Free Republic

An imam in Morocco's eastern city of Fez has said that marriages between Moroccan women and European men who are not Muslims are forbidden under Islam. Each summer in Morocco, a growing number of local women are reportedly marrying young European men. "This kind of marriage, between Moroccan women and European men, is forbidden by the Koran (the Muslim holy book) and the Sunna (the way or deeds of the Prophet Mohammed)," Sheikh Mohammed al-Tawil said in a TV interview. "A Muslim woman may not marry an unbeliever while a Muslim man may marry Christian and Jewish women," he told...

Ancient 'Out Of Africa' Migration Left Stamp On European Genetic DiversityScientists compared more than 10,000 sequenced genes from 15 African-Americans and 20 European-Americans. The results suggest that European populations have proportionately more harmful variations, though it is unclear what effects these variations actually may have on the overall health of Europeans. (Credit: iStockphoto) ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2008) — Human migration from Africa to Europe more than 30,000 years ago appears to have left a mark on the genes of Europeans today. A Cornell-led study, reported in the Feb. 21 issue of the journal Nature, compared more than 10,000 sequenced genes...

Study of Ancient Farmers DNA Challenges European Origins Thursday, November 10, 2005 WASHINGTON — A study of DNA from ancient farmers in Europe shows sharp differences from that of modern Europeans — results that are likely to add fuel to the debate over European origins. Researchers led by Wolfgang Haak of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, argue that their finding supports the belief that modern residents of central Europe descended from Stone Age hunter-gatherers who were present 40,000 years ago, and not the early farmers who arrived thousands of years later. But other anthropologists questioned that conclusion, arguing that...

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanon's top Shiite cleric asked Britain on Sunday to adopt the European approach to the region rather than an American one which is using Lebanon to pressure on Syria and Iran. Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah made his comments during a meeting at his office with visiting British envoy to the Middle East Michael Williams, according to a statement released by the cleric's office. "We want Britain to be European and not to be American or work on the side of America's foreign policy in the region," the black-turbaned cleric said.

Race Linked To Happiness And Recovery From Negative Events ScienceDaily (Oct. 21, 2007) — Are you happy? Well don't try to be happier; you might become less happy. That is the gist of a multi-cultural study published recently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study by University of Virginia psychology professor Shigehiro Oishi and colleagues at three other institutions found that, on average, European-Americans claim to be happy in general – more happy than Asian-Americans or Koreans or Japanese – but are more easily made less happy by negative events, and recover at a slower rate from...

At a Denver conference on intercontinental trade corridors, a Mexican mayor called for a swift move toward a European Union-style merger of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Referring to Europe, Evaristo Lenin Perez of Ciudad Acuna – a sister city of Del Rio, Texas – told the Great Plains International Conference, "It's a model we need to follow quickly."

PARIS (Reuters) - Petitions in London, protests in Cologne, a court case in Marseille and a violent clash in Berlin -- Muslims in Europe are meeting resistance to plans for mosques that befit Islam's status as the continent's second religion. Across Europe, Muslims who have long prayed in garages and old factories now face skepticism and concern for wanting to build stately mosques to give proud testimony to the faith and solidity of their Islamic communities. Some critics reject them as signs of "Islamisation." Others say minarets would scar their city's skyline. Given the role some mosques have played as...

Do you remember the European Constitution? Yes, the one rejected by the French and Dutch? That same European Constitution on which the Labour Government promised the British people a referendum before the last General Election? Well, it's back with a vengeance. Like some old Hammer horror movie, the constitution has returned from the dead, now repackaged as a 'treaty.' The so-called 'new' EU Treaty has all the same ingredients as the old constitution. In fact, it was revealed yesterday that it is 96 per cent identical to the old constitution. And so the response to this newly repackaged threat to...

BUCHAREST, Romania - Southern Europe sizzled under a heat wave Tuesday, with temperatures hitting triple digits for a seventh day in Romania, blazes forcing the evacuation of tourists in Croatia and Italy, and wildfires in Macedonia and Greece exploding shells from long-ago wars. At least 35 heat-related deaths were reported. Romanian authorities warned residents to stay indoors during the midday heat in the capital of Bucharest, one of five counties put on high alert because of the weather. At least 27 people have died in Romania since last week, with 12 deaths reported Monday, said Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu. The...

Source: American Society of Agronomy Date: May 16, 2007 Biotechnology Solves Debate Over Origin Of European Potato Science Daily — Molecular studies recently revealed new genetic information concerning the long-disputed origin of the "European potato." Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of La Laguna, and the International Potato Center used genetic markers to prove that the remnants of the earliest known landraces of the European potato are of Andean and Chilean origin. They report their findings in the May-June 2007 issue of Crop Science. Americans each eat about 140 pounds of potatoes a year in fresh and processed...

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGISTS MEETING: European Skin Turned Pale Only Recently, Gene Suggests Ann Gibbons PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA--At the American Association of Physical Anthropologists meeting, held here from 28 to 31 March, a new report on the evolution of a gene for skin color suggested that Europeans acquired pale skin quite recently, perhaps only 6000 to 12,000 years ago

Source: University of Pennsylvania Date: April 23, 2007 Historian Discovers Evidence Documenting First European Voyage Up The Delaware Science Daily — A University of Pennsylvania scholar has pinpointed 1616 as the year of the first European voyage up the Delaware River. Jaap Jacobs, a senior fellow at Penn's McNeil Center for Early American Studies, detailed his findings in a paper, "Truffle Hunting with an Iron Hog: The First Dutch Voyage up the Delaware River," recently presented as part of the McNeil Center Seminar Series. Scholarly discoveries tend to be the outcome of a deliberate process, but serendipity played an important...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Investors are increasingly positive on euro zone equities and ever more negative on their US counterparts because of a more attractive valuation and a stronger earnings outlook, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch's fund managers survey for April found that a net 18 pct of those polled think the US is the most overvalued equity market in the world, while a net 26 pct believe that the euro zone is the most undervalued. A net 38 pct of managers moreover believe the outlook for earnings is brightest in the euro zone, while 42...

Source of hot European summers determined PALAISEAU, France, March 22 (UPI) -- French-led research suggests shortages of winter rainfall over southern Europe precede hot summers further north on the European continent. Robert Vautard of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute in Palaiseau, France, and colleagues analyzed meteorological records of the past 58 years and determine dry conditions around the northern Mediterranean create a mass of anomalously warm, dry air that spreads northward during early summer. The researchers detected the pattern while searching for previously undiscovered weather scenarios that explain heat waves, such as the one experienced by Europe in the summer of...

!-- E IBYL --> The European Union claims it has secured peace among historical enemies, spread democracy to its neighbours and created a new model of international co-operation. But none of that was pre-ordained. The milestones of the past 50 years tell a story of bitter national rivalries, personality clashes and tortured compromises which have threatened the project's survival more than once and may do so again in the coming years. Churchill saw European unity as a means of breaking the cycle of conflict Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime leader, called postwar Europe "a rubble heap, a charnel-house, a breeding-ground...

European faces jail for insulting Thai king By A Special Correspondent in Chiang Mai Last Updated: 2:15pm GMT 12/03/2007 A Swiss man today admitted five charges of insulting Thailand's revered king by spray-painting posters of the monarch on the evening of his birthday. Oliver Jufer is facing up to 15 years in prison Oliver Jufer, 57, who has been held in prison for more than three months, appeared at Chiang Mai provincial court in shackles and a brown inmate's uniform, for a secret session. Members of the public and journalists were barred from the hearing, and earlier court officials told...

DARMSTADT, Germany - A European spacecraft was on course to zip past Mars on Sunday, a crucial maneuver in its meandering, 10-year voyage through the solar system to make the first soft landing on a comet. The Rosetta craft is to pass within just 150 miles of the Martian surface, using the planet's gravity to change course and head for similar close encounters with Earth later this year and in 2009. The momentum gained from these flybys will sling the spacecraft toward its final rendezvous with the comet 67/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta must swing around Mars on exactly the right course, and...

Special trains and buses brought in protesters from across Italy Thousands of people have been arriving in the north-eastern Italian city of Vicenza for a march against a planned extension of the US army base there.Organisers say the majority of local people are opposed to US plans. They say Prime Minister Romano Prodi has ignored strong local objections. Thousands of extra police are on duty in Vicenza for what is planned as a peaceful march. There are fears that extremist fringe groups will try to cause violence. Vicenza's mayor fears the march will be infiltrated by left-wing extremists from...

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised Europe's strong economic growth but warned of the dangers of protectionism. Rodrigo de Rato said Europe's economic upturn in recent months, led by Germany and France, was a major boost for the global economy. But he said efforts must be made to conclude a global trade treaty and to reduce levels of unemployment. He called for renewed reform efforts to deregulate eurozone labor markets. Although the eurozone was expected to see growth above 2% in 2007 and 2008, de Rato said the specter of protectionism and higher levels of unemployment...

European skull's evolving story The specimen was found along with bear remains The earliest modern humans in Europe were short of being the complete article, according to a study of a fossilised skull from Romania. The 35,000-year-old cranium discovered in Pestera cu Oase in the west of the country shows an interesting mix of features, say scientists. Whilst undeniably a Homo sapiens specimen, it has some traits normally associated with more ancient species. The skull is reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr Helene Rougier, from Washington University in St Louis, US, and colleagues say the fossil...