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| Colo. mom, baby revived after Christmas Eve birth DENVER (AP) -- A Colorado woman says a Christmas miracle brought her and her newborn son back from the brink of death after her heart stopped beating during childbirth and the baby was delivered showing no signs of life.... hosted.ap.org |
Egyptian Christians riot after shooting Churchgoers targeted after Coptic Christmas Eve mass in apparent payback for alleged rape of Muslim girl by ChristianClashes between thousands of protesters and riot police shook Egypt today after six Coptic Christians were murdered, prompting some of the worst sectarian violence the country has seen.The victims were gunned down in a drive-by shooting as they emerged from church in the early hours of this morning following a Coptic Christmas Eve mass. Egypt's interior ministry said it believed the attack, in the southern town of Naga Hammadi, 40 miles north of Luxor, was in revenge for the alleged rape of a 12-year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man last year. A Muslim security guard was also killed."It is all religious now," said the church's Bishop Kirollos. "This is a religious war, about how they can finish off the Christians in Egypt."By daybreak hundreds of Christians had gathered at the morgue where the bodies of the dead were being held, chanting anti-government slogans and facing down security forces who fired tear gas and bullets in an effort to disperse the crowd. Stones were thrown at police and a number of ambulances were destroyed by protesters. By lunchtime the number of demonstrators had swelled as locals flocked to attend the funeral of the dead, held in the same church where they were shot the night before, and sporadic rioting broke out across the area.Pakinam Amer, a journalist for the al-Masry al-Yom website who was at the funeral, said the scene outside the church resembled a war zone. "There were tanks parked on the street and huge lines of riot police on either side, some with machine guns," she said. "All around lampposts were snapped, cars were destroyed and shop-fronts smashed in."Egypt's Coptic population, which celebrates Christmas on 7 January, is the largest Christian community in the Middle East and is thought to number almost 10 million. Copts have often complained of discrimination against them from Egypt's Muslim majority, particularly over acquiring permits for the construction or maintenance of churches. Although several Christians have attained prominent positions in Egypt's political and business elites, violence between Muslim and Christian communities has repeatedly broken out in poor and rural areas, often triggered by land disputes, and only this week a new committee was formed to highlight the government's "neglect" of Coptic rights."Egypt has recently witnessed an unprecedented escalation of sectarian violence against peaceful citizens based on their Christian identity," the National Committee for Combating Sectarian Violence said in a statement, less than 48 hours before the shooting. "Neither President Hosni Mubarak, nor prime minister Ahmed Nazif have ever addressed the concerns of Christians regarding the repeated assaults on them."Some political analysts believe the growth in sectarian tensions has been fuelled by the political failings of the ruling regime, which has faced increased domestic dissent in recent years. "This was not an isolated incident," said Nabil Abdel Fattah, director of history and social studies at Cairo's al-Ahram Centre. "It has emerged out of the decay of national unity in Egypt, which in turn has arisen through the extensive exploitation of religion by politicians. There has been an attempt by the government and the bureaucratic apparatus to encourage Islamisation in an effort to hide their own lack of legitimacy."EgyptGun crimeChristianityIslamReligionJack Shenkerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Al-Qaida leader killed in Yemen Abdullah Mehdar was killed overnight after being besieged in a house where he had been hidingYemeni security forces have killed a regional al-Qaida leader during intensifying operations against the organisation in the wake of its failed Christmas Day bombing of a US airliner over Detroit, the government said today.Ali Hassan al-Ahmadi, governor of Shabwa province, said Abdullah Mehdar was killed overnight after being besieged in a house where he had been hiding.Mehdar was reportedly the leader of an al-Qaida cell in the al-Houta region, 600km east of Sana'a, the capital. Four men were detained but several others escaped into the nearby hills. Another senior al-Qaida commander was captured last week.Yemen insists it is capable of fighting al-Qaida on its own but needs more financial help, equipment and cooperation."Our security agencies are capable of tackling terrorist threats," the foreign minister, Abu-Bakr al-Qirbi, told Reuters news agency, adding that anti-terrorism and coastguard units needed outside support in training, equipment and exchange of intelligence."However, a security or military solution is not sufficient. So the international community has to pay more attention to the economic and development needs of Yemen," he added.Later this month the impoverished country in the Arabian peninsular and its many problems — poverty, rapid population growth and natural resource depletion — will be the subject of a one-day international conference in London, called by Gordon Brown in the aftermath of the attempt by the Nigerian student Omar Farouk Abumutallab to blow up a US airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day.President Barack Obama has ruled out sending in US troops but there is nervousness in Yemen that it is being identified in the west as a new front in the struggle against jihadi terror.Over the past few weeks the Yemeni government has sent reinforcements to some eastern provinces as it intensified its fight against al-Qaida, said by the Sana'a authorities to number some 200 to 300 members in the country.The US and Britain say they fear Yemen, a failing if not a failed state, is in danger of becoming a safe haven for the organisation after its virtual defeat in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and as it faces increasing pressure in Afghanistan and Pakistan.Earlier, Yemen's interior ministry said that at least 15 Houthi rebels had been killed in clashes with tribesmen loyal to the government and in operations by security forces, as violence increased in the Sa'ada region, north of the capital.Saudi Arabia, fighting the Houthis in support of the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, claimed this week to have killed hundreds of them. The rebels have fought the government sporadically since 2004, complaining of social, economic and religious marginalisation.Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile attacked Riyadh for its support for the Yemeni government. "We were expecting that Saudi Arabian officials would act like a mentor and make peace between brothers, not enter the war and use bombs ... and machine guns against Muslims."If only a small part of the weapons of Saudi Arabia were used on behalf of Gaza and against the Zionist regime (Israel), today there would be no sign of the Zionist regime in the region," Ahmadinejad said on state television.Yemen in turn has repeatedly accused Iran of backing the Houthis.YemenMiddle EastAl-QaidaIranGlobal terrorismIan Blackguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
French Wines Learn New World Marketing and Branding To compete with new wine producers like Argentina and Australia, Frenchvintners are slowly ditching their traditional wine labels in favor ofcatchier brands like Fat Bastard Chardonnay feedproxy.google.com |
Top Senate Democrat lays out deficit curbs WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top Democrat in the Senate is proposing tough new budget rules that would make it much more difficult for Congress to extend emergency unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers.... hosted.ap.org |