Free Republic

CAIRO - Egypt’s Christians are optimistic following the first Coptic mass in Saudi Arabia. Dozens of Coptic Christians attended the mass at a tourist facility in Riyadh. The mass, Egypt’s Christians said, reflects the tremendous changes happening in Saudi Arabia. “It even portends more change in that great country in the future,” said Father Polis Halim, spokesman of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church. “Saudi Arabia is showing an admirable degree of tolerance that gives us a lot of hope.” The story began in May when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz visited Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in...

Fmr. Thatcher advisor Lord Monckton evicted from UN climate summit after challenging global warming -- 'Escorted from the hall and security officers stripped him of his UN credentials' Excerpt: UK's Lord Christopher Monckton, a climate skeptic, gets evicted After the news conference, and as diplomats gathered for the climate conference president's assessment of how close countries are to agreement, Monckton quietly slipped into the seat reserved for the delegation of Myanmar and clicked the button to speak. "In the 16 years we have been coming to these conferences, there has been no global warming," Monckton said as confused murmurs filled...

I know: since when did we expect liberals to be consistent? Still, it strikes me as rather odd that President Obama’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan would try to bar military recruiters and ROTC from the Harvard campus over the the fact that homosexual conduct is considered incompatible with military service, yet would welcome a center for Islamic studies (and $20 million) from Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz. The astute observer of history and current events will note that Islam and Sharia Law is not only extremely harsh toward homosexuality (as it is harsh toward pretty...

RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince has called for US-led coalition forces to review their aims in Iraq and for some of the country's neighbors to stop backing religious communities, in an apparent reference to Iran. "Coalition forces in Iraq must review the goals of their presence and the strategies of their remaining" there, Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz told the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview. "The question that must be asked is: what did these forces achieve since entering Iraqi territory? And did the strategy applied by these forces achieve anything positive?" he said. In...

Police in the Malawi city of Blantyre have fired tear gas at Muslims protesting against the arrest and deportation of five suspected al-Qaeda members. The al-Qaeda suspects are now in US custody The Muslims, coming from Jumm'ah, or obligatory Friday prayers, chanted slogans against the government and their own association, the Muslim Association of Malawi (Mam). They accused the government of losing sovereignty by secretly handing the suspects over to American CIA agents, despite a High Court ruling ordering the government to charge or release the men. They also accused their association of failing to protect fellow Muslims, despite the...