International

WE ALL know September 11, 2001, transformed the US. But will historians say that in the long run it transformed Europe just as much, even more? It is a question worth asking as the fire lit by the publication of 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad continues to burn. Because a straight line runs from September 11 to here. September 11 enraged Pim Fortuyn and drove him into politics. Fortuyn was the...

The outbreak of violent demonstrations against the reproduction in Western Europe of a series of editorial cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed seem to reflect a profound misunderstanding of the relationship between the state and the press in established democracies, the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC) has said. Democratic governments may neither censor nor dictate content to independent news...

Religious humor has become commonplace in the secular West, but it came with a price. More than any people on Earth, the Danes should know the terrible price of religious humor, for the first great Christian humorist arose from their dour midst as if by immaculate conception. "Humor is intrinsic to Christianity," wrote Soren Kierkegaard, because "truth is hidden in mystery". But Kierkegaard the...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressec concern at the Yemeni government's decision to revoke the license of the private weekly Al-Hurriya Ahliya and issue an arrest warrant for the paper's editor. The actions came after Al-Hurriya became the third Arab newspaper to publish controversial cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed. The public prosecutor ordered the arrest late Monday of...

In belated response to a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed published in a Danish paper and subsequently reprinted across Europe, scenes of outrage filed out of London, Beruit, and Damascus, among other cities this weekend. Flags and embassies burned. Placards (in London!) read: "Behead those who insult Islam." In light of the anger unleashed, National Review Online asked some experts on Islam...

It’s astonishing that the liberal intelligentsia in this country, which saturates us with its opinions on all topics that catch their fancy, have so little to say on what’s going on in Europe for the last few weeks. I refer of course to what is being called the Cartoon Controversy. Unfortunately, the issue is not funny at all. Now the 'protests' are spreading to India - in J&K and New Delhi...

Patna: Muslims Monday burnt copies of the Times of India here to protest the publication of caricatures of Prophet Mohammad in the local edition of the newspaper. Hundreds of Muslims, most of them youths, shouted slogans and demanded dismissal of the editor-in-chief of the Times of India for publishing the cartoons of the prophet that were originally carried by a Danish newspaper. Raj Kumar...

Scores of Muslims burnt copies of The Times of India in Patna on Monday, protesting against the reproduction of images of Prophet Mohammad that had first appeared in a Danish publication in September 2005. The protestors shouted slogans against the newspaper and demanded the editor's dismissal. Traffic was disrupted in the city's busy Ashok Rajpath area. The Patna edition of the Times of India...

In Aarhus, Denmark, an editor says the societal debate unleashed by his paper's controversial decision to publish political cartoons of the prophet Muhammad has justified his move. In the town, many residents are standing behind Jyllands-Posten. The call came at five o'clock in the evening. A man warned the receptionist in English: There's a bomb in the building and it's going to go off in 10...

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Dutch politician forced to go into hiding after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, responds to the Danish cartoon scandal, arguing that if Europe doesn't stand up to extremists, a culture of self-censorship of criticism of Islam that pervades in Holland will spread in Europe. Auf Wiedersehen, free speech. SPIEGEL: Hirsi Ali, you have called the Prophet Muhammad a tyrant...