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Authorities in a northern Malaysian city are calling on Muslim women not to wear bright lipstick and noisy high-heel shoes if they want to follow the "Islamic way". The municipal council in Kota Baru, run by a conservative Islamic party, is distributing pamphlets with the advice, in an effort to prevent rape and protect women's dignity and morals. Council spokesman Azman Mohamad Daham said: 'We just distribute pamphlets. Our minimum guideline is they must wear headscarves. 'The rest is up to them. If they want to follow the 100 percent Islamic way, it's up to them.'

HE exploded into US politics with a message of hope and change that has people around the world believing President Obama will save America and the planet. He’s running a veritable Santa’s Grotto stacked with promises of health care reform, protectionism in trade, cheaper petrol, more money for schools, the space program, veterans, students, infrastructure, as well as lower taxes. He’s promised energy security, an end to the Iraq war, to befriend America’s enemies and remain unindentured to big business and lobbyists. A less optimistic panel of Harvard thinkers at the Centre for Public Leadership recently said the problems facing...

Obama: Sermon on Mount Justifies Same-Sex Unions By Terence P. Jeffrey CNSNews.com Editor in Chief March 03, 2008 (CNSNews.com) - Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told a crowd at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, Sunday that he believes the Sermon on the Mount justifies his support for legal recognition of same-sex unions. He also told the crowd that his position in favor of legalized abortion does not make him "less Christian." "I don't think it [a same-sex union] should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state,"...

SEATTLE, July 29 (AP) — The police have identified a man accused of killing a woman and wounding five others at a Jewish agency here on Friday as Naveed Afzal Haq. The Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Seattle said Mr. Haq, 30, is an American citizen. Mr. Haq was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of homicide and attempted homicide, the police said. His lawyer, Larry Stephenson, told The Seattle Times that he thought Mr. Haq was single and unemployed. Mr. Stephenson said Mr. Haq had a misdemeanor lewd conduct charge pending in Benton County in southern...

. The girls from Al Noor School in Brooklyn were doing a lot of chanting. The chants were led by a man, who stood nearby.  The two above photos are from this flickr collection.  

The ruler of emirate of Dubai, also the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, died on Wednesday in Australia. Maktoum, 60, had reportedly suffered from heart problems. "The UAE has today lost a historical leader who dedicated his life to building the nation and doing good for its people," an official statement read. His brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is currently the Defense Minister of the UAE, will replace the former leader as ruler of Dubai, while UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan will...

Muslims say the only positive result of the Sept. 11, 2001, was the awareness it created of the Islamic identity in America. Now, more than ever, Muslims are taking civic participation more seriously to expose their non-Muslim neighbors to one of the five pillars of Islam -- charity. In the years after the terror attack, Austin's various religious communities strove to make Thanksgiving, a uniquely American holiday, a more inclusive one. "It is very important to show the community that we are able to blend in with the Western culture," Imam Safdar Razi, a local Muslim religious leader, said. Every...