Jarmo Viinanen, the chief of staff of the office of the president, told the Finnish News Agency (STT) that the president said the posting of the images had not been wise. Mr Viinanen added that representatives of...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Not content with pelting European embassies with petrol bombs to protest against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, Iranians have decided to rename the "Danish pastries" relished by this nation of cake lovers. From now on, the sweet, flaky pastries which dominate the shelves in Iran's cake shops will be known as "Roses of the Prophet Mohammad," the official IRNA news agency...