Democratic US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has expressed “outrage” at comments made by Rev Jeremiah Wright.
He said that any relationship he had with his former pastor “has now changed” as a result of the comments.
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Egypt’s president has proposed a pay rise of close to one-third for public sector employees - to compensate them for recent food price increases.
“It will be about 30%,” Hosni Mubarak said in a May Day address.
The pay rise could defuse growing unrest, with a widespread strike threatened for next week.
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By Tarek Heggy
According to some statistics, fully one quarter of those enrolled in the educational system in Egypt today are studying in religious educational establishments [schools, academies, and colleges run by Al-Azhar]. Other statistics reduce the number to one fifth, while a recent survey places it at no more than one sixth. Even if we assume that the lowest estimate of one sixth, that is, slightly over 16%, is the correct one, this means that more than three million students receive their education from start to finish in religious establishments. And the number would rise to four or five million if we accept the other statistics.
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strong>FAILURES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Apostasy is the renunciation of religious faith, and apostasy from Islam in particular has always been a contentious issue. Although the Qur’an does not prescribe a temporal punishment for apostasy, the vast majority of traditional Islamic theology and jurisprudence has advocated the death penalty for a mentally sane male apostate and life-long imprisonment or harsh treatment for a female apostate. Proponents of the death penalty have legitimised their stance from the sayings and deeds attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, his companions and subsequent caliphs.
A guy like me
By Safwat Abdel-Halim
Now this could only happen to a guy like meAnd only happen in a town like thisAnd so I say to each of you most gratefullyAs I throw each one of you a kissThis is my kind of town, Chicago isMy kind of town, Chicago isMy kind of people tooPeople who smile at you
By the time I finished reading Alaa al-Aswanl’s novel Chicago, I felt a tightening in my stomach and a painful constriction in my throat. Even though I have always known about our acrimonious discrimination-as Muslims-against our brothers the Copts, Aswani’s glaring exposure was nothing short of a harsh slap on the face.
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A French delegate to a conference of socialists in Lebanon has said he was detained by gunmen linked to the Islamist movement Hezbollah.
Karim Pakzad said he was held for four hours after being stopped while taking photographs from an open-top car in an area known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
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All which is hidden to be revealed.
Our hearts hold mysteries locked.
The book of Daniel which was sealed,
Is opened by the ticking clock.
Evangelist of Alexandria,
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THE DEATH OF DEATH
By H.G. Bishop Serapion
Today, we rejoice as we celebrate the Feast of feasts: the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus ChriSt We rejoice because of the death of death. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and His victory over death are the proof of the death of death, as St Cyril of Alexandria said, “For the Word of God ever lives, and is by His own nature Life; but when He humbled Himself unto emptying, and submitted to be made like unto us He tasted death. But this proved to be the death of death; for He arose from the dead, to be the way whereby not Himself so much but we rather return unto incorruption.”
Also St Augustine carried to us the joyful news about the death of death and said, “Where is death? Seek it in Christ, for it exists no longer. It did exist, and now death is dead. O Life, O death of death! Be of good heart, death will die in us also.”
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Hundreds of police deployed around Church of the Holy Sepulcher to control estimated 10,000 Christian pilgrims.
JERUSALEM - Thousands of worshippers crowded Christianity’s holiest shrine to celebrate the Easter Week holy fire ritual, police said.
Hundreds of police were deployed in and around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Saturday to control an estimated 10,000 pilgrims.
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A popular Saudi blogger who was detained by the authorities in December has been set free.
Fouad al-Farhan had used his website to criticise alleged corruption and call for democratic reforms in his country.
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CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces detained four people and have accused them of plotting to buy fuel for a pilotless aircraft for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, security sources said on Saturday.
The sources said two of those detained were members of Egypt’s opposition Muslim Brotherhood. They said the two men had given 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,700) to two other Egyptians to buy fuel and a remote control device for a small aircraft.
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US Republican presidential hopeful promises to be ‘worst nightmare’ for elected Palestinian movement.
WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain took a shot at Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Friday, saying he was the candidate for the democratically elected Palestinian movement Hamas.
“I think it’s very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States,” said McCain, his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, in a conversation with conservative bloggers.
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By Yolande Knell
BBC News, Cairo
It is not easy to find the headquarters of Egypt’s largest opposition movement. The unremarkable building overlooking the Nile in Manial in central Cairo has no sign.
Only a nod from the security guard when you ask “al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun?” reassures you that you have arrived at the office of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Al-Maqrizi (1364-1442): A witness & chronicler from the late medieval ages, Part II
by Ed Rizkalla
In a recent article, the writer noted that the late medieval age Muslim historian Al-Maqrizi chronicled some of the Coptic culture traits in his famous book, Al-khitat (1), though he did not recognize them as such. It should be noted that Al-Maqrizi was not a Coptophile or a friend of the Copts by any extent of the imagination. It is perhaps fair to say that he was a product of his times. Al-Maqrizi, like other medieval Arab writers, used the word “Copts” to refer to both the ancient Egyptians and the Christians of Egypt, and as he wrote about the Muslim population of Egypt he simply referred to them as “Muslims”.
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HO CHI MINH CITY, April 21 (Compass Direct News) - An unprecedented prayer appeal by the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) indicates that the government has stonewalled quiet, persistent attempts to obtain redress on confiscated church properties, interference in church affairs and discrimination against Christians.
Addressed to “The Church of God Everywhere,” the March 28 letter from the Executive Committee of the ECVN(S) followed several ultimatums in which the church threatened “collective action” and still did not obtain serious dialogue with authorities.
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