A man and three contract killers he hired to carry out the cold-blooded execution of his sister's husband because she married for love against her family's wishes were jailed for life by a UK court.

Arza Khan arranged the murder of Mian Shahid Mehmood, who was also his wife's brother to punish his sister, Yasmin Bibi Rakha, for her refusal to marry her first cousin.

Yasmin had been promised to her uncle's son when she was still a child, but during a visit to Pakistan in 2004 she fell in love with Mehmood and married him secretly.

Her husband was taken from his house in February last year and driven to nearby moors, where he was shot dead.

Khan from Halifax, and the three men he hired, Sam Lee, John Reeves and Naveed Mahmood all from Sheffield, were found guilty of murder at Leeds Crown Court.

Condemning the killers yesterday as men for whom life “seems so cheap”, Judge James Stewart, QC, told Khan that he must spend a minimum of 32 years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole.

The judge said that This was a planned execution of an innocent victim for no reason other than he married the person he loved, contrary to your wishes, Arza Khan. There is no honour in what you did, quite the reverse. You have only brought dishonour and disgrace upon your family, which has been rent asunder by your cruelty and arrogance. This sort of behaviour in a civilised world cannot be tolerated.”

Reeves and Mahmood were told that they would spend at least 32 years in jail, while Lee must serve at least 25 years.

A Christian activist who tried to charge the BBC's Director General and the producer of Jerry Springer the Opera with blasphemy is facing bankruptcy over a 'grotesque' costs order.

The High Court ruled last December that Stephen Green could not prosecute Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, and Jonathan Thoday of Avalon over the BBC2 broadcast of Jerry Springer the Opera and its subsequent theatre tour. The Court ordered costs against him.

In a hearing a fortnight ago, Mark Thompson and Jonathan Thoday were awarded costs totalling £90,000 against Stephen Green, who is the National Director of Christian Voice. The BBC's solicitors were awarded £55,000 and Olswangs Solicitors, who acted for Thoday, got an order for £35,000.

The money is due to be paid today, but Green doesn't have it.

He has written to both Mark Thompson and Jonathan Thoday inviting them to waive their costs in the interests of goodwill and justice.

Stephen Green, who brought the action over Jerry Springer the Opera in his own name, said today: It should be enough for Mark Thompson and Jonathan Thoday that they got away with blasphemy, insulting God and the Lord Jesus Christ, at least in this life. For these rich, powerful men to pursue me into the bankruptcy courts over money I don't have would be vindictive.

Stephen Green concluded: How are people with limited means expected to bring actions of public importance against public bodies or wealthy people? It is outrageous that a public-spirited individual should be dissuaded from upholding standards of public decency in a public body because of the fear of adverse, grotesque costs orders.

Religious police in Saudi Arabia have detained more than 20 men after a raid on a property in the coastal town of Qatif.

Newspaper Al-Medina reports that quantities of alcohol were seized at a gathering of young men and that many more were initially arrested on homosexuality charges but later released. 21 remain in custody.

In Saudi Arabia, homosexuality is illegal under sharia, or Islamic Law. The maximum sentence it carries is the death penalty and this is most commonly performed by public beheading.

With strict laws restricting unmarried opposite-sex couples, however, and public displays of affection accepted between men, some Westerners have suggested that sharia encourages homosexuality.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has conferred a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, the author of the blasphemous book Satanic Verses.

The ceremony to confer the knighthood was held in London's Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, with many believing the move would trigger a wave of protest by Muslim nations.

A spokeswoman for the queen, who asked not to be identified because of the monarch's policy, was quoted by AP as saying that Rushdie was not listed among those to be honored because he was a late addition to the investiture.

The late Imam Khomeini pronounced a death sentence on Rushdie because of blasphemy against Islam in his novel The Satanic Verses.

The conferment of knighthood to the author of a blasphemous book which has insulted the Muslim world is widely considered as demonstration of Britain's flagrant hostility toward Islam.

Israel's Supreme Court refused Monday to issue an injunction barring gays from holding a pride march in Jerusalem this Thursday.

The ultra-right National Jewish Front and the city of Jerusalem filed separate briefs with the high court asking to have the parade cancelled.

The National Jewish Front in its brief called the parade a "a provocation". The brief filed by the city said it feared civil unrest.

During a hearing Monday Justice Ayala Procaccia said there must be a balance: between the desires of the gay and lesbian community to march, and the feelings of the city's residents. It is important that such parades become a matter of routine instead of causing a commotion every year.

In rejecting both applications to halt the parade the justices said they took into consideration the parade route, its expected duration and an undertaking by Jerusalem Open House, the parade organizer that the march would not be provocative in nature.

An Australian teenager who wore a T-shirt by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth that reads 'Jesus is a cunt' has been charged with offensive behaviour. Above the slogan a nun is depicted masturbating.

A 16-year-old was arrested on Monday for wearing the shirt and was charged with offensive behaviour under the Summary Offences Act 2005 for public nuisance.

Police conducted inquiries at Australia Fair, where the teen said he bought the shirt, to find any shops selling it.

The Reverend Matt Hunt of the Helensvale Baptist Church said it was sad people spoke about the Lord in such a way: It's fairly common language these days to express sadness, anger or hurt. It's a degrading word to use and Jesus is anything but that. It's like calling white black.

Hunt said using the Lord's name in vain was a serious sin: When someone comes to the point of saying Jesus is the devil or Jesus is 'expletive', the Bible does say be very careful because you're on thin ice.

Gold Coast lawyer Bill Potts said the arrest highlighted Australia's need for a Bill of Rights: One of the great problems with our country is that we talk about rights such as privacy and freedom of speech and the like but they are not enshrined or protected in any way as they are in America.

Potts said charging the teen was 'ludicrous' and brought the law into disrepute: To criminalise juvenile or boorish messages is to bring the law into disrepute. The police are acting like the thought police and censors.

Women in a northern Malaysian city ruled by conservative Islamists are being urged by the city's authorities to forsake bright lipstick and noisy high-heels to preserve their dignity and avoid rape.

Pamphlets have been distributed recommending that Muslim women shun heavy makeup and loud shoes. The municipal officials in Kota Bharu, capital of Kelantan state, which is run by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic party, stressed that the code was merely advice for women who wish to follow the "Islamic way".

The party's brand of Islam is mocked by Malaysian liberals as "Taliban lite".

Azman Mohamad Daham, a spokesman for the municipality, said: Our minimum guideline is they must wear headscarves. The goal of the modesty drive was to prevent rape and safeguard the women's dignity.

An Afghan journalist accused of distributing an unacceptable translation of the Koran should be put to death, says former Prime Minister Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai.

Former journalist Ghows Zalmay, who was also the spokesman for Afghanistan's Attorney-General, was arrested in November last year for distributing a translation of the Koran into Dari, one of Afghanistan's two official languages.

Ahmadzai told Adnkronos International (AKI) he supported the death penalty for Zalmay: Today Afghanistan is full of vices. Several Afghan restaurants serve liquor, despite it being illegal and on top of it, such material is distributed. I am in favour of his death.

Muslim scholars in Afghanistan reportedly said that the new version of the Koran 'misinterpreted' verses about alcohol, begging, homosexuality and adultery. They also complained that this version was not accompanied by the original version of the Koran in Arabic.

Ghows is reportedy in jail after being accused of blasphemy and his lawyers say he risks the death penalty. He is expected to face charges in an Afghan court within the next week.

A Christian teacher has been sacked from his school after burning the image of a cross on to children's arms.

John Freshwater, a science teacher at Mount Vernon Middle School near Columbus, Ohio, used a device known as a high-frequency generator to burn images of a cross on pupils last December, according to a report for the school board.

While he claimed he was trying to demonstrate the electrostatic tool to students and described the image as an "X" rather than a cross, the report - carried out by independent investigators - insisted it was a cross.

The family of one child filed a federal lawsuit against the teacher, claiming that his civil rights had been violated. They said the cross remained on his arm for three or four weeks.

The report by the school board also accused Mr Freshwater of undermining science education by discrediting evolution and focusing on creationism. It also said he kept a Bible on his desk.

Freshwater is appealing the decision.

A Fremont-linked Hindu rights group that got a last-minute screening of The Love Guru, had few kind words about the new Mike Myers comedy, which pokes fun at enigmatic Indian spiritual guidance.

The film was vulgar, crude and — in the opinion of many of our attendees — too often tasteless in its puerile choice of humor, said Aseem Shukla, a board member of the Hindu American Foundation: Very few of the Hindus viewing the film, however, found it overtly anti-Hindu or mean-spirited.

In a statement, the foundation said: Most agreed that the film will be widely seen as a satire of a Hindu character, though this is never overtly stated in the film.

Still, many of the foundation members expressed unease that since widespread understanding of Hinduism ... is so limited, this film does nothing to promote tolerance and pluralism, and may reinforce widely held negative and exotic stereotypes of Hindus.

Virginia Lam, a spokeswoman for Paramount, said in a statement: The 'Love Guru' is a Mike Myers comedy in the same spirit of 'Austin Powers.' No one could confuse, or has confused, this film as intending to tackle serious issues surrounding faith and religion.

Hindus are for free speech...BUT...

Rajan Zed is a Hindu chaplain in northwestern Nevada and he has led the campaign against Love Guru

He wrote in a blog:

Despite lot of support and encouragement, we faced some criticism also: Why is religion trying to censor free speech? Is Hinduism so weak that a small movie can damage it? Why are you protesting when you have not even seen the movie? Why can't Hindus take a joke? Who made you the representative of Hindus and speak for them? This movie is not about Hinduism and Hindus and is a mythical and completely made up system of teachings. And so on.

Hindus are for free speech as much as anybody else, if not more. Hindu tradition encourages peaceful debates to be won on their intellectual merit...BUT...faith is something sacred and attempts at belittling it hurt the devotees. Filmmakers should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects, as cinema is a very powerful medium.

Of course a small movie, which will be forgotten in few months, would not destroy the great tradition of Hinduism, which has been around longer than any other established religion and has faced many onslaughts and come out stronger...BUT...Hinduism is often misunderstood and wrongly portrayed outside India. Movies like this bring more confusion and create stereotypes in the minds of audience, many of whom may not have had any other exposure to its tenets.

...

Humor is a part and parcel of Hindu society and our folk festivals, plays, stories, etc., are full of parody, satire, mimicry, buffoonery, etc. We are strong enough to take a joke or rather many jokes...BUT...there are certain convictions in every tradition, which are venerable and not meant to be mocked.

...

Comedy should make everybody smile and should not come at the expense of ridiculing others’ faith and spreading misinformation. Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion followers and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly. No faith, larger or smaller, should be ridiculed.

Moreover, cinema is a forceful medium and it can create stereotypes in the minds of some audiences. So it should handle faith related subjects especially carefully.

The Mumbai police have released on bail all 69 detained Sikh protestors who were arrested for vandalising MTV music channel office in the city.

They were objecting an alleged poster that gives a picture of a Sikh man being massaged by a woman.

Reportedly, around 100 of protestors entered the MTV office in Mumbai and ransacked the workplace by smashing windows, furniture and computers, police said.

According to the protesters, the poster which portrayed a woman massaging a Sikh man – who peeped through a door - was to promote the reality show On the Job 2, offended Sikhs.

Muslim countries have won a battle to prevent Islam from being criticized during debates by the UNHuman Rights Council.

Religions deserve special protection because any debate about faith is bound to be very complex, very sensitive and very intense, council President Doru-Romulus Costea said. Only religious scholars should be allowed to discuss matters of faith, he told journalists in Geneva.

While Costea's ban applies to all religions, it was prompted by Muslim countries complaining about references to Islam.

Costea issued his 'presidential ruling during the eighth meeting of the council's 47 members. The ruling will not affect findings by the council's 'experts', just its chamber debates.

Egypt, Pakistan and Iran had angrily protested attempts by a humanist group to link Islam to human rights abuses such as female genital mutilation and so-called honor killings of women.

spokesman for human rights group Amnesty International said the move was consistent with attempts by some governments to create no-go zones in the council: If Pakistan can come and say that the murder of women for some perverse sense of honor has nothing to do with universally recognized human rights, we're in trouble, Peter Splinter told The Associated Press. Egypt, too, has repeatedly tried to stop Islamic law or sharia from being discussed, he said.

Thousands of Muslims swamped the main streets of Indonesia's capital to pressure the president to ban a minority Islamic sect branded "deviant" by clerics.

More than 4,000 protesters gathered outside Jakarta's presidential palace before setting off in a motorcycle convoy to police headquarters to demand the government ban Ahmadiyah and free radicals jailed over violence early this month.

A speaker accused the sect of "staining Islam" and demanded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issue a decree banning the organisation. We ask first that Ahmadiyah repent, return to Islam or make a new religion. If they don't want to do that then they must be broken up," said Mohammed Alwi, a student.

The protest comes after the government earlier this month ordered Ahmadiyah, which has peacefully practised its faith in Indonesia since the 1920s, to stop spreading its belief that Mohammed was not the last prophet.

The ministerial decree stopped short of the ban demanded by Muslim leaders after the country's top Islamic body issued a fatwa describing the sect as "deviant."

Police were appealing for witnesses today following the attempted murder of a man who was doused in petrol and set on fire in east London.

The 20-year-old, who is fighting for his life in hospital, was torched as he sat in his car in Forest Gate.

It is believed the Hindi victim, who suffered 65% in the attack, was targeted because he was dating a Muslim girlfriend.

Today's appeal comes as a 15-year-old girl and a man in his 20s are both still critically ill after being set alight in two separate attacks in the Greater London area last weekend.

Two men aged 20 and 21 have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and released on bail.

The publisher and editor of an Urdu-language newspaper in Houston, Pakistan Times USA, has received telephone death threats, and thousands of copies of the free weekly were removed in bulk from dozens of locations in southeastern Texas.

The threats and theft of the papers came after the Pakistan Times USA published an advertisement by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a sect deemed heretical by some Muslims.

The ad briefly described the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith and announced a centennial celebration of the sect to be held in Houston.

In accordance with our policy of equal coverage to all faiths we accepted the ad, Publisher and Editor Najam Ali told CPJ. Pakistan Times USA ran the advertisement on Thursday, May 22. The following day some Islamic clerics at local mosques in Houston denounced the paper for running the ad by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Ali told CPJ. He said he soon began receiving several threatening phone calls about having published the ad.

We’re going to burn your house [in Houston], and we’re going to burn your house in Pakistan, too, Ali said one caller threatened on May 24. He said he immediately reported the threat to the Houston Police Department.

A Danish appeals court has rejected a lawsuit against the newspaper that first printed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, saying the cartoons were not intended to insult Muslims.

The Western High Court in the city of Aarhus said that it had no proof that the purpose of printing the cartoons in the newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, in 2005 was to depict Muslims as criminals or terrorists.

The decision upheld a ruling last year by a lower court, which rejected claims by Danish Muslims that the 12 drawings were meant to insult the Prophet Muhammad and make a mockery of Islam.

One of the most controversial drawings published in the Danish newspaper showed Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a burning fuse. Islamic law forbids any depiction of the prophet.

The court ruled that terror acts had been carried out in the name of Islam and that it was not illegal under Danish law to make satirical drawings to illustrate that.

We are very disappointed and sad about the outcome, said Muhammad Nehme, a spokesman for Islamic Faith Community, one of seven groups that appealed the lower court ruling. Nehme said the group had not yet decided whether to appeal to the Danish Supreme Court.

The Muslim groups filed the defamation suit in March 2007 after the top prosecutor in Denmark declined to press criminal charges, saying the drawings did not violate laws against racism or blasphemy.

Update: More Nonsense

28th June 2008

Danish Muslims are planning to take Denmark's Jyllands-Posten daily to Europe's highest human rights court over the publication of satirical drawings of Muhammad.

[Danish] Muslim organizations intend to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, Muslim leader Mohammed Khalid Samha told IslamOnline.net

A Pakistani man has been sentenced to death for blasphemy after he defiled the Muslim holy book and used derogatory language to refer to the Prophet Mohammad, according to a police official.

Convictions for blasphemy are fairly common in predominantly Muslim Pakistan, with most cases involving members of religious minorities, but death sentences have never been carried out usually because convictions are thrown out on a lack of evidence.

The convicted man, Mohammad Shafeeq, was arrested in 2006 in a village near the eastern city of Sialkot where the trial was held in the court of Justice Shoaib Ahmad Roomi.

Judge Roomi sentenced him to death for defiling the Holy Koran and using derogatory language against the Prophet, said Shezada Hassan Ali, a senior official at the jail where Shafeeq has been kept: He can appeal the court decision.

The band Black Lips have claimed that their music was set to feature in an advert for Tesco, until the supermarket cancelled it over concerns with the lyrical content.

The advert, which was reportedly made, was soundtracked by the American band's track Veni Vidi Vici, taken from their 2007 album Good Bad Not Evil.

However, the song's references to religious figures led Tesco to pull the advert.

Bassist Jared Swilley said: They took it away because we mentioned Muhammad and Jesus.

Police closed 32 clothes shops and hairdressers and stopped cars and pedestrians in the street in an intensified crackdown on women who do not abide by Iran's strict Islamic dress code and on men who take up fashions seen as too Western, Iranian media reported Monday.

The sweep in some neighborhoods of Tehran, is part of an annual campaign aimed at enforcing dress codes, which require women to wear long loose robes or coats and cover their hair in public. Many women, particularly in Tehran, push the boundaries of the code, wearing short, colorful coats that show the shape of the body and letting their headscarves slip to show much of their hair.

In past years, the government of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched the sweeps at the start of summer, when warmer temperatures bring more people into the streets of the capital and women dress lighter. During the crackdown, police stop women in the streets, issuing them warnings or even arresting them if their garb is deemed unsuitable. Men are also targeted for having long hair and other styles deemed too Western.

But the shutting of shops appeared to be a new step, aimed at stopping the selling of shorter coats and lighter headscarves. The pro-reform daily Kargozaran reported that police were questioning women and men where they bought their clothes or had their hair done, then targeting the shops.

A woman who wrote jihadi poetry using the pen name “Lyrical Terrorist” has had her terrorism conviction quashed by the Appeal Court.

Three senior judges said the jury at Samina Malik’s trial last year had been confused and her conviction for possessing items of use to terrorists was unsafe.

The Crown Prosecution Service indicated that it would not seek a retrial.

Miss Malik became the first woman convicted under terrorism legislation since 2001 when she was found guilty of possessing jihadi propaganda in December last year. Of 21 items found in Miss Malik’s possession, 14 were propaganda items. However, she also possessed documents including The Terrorists Handbook, The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook, and operator manuals for firearms and anti-tank weapons.

She was given a nine-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months.

Miss Malik had also penned gruesome poetry in chatrooms praising the beheading of hostages in Iraq. On the back of a till receipt she scribbled: The desire within me increases everyday to go for martyrdom.

Her conviction, under section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000, was widely condemned as a “thought crime” by commentators and Muslim community leaders.

But it became inevitable that she would be cleared of the crime in February when the Appeal Court quashed the convictions of five men under section 58 and effectively rewrote the Terrorism Act. The court ruled then that propagandist or theological material - no matter how extreme - could not be considered of practical use to terrorists.

But Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Lord Chief Justice, presiding at the Appeal Court, said her conviction was now unsafe: The jury was required to consider not only documents which were capable of being of practical utility for a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, but a large number of documents that were not. We consider that there was scope for the jury to have become confused.

The Vatican has banned the makers of Angels & Demons, the latest book from Da Vinci Code bestseller Dan Brown to be turned into a movie, from entering the Holy See and any church in Rome.

The entire film is set in Rome, and Sony Pictures applied for permission to film two key scenes inside the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria.

However, the scenes will now be shot on a soundstage after the diocese of Rome closed its doors against the producers. Father Marco Fibbi, a spokesman, said: Usually we read the script but in this case it wasn't necessary. Just the name Dan Brown was enough.

Fibbi said: Angels and Demons peddles a type of fantasy that damages our common religious beliefs, just like The Da Vinci Code did.

The film, which also stars Ewan McGregor, is due to be released next May.

Jerry Springer: The Opera is already causing a stir in the talk show host's hometown of Cincinnati.

The New Stage Collective is putting on the production, and organizers said that they've already received 14,000 letters from people protesting the show.

The troupe said they wanted to bring the show to town for two reasons: to acknowledge the city Springer started in and because, they said, the city has served as a battleground for the First Amendment.

The show is set to run June 26 through Aug. 3.

Update: Opening Night Protest

25th June 2008

When Jerry Springer: the Opera opens in Cincinnati on Thursday it will be greeted by a “rally of reparation” made up of protesting pseudo-Catholic cultists.

The campaign is being organised by Robert Ritchie who entitles himself “executive director” of America Needs Fatima - an offshoot of the pseudo-Catholic American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property.

International pressure is all that stands between a young journalism student and the death penalty, say his supporters.

A subdued, anxious crowd filled the courtroom of the Kabul Appeal Court on June 15 for the latest installment in the case of Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, the Afghan journalism student facing a death sentence for blasphemy.

There was little evidence of the international media in the courtroom, and the few foreign diplomats present sat quietly, some conferring with the defence from time to time.

The lack of a strong international presence could be bad news for Kambakhsh. Several sources close to the case have said international attention is the only thing sustaining his appeal.

If the eyes of the world were not on him, this judge would just hang Kambakhsh, said one insider, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Presiding judge Abdul Salam Qazizada has weathered several Afghan administrations. He is a holdover from the Taleban regime, and his antagonism to the defendant was visible.

By the end of the June 15 session, it was clear there was to be no swift end to proceedings against Kambakhsh, 23, who is accused of insulting Islam and abusing the Holy Prophet Mohammad. For the fourth time in the past 30 days, the case was adjourned without a decision.

During the session, Qazizada appeared to take on the role of prosecutor rather than impartial judge, engaging in a legal duel with defence attorney Mohammad Afzal Nooristani. Lacking a gavel, he repeatedly banged his pen against his microphone in an effort to halt Nooristani’s defence of his client.

Just tell me why you did these things, insisted Qazizada. What were your motives?

I cannot give you reasons, since I did not do anything, responded Kambakhsh.

The young student is accused of downloading and distributing a text from the internet that criticises, sometimes quite harshly, Islam’s treatment of women. The prosecution contends that Kambakhsh added several paragraphs of his own, and that this proves he is “against Islam”.

The defendant’s brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, who has been a reporter with IWPR for the past six years, was visibly upset by the day’s events. Welcome to the Middle Ages, he grimaced.

A foreign diplomat also expressed consternation at the way the trial was being conducted. I do not see any way out, said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonmity.

An official in-charge of Sharia law in Aceh calls for more laws to punish crimes after a mob attempted to carry out a Sharia-style punishment by amputating the hand of a thief.

A group of residents in a North Aceh village to tried to cut off the hand of an alleged thief on Saturday. This was the first time an attempt was made to carry out a Sharia-style punishment of this kind in the province.
What we need is more Sharia laws, said Dhiauddin, the deputy director of Dinas Sharia Islam Banda Aceh, the official that is in-charge of proclaiming Islamic laws.

Aceh is the only province in Indonesia that has the right to apply Sharia law beyond matters pertaining to marriage, divorce and inheritance. However cutting off the hand of thief, is not listed as a punishment in Aceh.

The people's reaction derived from the lack of precise laws on how to punish certain crimes, Dhiauddin told AKI. However Dhiauddin stressed that the mob that was behind the attempt to cut off the thief's hands, should be judged according to secular law.

According to a report on the Jakarta Post newspaper the alleged thief, Saidan, was rushed to the hospital after he was accused by locals of having stolen cattle. They reportedly beat him up before trying to sever his left hand.

At least 40 people have been injured in religious clashes on a remote island in India's eastern state of West Bengal, police say.

Fifteen of those injured in the clashes on Sagar island, at the confluence of the Ganges and the sea, were policemen.

Supporters of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and local Muslim villagers clashed after the RSS set up a camp in the area. This caused unease amongst Muslims, who have a large population on the island.

The RSS is active throughout India and is the ideological fountainhead of India's main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Hindu group is trying to expand its organisation in West Bengal, particularly in the Muslim-dominated border districts, where they say illegal migrants from Bangladesh are slowly becoming a majority.

Hindus have appealed to the MPAA for assigning upcoming Hollywood movie, The Love Guru, NC-17 (adults only) rating instead of currently held PG-13.

Bhavna Shinde, representing Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, in communiques to MPAA, said: Paramount Pictures, presenter of The Love Guru movie, has not pre-screened it for Hindu leaders, despite various requests by Hindu leaders so that they have more information. So, from the information available about the movie, it appears to be mocking and ridiculing Hinduism, Hindu philosophy, ashram life, Hindu concepts and terminology, Gurus, etc. Cinema is a powerful medium and it can create stereotypes in the minds of some audiences, especially in the minds of younger audiences, who are passing through an impressionable phase. We do not want our next generation to be growing up with a distorted view of Hinduism and Hindus.

Shinde further said in the communique: We appeal to you to reconsider your earlier rating decision this season and assign The Love Guru movie the 'NC-17' rating. If the filmmaker wants a lower rating, they should pre-screen it for Rajan Zed, us and other Hindu leaders, edit the material objectionable (if any) to this group and re-submit the movie to you.

The Love Guru, a comedy starring Mike Myers, is set to release on June 20.

A leader of Malaysia's Islamist party wants its secular allies to apply strict Sharia law in the country.

The hardline Parti Islam se-Malaysia, which made strong gains in March elections, has enacted laws in five states to punish rapists and adulterers with stoning to death.

Thieves would have hands and arms cut off.

However, the country's federal government has barred the party from enforcing the laws.

A legally recognised church in Turkey is fighting to stay open after police last week delivered a letter from the government stating that it will be closed within days.

The letter said Batikent Protestant Church in the capital city Ankara would be closed because it is meeting in a building that is not approved as a place of worship, according to International Christian Concern on Tuesday.

But the church argues that it had won a court case last year against the local government over zoning code violations, and was essentially fighting a legal battle over a case it had already won.

It is very obvious that what is happening to our church is a pre-meditated, continuous and jointly orchestrated direct attack against the Church as a whole in Turkey by the right-wing Islamic government (AK Party) that is currently in control in Turkey, said the church’s founding pastor Daniel Wickwire, according to ICC.

The World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum have condemned what they say are the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council's repeated efforts to undermine freedom of expression in the name of protecting religious sensibilities.

WAN reminds the UN that the council's proper role is to defend freedom of expression and not to support the censorship of opinion at the request of autocracies, the WAN Board said in a resolution issued during the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum. The 1 to 4 June meetings of the world's newspapers and editors were held in Gothenburg.

In its resolution condemning actions by the UN Human Rights Council, WAN cited the council's approval of an amendment proposed by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, requiring the council's investigator to report on instances where the abuse of the right to freedom of expression constitutes an act of racial or religious discrimination.

WAN said the amendment "goes against the spirit" of the work of the UN Special Rapporteur. It said that amendment will require the rapporteur to investigate abusive expression rather than focusing on the endemic problem of abusive limits on expression imposed by governments, including many of those on the council.

The resolution issued by the groupings of newspapers and editors said, The WAN Board is concerned at what appears to be the emergence of a negative trend against freedom of expression in the UN Human Rights Council.

It noted, In March 2007, the Council has already passed a resolution, sponsored by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which opened the door to the restrictions of freedom of expression by governments on the grounds that it might offend religious sensibilities.

Christians from all over the country gathered in Birmingham on Saturday following claims that two ministers were ejected by police for preaching the word of Jesus.

Followers from Christian Voice have accused West Midlands Police for turning the predominately Muslim area of Alum Rock into a no-go zone for non-Muslims.

The Carmarthen-based group was heading into Alum Rock to distribute Christian leaflets and share the Gospel with passers-by.

Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, said: We are coming to preach the Gospel and to show West Midlands Police that they cannot create a Muslim ghetto for the Gospel.

If a West Midlands Police Community Support Officer and a police constable told the preachers to leave the area that sounds like a no-go area and they need to be told that this is just wrong. I’m sure that most Muslims would agree with having freedom of speech.

Earlier this month, evangelists Arthur Cunningham and Joseph Abraham claim they were told they were committing a hate crime by Naeem Naguthney, community police support officer (PCSO) for preaching, and risked being beaten up if they returned.

West Midlands Police are currently holding an internal review following a complaint from the two preachers.

The wife of the First Minister of Northern Ireland has caused controversy with her Nutter Christian outlook on life.

Iris Robinson is MP for Strangford. Reacting to news that a man was viciously attacked because he is gay, she suggested that he should consider therapy to "cure" him of his homosexuality.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster she condemned the attack on Stephen Scott but added: I have a very lovely psychiatrist who works with me in my offices and his Christian background is that he tries to help homosexuals trying to turn away from what they are engaged in. And I have met people who have turned around to become heterosexual.

Scott was attacked by a gang of youths in Newtownabbey and suffered head and leg injuries. The police are calling the assault homophobic in nature.

Amsterdam is in shock after a serious daylight attack was carried out by a group of Muslim thugs on a man taking part in a fashion show.

According to PinkNews, model Mike Du Pree was taking part in a show to promote tolerance towards gay people when a gang of ten Muslim youths dragged him from the catwalk and beat him.

Du Pree’s nose was broken in what was a clearly homophobic attack.

Fashion show organiser Jennifer Delano said that the atmosphere at the event was tense, and that the violence demonstrated that Amsterdam is no longer a tolerant city.

MPs have raised the incident in Parliament. Party of Freedom MP Martin Bosma said: This shows how strong the Islamic gay bashers feel they are. Even in daylight, in the heart of Amsterdam, they strike. Only the hardest measures could turn this sick trend.

The Dutch nationality of the gay bashers of Rembrandt Square should immediately be taken from them and they should be expelled from the country today. The Netherlands can show no mercy for these people who damage our society in this way. Either they will win, or we will win.

Finnish blogger Seppo Lehto was sentenced to a jail term of two years and four months + 3 months previously suspended for another offence.

Lehto was charged with nine counts of gross defamation, inciting ethnic hatred and inciting religious hatred.

The sentence is by far the harshest sentence ever for a “Freedom of Speech crime” in Finnish legal history.

Outside Finland Lehto is perhaps best known from his Youtube video, in which he draws a cartoon of muslim prophet Muhammad. The video was withdrawn from Youtube but has later been republished there as well as in other online video sites.

However, in his home country he has become notorious for his numerous ‘filth blogs’ containing explicit racist insults illustrated with manipulated pornographic images and Patrioottiradio podcast radio site, which he used to hurl racist insults to politicians, civil servants and members of ethnic and religious minorities.

The filth blogs are located in Blogger meaning that so far it has been very difficult for Finnish authorities to establish the perpetrator. Lehto has stubbornly denied his involvement with the blogs and continued to do so during the trial.

Lehto has been an Finland’s number one internet pest for years and it is very hard to feel sympathy for him based on the content of his numerous filth blogs. It is possible that he is the main reason behind former Minority Ombudsman Mikko Puumalainen’s jihad against racism in the internet and Mika Illman’s aggressive prosecution in cases involving the internet. Conviction of Lehto is perhaps Illman’s biggest coup to date and has provoked cheers from members of Finnish political elite. Former Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja expressed his satisfaction about the verdict in his website.

What has made some people suspicious, is the fact that he managed to include the charge of ethnic and religious hatred in the trial. The successful conviction of Lehto for inciting religious hatred may lead to prosecution of other bloggers publishing material deemed offensive to muslims.

As far as I know this was the first time anybody was convicted for insulting muslim religious feelings in Finland. Lehto was convicted for displaying rude images of islamic prophet Muhammad and Allah having sexual intercourse with a pig. The pictures were not created by Lehto or his associate but they had found them from another website and included them in their blog.

So far it is not yet clear if Lehto will appeal. The Appeals court will probably reduce the sentence but Lehto will find it hard to avoid doing jail time.

For inciting religious hatred (or disturbing religious worship may be a better translation) the maximum penalty is six months. For the other two crimes (inciting ethnic hatred and 9 counts of gross defamation) the maximum penalty is two years.

A Muslim political leader has urged Western governments to hit out more strongly against acts that are offensive to Islam.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), warned there seemed to be a growing campaign of hate and discrimination against Muslims by a small number of individuals and organizations.

In a speech to a conference in Kuala Lumpur on improving ties between Muslims and the West, Ihsanoglu praised Western nations for criticizing acts such as the recent release of an anti-Quran film, Fitna, by a Dutch lawmaker, but said more should have been done.

Mere condemnation or distancing from the acts of the perpetrators of Islamophobia will not resolve the issue, as long as they remain free to carry on with their campaign of incitement and provocation on the plea of freedom of expression, Ihsanoglu said.

Ihsanoglu also urged the media to reject proponents of hatred and intolerance totally, citing other incidents such as the republishing in Denmark of cartoons considered an insult to the Prophet Muhammad: It requires a strong and determined collective political will to address the challenge. It is now high time for concrete actions to stem the rot before it aggravates (the situation) any further.

This biased view (of Islam) in the West persists, and, I must admit, it is not helped by the misguided actions of a discredited few from the Muslim side, Abdullah said.

The Indonesian government has announced state repression of followers of the minority Ahmadiyah sect.

In the decree, the Ahmadiyah are warned they risk five years in jail if they do not stop spreading unorthodox beliefs and return to mainstream Islam.

The Indonesian constitution supposedly guarantees freedom of religion.

This latest move is widely seen as bowing to Islamic hardliners, who have stepped up a sometimes violent campaign against the nation's 200,000 Ahmadiyah.

Last week dozens of pro-tolerance demonstrators were attacked by members of a militant Islamic group - and on Monday several thousand hardline Muslims again took to the streets in support of banning the sect.

The Ahmadiyah have views that are seen as controversial by mainstream Islamic society. A widespread belief among sect members is that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the final prophet of Islam - and not Muhammad.

The religious affairs minister made the long-awaited announcement in a joint decree with the country's interior minister and attorney general. The text of the decree orders the sect to stop spreading interpretations and activities which deviate from the principal teachings of Islam, reported the news agency AFP.

A group of MPs, mostly religious, have decided to promote an amendment to the Jerusalem Basic Law that would ban the Gay Pride Parade from taking place in the city.

The lawmakers decided to sign a petition addressed to the chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Menahem Ben Sasson, urging him to advance the bill that was submitted last year, yielding little progress since.

National Religious Party-National Union MP Eliyahu Gabbay, who initiated the amendment, said: It is unacceptable that Ben-Sasson stalls decisions that were made in a democratic procedure. It is an anti-democratic move. Personal considerations should stay away from the democratic process.

They also decided to protest the parade by holding ten mass demonstrations across the capital on the day it is due to take place.

National Union faction whip MP Uri Ariel said that the majority of Jerusalemites find the Pride Parade intolerable, and it shouldn't take place anywhere. But at least leave Jerusalem alone. The group also decided to ask the police to ban the parade, saying it would infringe on the public order.

I am Mohammed And nobody dares to print me!

Pakistan's ambassador to Norway, Rab Nawaz Khan, has formally submitted a complaint with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the publication of a Mohammed cartoon in the newspaper Adresseavisen.

Terrorism is carrying out an act that draws strong reactions. Muslims across the world are insulted by this cartoon, and therefore it is an act of terrorism, the ambassador said in an interview with Norwegian TV2.

In the interview with TV2 Pakistan's ambassador says he is "concerned", since the publication of a cartoon in Adresseavisen may put the lives of Norwegian citizens all over the world in danger. Furthermore, he points out that a number of Norwegian companies have offices and commercial interests in Pakistan.

He rejects the explanation by the editors of Adresseavisen that the cartoon doesn't show Mohammed but someone who poses as Mohammed. According to Arne Blix, chief editor of the newspaper, the cartoonist wanted to demonstrate that someone who commits terror in religious clothes in the name of religion is totally unbelievable.

Erna Solberg, leader of the opposition's Conservative Party (Høyre), said in a reaction that the ambassador is completely overreacting. According to her, diplomats in Norway should study the Norwegian situation and the Norwegian freedom of expression more carefully, and the Norwegian government should not apologize for the publication of the cartoon. Instead the government should try to explain that there is freedom of the press in Norway, and that it is not a terrorist act to use it. The ambassador may of course dislike the cartoon, but he's wrong to say it's terrorism.

A delegation of Pakistani lawmakers and government officials are off to Belgium to ask the EU to destroy free speech by preventing the publication of cartoons that mock the prophet as well as deny filmmakers like Geert Wilders the freedom to market their work:

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