International

By Paivi Munter in Stockholm, Annukka Oksanen in Copenhagen and,Roula Khalaf in London Nordic countries last night feared that attacks on their foreign missions could spread across the Middle East after demonstrators burned down the Danish consulate in Beirut in protest at the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The incident followed attacks in Damascus, Syria's capital, on Saturday by...

Outraged Muslims on Monday demanded an Australian newspaper apologize after it published one of a series of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have sparked angry protests around the world. The News Corp.-owned Courier-Mail, the biggest newspaper in the Queensland state capital Brisbane, apparently became the first newspaper in Australia to publish one of the Danish caricatures on Saturday...

For centuries, English law has been crammed full of legal powers to arrest people who threaten violence or murder in public, or who go around terrifying ordinary people. On Friday, dozens of prima facie examples of such offences were committed during protests against Danish cartoons which offended Muslims by depicting the prophet Muhammad. One man was dressed in the garb of a suicide bomber...

BEIRUT – Thousands of Muslims rioted in downtown Beirut on Sunday, setting fire to the Danish Consulate, attacking a prominent Maronite Catholic church and smashing car and shop windows in protest against the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in Western newspapers. The pandemonium took a sectarian turn as demonstrators cut an angry path through a predominantly Christian neighborhood...

The Conservatives last night called on the police to arrest militant Muslims who threatened Westerners with violence during protests in London over newspaper cartoons that mocked the Prophet Mohammed. As fanatics - some dressed as suicide bombers - staged more protests yesterday, David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said the police should take action against what were clearly offences of...

The behaviour of some Muslim protesters demonstrating in London over cartoons of Prophet Muhammad was "completely unacceptable", Downing Street has said. There have been calls for arrests after placards glorifying the 7 July bombings and calls for the enemies of Islam to be killed featured in Friday's demo. A statement from the prime minister's office said police would have "our full support" in...

BEIRUT, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Lebanon apologised to Denmark on Monday for the burning of its consulate during a protest over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, and some Lebanese politicians accused Syria of using the furore to stir sectarian tension. Sunday's riot in Beirut and similar attacks on Danish and Norwegian missions in Damascus were among the worst seen in a worldwide Muslim uproar over the...

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Muslims across parts of Asia staged noisy but largely peaceful protests on Monday against cartoons published in European newspapers depicting caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad. While the region escaped much of the violence and arson that accompanied protests in the Middle East, Asian leaders were quick to condemn the cartoons while also calling for calm. The cartoons were...

PARIS (Reuters) - World leaders called for calm on Monday after weekend attacks in which Danish diplomatic missions were set ablaze and Lebanon and Syria promised inquiries into how protests about cartoons of the Prophet turned violent. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed alarm about the riots and urged restraint but oil giant Iran, which is reviewing trade ties with countries that...

Denmark has listed 14 countries it says Danes should not visit unless strictly necessary, amid Muslim outrage over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons. The foreign ministry also recommends against any travel to Syria or Yemen. The advice follows protests by Muslims around the world, and attacks against Danish embassies in Syria and Lebanon. The cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad were first...