Free Republic

Islamic fears kill off children's thriller Murray Waldren and Jodie Minus November 25, 2006 A LEADING children's publisher has dumped a novel because of political sensitivity over Islamic issues. Scholastic Australia pulled the plug on the Army of the Pure after booksellers and librarians said they would not stock the adventure thriller for younger readers because the "baddie" was a Muslim terrorist.

A statement purportedly from the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq hails the defeat of Republicans in the US mid-term polls. The audio message, whose authenticity has not been verified, was published on Islamist websites and was said to be the voice of Abu Hamza al-Muhajir. The Democrats' victory in Tuesday's Congressional elections was a move in the right direction, the speaker said.

No president in the modern age has had to face an “insurgency” of relentless criticism from not one, but two former presidents—both dedicated to undermining his policies. Bill Clinton’s appearance on Fox News yesterday is a case in point, calculated to score points through attacks on the “right-wing conspiracy” and President Bush. Jimmy Carter is still trying to build his legacy and sell books—but he’s not much more than a gadfly these days. William Jefferson Clinton is important for a number of reasons: He’s still the heart and soul of the Democratic Party; European liberals love him; and his wife...

I was at the airport in Auckland the other day and mooching around the duty free shop. My little girl likes snow globes, so I picked out one showing some charming New Zealand sheep. No snow, technically, but when you shook it, little stars sparkled around the ovine cuties. The Kiwi sales clerk swiped my credit card, wrapped it up, and then said, "Oh, wait. Are you flying to America?" I should have known. She consulted her list of prohibited items and informed me that, in an expansive definition worthy of the Massachusetts Supreme Court constitutional-right-to-same-sex-marriage ruling, the twinkly fluid...

Four out of 10 British Muslims want sharia law introduced into parts of the country, a survey reveals today. The ICM opinion poll also indicates that a fifth have sympathy with the "feelings and motives" of the suicide bombers who attacked London last July 7, killing 52 people, although 99 per cent thought the bombers were wrong to carry out the atrocity. Islamic law is used in large parts of the Middle East, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, and is enforced by religious police. Special courts can hand down harsh punishments which can include stoning and amputation. Forty per cent...

Newspapers across Europe have reprinted caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to show support for a Danish paper whose cartoons have sparked Muslim outrage. France Soir, Germany's Die Welt, La Stampa in Italy and El Periodico in Spain all carried some of the drawings. Their publication in Denmark has led to protests in Arab nations, diplomatic sanctions and death threats. Islamic tradition bans depictions of the Prophet, but media watchdogs defend press freedom to publish the images. Reporters Without Borders said the reaction in the Arab world "betrays a lack of understanding" of press freedom as "an essential accomplishment of democracy."

Supporters of al-Qa'eda in Iraq have used the elections staged by the United States to gain positions of political power, the American military believes. According to senior officers based in Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold in western Iraq, al-Qa'eda-linked politicians have gained seats in local elections to provincial assemblies. Al-Qa'eda was virulently opposed to the national elections held in Iraq last year, describing the votes in January and December as a "trick of Satan" and promising to kill anyone who voted. But the news that some of the organisation's supporters have gained seats at the local level illustrates both how...

Japan on Wednesday released a video in a bid to prove Greenpeace targeted its whaling ship in an Antarctic collision this week and accused the environmentalists of violent tactics. Japan's main whaling body put a video on its website that showed Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise moving steadily forward before hitting the whaling ship Nisshin Maru, whose movement was impeded by another whaling vessel nearby. "It was a deliberate action to get media coverage," Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research said in a statement. "The Arctic Sunrise could have avoided this collision. Instead the skipper turned the boat into the path of the...

AN INDONESIAN fisherman has pleaded guilty to pouring boiling oil over his boat captain while they were detained in Darwin Harbour. Saiful Anam, 27, pleaded guilty in the NT Supreme Court yesterday to causing grievous harm to the Hok Soen Heng, the captain of the fishing boat he was working on. The court heard the crew had been caught fishing illegally on May 7 and were detained on their boat at a quarantine point in Darwin Harbour 1.5km from shore. Anam, the cook on the boat, had served the captain the evening meal on May 12. But the captain threw...