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Anchorage, AK (Catholic Anchor) – At the end of this month, Father Leo Walsh heads to Washington, D.C. to begin a new job that deals with some of the roots of age-old human conflicts. Born, raised and ordained to the priesthood in Alaska, Father Walsh will leave his home state to work for at least three years with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where his primary task will be to facilitate greater understanding between Catholics and Muslims across the country. Setting the table As associate director for the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Father Walsh will do much...

ISTANBUL - Just when one thought TVshows could not get more outrageous, Kanal T comes up with the idea to make an imam, a priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk try to convert 10 atheists. While some fear the program could create problems, a sociologist says this just shows the yearning to learn more about religions A new show set to grace Turkish television screens will see a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk competing to turn 10 unbelievers into devotees of their own faith each week. The show, "Tövbekarlar Yarışıyor," which can...

Islamic Society convention lands appearance from Rick WarrenThe Indiana-based Islamic Society of North America will be holding its annual convention -- the largest yearly gathering of Muslims on the continent -- in Washington, D.C. over the Fourth of July weekend. And while convention leaders are holding out hope that President Barack Obama might make the convention his latest stop in his outreach to the Muslim world, the convention has landed another pretty big fish as a featured speaker.Purpose-Driven pastor Rick Warren has agreed to appear at the convention and be part of its main session discussing the convention's theme --...

Monsignor John Esseff is on a mission from God. He hopes to have the Sacred Heart of Jesus enthroned as King of the entire world, family by family, church by church, dioceses by dioceseÂ…country by country. Accompanied by other priests, he is now embarking on a tour to meet with cardinals worldwide to solicit their support to develop an official plan within the Catholic Church to enthrone Jesus as the King of our world and present this plan to the Pope. This may sound idealistic, but with so many friends in high places, my money is on Monsignor. Oh, and...

One woman's push for change at her hometown mosque When journalist Asra Nomani returned to Morgantown, W. Va., she was hoping to find a calm, welcoming place to recover from turbulent life events. An unplanned pregnancy, a partner who was not willing to be the child's father, and the murder of her good friend and colleague, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, had left her reeling with confusion and pain. She left Pakistan, where she had been working as a correspondent for Salon.com, and sought to regain her balance in the peaceful university town in the Appalachian Mountains where she...

Note: The following text is a quote: June 13, 2009 Pakistan: Muslims attack pastor's home, beat women with rifle-butts While D.C. based Pakistani officials deny that there is any persecution of non-Muslims in Pakistan and that, even if there were, the police would be all over it, here's yet another tale, hot off the press, giving him the lie on both counts. More on such stories. "Pakistan: Muslims attack pastor's home, relatives," from Compass Direct News, June 12: After shooting into air, assailants strike mother, sister-in-law with rifle butts. LAHORE, Pakistan, June 12 (Compass Direct News) – In a growing...

SNIPPET: ""Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." -- Qur'an 9:29 "Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war...When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of...

As the movie industry prepares to roll out its summer blockbusters, a sobering film from Steve McEveety explores the gripping story of an Iranian woman who is victimized by her husband. After seeing the movie, Archbishop Charles Chaput gave it his seal of approval and said it should remind people "how vigilant over our own hearts each of us needs to remain if we want to be human." "The Stoning of Soraya M." is the work of Steve McEveety, perhaps best known among Catholics for the movies "The Passion of the Christ" and "Braveheart." He also co-founded Mpower Pictures, which...

...the likelihood that the Cairo speech will produce greater support for socialized health care and an end to Israeli settlements. Those Catholics in America who agree with the bishops and the pope have long supported a universal health care plan and a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. With the President's speech, Muslims in the U.S. have been invited to make an alliance with Catholics.... ...For instance, Obama said not just "the Qur'an" but "the Holy Qur'an," which is more or less akin to saying "the Holy Father" instead of "the pope." He quoted from the hadith about "when Moses,...

Let's pause right there: It's interesting how easily the words "the Muslim world" roll off the tongues of liberal secular progressives who'd choke on any equivalent reference to "the Christian world." When such hyperalert policemen of the perimeter between church and state endorse the former but not the latter, they're implicitly acknowledging that Islam is not merely a faith but a political project, too. There is an "Organization of the Islamic Conference," which is already the largest single voting bloc at the United Nations and is still adding new members. Imagine if someone proposed an "Organization of the Christian Conference"...

(Ali Jarekji/Reuters) Obama told his Muslim audience: “[W]e must say openly to each other the things we hold in our hearts and that too often are said only behind closed doors.” Hmmm … here are three things he didn’t seem to want to say openly in Cairo: He didn’t praise doubt, or promote LGBT, or read the Koran’s next verse. 1. He didn’t praise doubt. Specifically, he didn’t say this (I’ve added changes to his Notre Dame speech in boldface): “But remember too that the ultimate irony of faith in Islam is that it necessarily admits doubt in Mohammed the...

Frank Gaffney has written an excellent article analysis on Obama's Speech in Cairo, Egypt. Is Obama really a Christian? From the article: "Perhaps the most stunning bit of dawa of all was a phrase the President employed that, on its face, denies the divinity of Jesus - something surprising from a self-described committed Christian." "In connection with his discussion of the "situation between Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs," Mr. Obama said, "...When Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in...

Every year the Shia Muslims make pilgrimage to one of their main religious sites in Iraq. And it is quite a sad spectacle to behold indeed. A goulish / gastly site of folks beating themselves, whipping themselves, and cutting themselves till blood flows. Many have inflicted themselves with serious injury as a result. While Islam has not been around since ancient times, [ 7th century], horrible and dispicable practices similar to what was just described were engaged in by heathen cultures. A notable account of this is the confrontation between Elijah, the prophet of the Lord, and the false prophets...

Note: The following text is a quote: Monday, June 1, 2009 Muslim Villagers Beat Evangelists in Southeastern Bangladesh Nearly four months later, Christian worker still suffering nerve damage By Jeremy Reynalds Correspondent for ASSIST News Service FULGAZI, BANGLADESH (ANS) -- Nearly four months after Muslim villagers in a southeastern Bangladesh sub-district violently beat two evangelists for showing the “Jesus Film,” one of them is still receiving treatment for nerve damage to his hip. According to Compass Direct News, Christian Life Bangladesh (CLB) worker Edward Biswas, 32, was admitted to Alabakth Physiotherapy Centre on May 5. Dr. Mohammad Saifuddin Julfikar told...

In a comment on 2 May Asger Aamund states that if Islam and democracy are incompatible, then this must also hold for Christianity. He argues for this notion in purely historical terms and begins by pointing out that Christianity, at its inception, did not lead to democracy in any country. It was only when the Christian message met “the progressive political ideas of the Enlightenment“ that the modern democratic state was founded. Until this meeting, Christianity, on a daily basis, was a law-religion, but was thereafter “split in two whereby the law became part of the secular state and religion...

PLAINSBORO, N.J. (AP) - A group of American Muslims, led by two prominent scholars, is moving closer to fulfilling a vision of founding the first four-year accredited Islamic college in the United States, what some are calling a "Muslim Georgetown." Advisers to the project have scheduled a June vote to decide whether the proposed Zaytuna College can open in the fall of next year, a major step toward developing the faith in America. Imam Zaid Shakir and Sheik Hamza Yusuf of California have spent years planning the school, which will offer a liberal arts education and training in Islamic scholarship....

Brigitte Gabriel sobbed and told her mother she did not want to die at the age of 13, as her mother tied a white ribbon in her long black hair. Still she and her parents prepared to be slaughtered that day. Why? They were Christians. This is not fiction. I heard it with my own ears Tuesday at a “PowerLunch” event at Prestonwood Church in Plano, Tex. Fortunately for Brigitte, Israel invaded Lebanon that very day, protecting her town of Lebanese Christians from a sure attack of radical Islamic extremists. The hour lunch presentation was more than riveting. It was...

In the middle of one square stands a mosque with Arabic writing outside. That used to be a church. ROME (Chiesa) - In Feyenoord, veiled women can be seen everywhere, darting like a flash through the streets of the neighborhood. They avoid any sort of contact, even eye contact, especially with men. Feyenoord is the size of a city, and there are seventy nationalities coexisting there. It is an area that lives on subsidies and residential construction, and it is here that it is most obvious that Holland – with all of its rules against discrimination and all of its...

The idea was simple, but in Pakistan, a country full of talk and short on action, it smacked of rebellion. ==snip== A group of young Pakistani friends, sick of hearing their families complain about the government, decided to spite them by taking matters into their own hands: every Sunday they would grab shovels, go out into their city, and pick up garbage. ==snip== The men in the mosque, on the other hand, were picky, wanting the young people to clean the mosque but not the surrounding area. “They said, ‘We already have Christians doing that for us in the morning,’...

Special Dispatch - No. 2355 May 13, 2009 No. 2355 "First Black Saudi Appointed Imam of Haram Mosque in Mecca Accuses Shi'ites of Apostasy and Discusses Driving Jews and Christians Out of Arabian Peninsula; Claims His Appointment 'More Significant' than Obama's Election" SNIPPET: "Following are excerpts from interviews with Sheikhh Adel Al-Kalbani, imam of the Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca, which aired on BBC Arabic on May 5, 2009 and Al-Arabiya TV on February 27, 2009. BBC Arabic, May 5, 3009: To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2102.htm "

"Egypt's State Council issues report stating Christians are infidels, and apostates from Islam should die" SNIPPET: "CAIRO, Egypt, May 12 (Compass Direct News) – In the dilapidated office here of three lawyers representing one of Egypt’s “most wanted” Christian converts, the mood was hopeful in spite of a barrage of death threats against them and their client." SNIPPET: " Expressing outrage at El-Gohary’s “audacity” to request a change in the religious designation on his ID, the report claims the case is a threat to societal order and violates sharia (Islamic law). “This [report] is bombarding freedom of religion in Egypt,”...

Jerusalem – Ma’an/Agencies – Benedict XVI became the first pope in history to enter the iconic Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, amid heavy security on Tuesday morning. Before the pope arrived Palestinian politicians and clerics held a meeting with cardinals who accompanied Benedict on his tour of the Holy Land in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which includes the Dome of the Rock. The pope was then welcomed at the entrance of the mosque by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein, according to AFP. In his address to the Mufti, Benedict spoke about the unity of...

Aaqil Ahmed, the innovative and interesting programmer responsible for Channel 4's recent Christianity: A History series, has been appointed the first Muslim head of religion at the BBC, as we report today. The Church of England could have been a little warmer in its welcome. The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev Nigel McCulloch, said: 'The Church of England takes a close interest in the way Christianity, and other faiths, are portrayed by the BBC across all its programming. We are also interested in its specifically religious output, in light of this country's Judeo-Christian heritage. It is the quality and...

Jerusalem, Israel, May 11, 2009 / 01:50 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI met with representatives of inter-religious dialogue groups in Jerusalem on Monday evening, telling them that religious differences are a "wonderful opportunity" for people of different faiths to live together in mutual encouragement in the ways of God. He added that religious belief presupposes truth, which is not a threat to tolerance but rather a common criterion offered to all. The Pontiff spoke at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center before a diverse audience of monotheistic believers, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Druze, and Samaritan representatives.After a greeting delivered by...

Chief Islamic Judge of the Palestinian Authority, Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Tamimi, launched a poisonous verbal attack at Israel at a Monday night gathering attended by Pope Benedict XVI. In a meeting with organizations involved in inter-religious dialogue at the Notre Dame Jerusalem Center, Tamimi called upon Muslims and Christians to unite against what he said were the murderous Israelis. Taking the podium after the pope without being on the original list of speakers scheduled for the evening, Tamimi accused Israel of murdering women and children in Gaza and making Palestinians refugees, and declared Jerusalem the eternal Palestinian capital. Following the...

(RTTNews) - In his first public appearance in Israel, Pope Benedict XVI called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian homeland. In brief remarks at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv Monday, he urged Israelis and Palestinians to "explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties, so that both peoples may live in peace in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally- recognized borders." The Pontiff said he would pray for the six million victims of the Nazi Holocaust and promised to fight anti-Semitism around the world. Benedict, who has...

Jordanian clerics expressed disappointment that Pope Benedict XVI in an address to Muslim leaders on Saturday failed to offer a new apology for remarks seen as targeting Islam. "We wanted him to clearly apologise," Sheikh Yusef Abu Hussein, mufti of the southern city of Karak, told AFP after the pope's address in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque. "What the pope said (in 2006) about the Prophet Mohammed is untrue. Islam did not spread through the power of sword. It's a religion of tolerance and faith," Hussein said. The pope had in 2006 quoted a medieval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings...

AMMAN, Jordan, MAY 8, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is in the Holy Land as a self-defined "pilgrim of peace," but he hopes to bring the region more than an absence of conflict, says a Vatican aide following the weeklong pilgrimage.Father Caesar Atuire, the delegate administrator of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, spoke with ZENIT about the Pope's trip, which began today in Jordan.The Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi is the Vatican institution whose mission is to evangelize through pastoral tourism and the ministry of pilgrimage.This trip is important, Father Atuire said, "because he is arriving in a moment in which this land is trying...

Near noon on Saturday, 9 May 2009, the Holy Father met with Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammed Bin Talal , Muslim Leaders, and other dignitaries, at Amman's largest house of worship, the Mosque of al-Hussein bin Talal. The Pope responded to the charge, common today, that religion is a cause of division rather than of unity and peace. Your Royal Highness, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a source of great joy for me to meet with you this morning in this magnificent setting. I wish to thank Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammed Bin Talal for his kind words of...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup Poll Daily tracking during President Obama's first 100 days in office finds broad support for him among Americans affiliated with most major U.S. religions. U.S. Muslims and Jews give Obama his highest job approval ratings, at 85% and 79%, respectively. He also receives solid majority support from Roman Catholics (67%) and Protestants (58%), and more approval than disapproval from Mormons. Obama also enjoys broad support -- 73% approval -- from the sizable group of Americans with no religious affiliation, including those calling themselves atheists or agnostics. These findings are based on large sample sizes for each...

(CNSNews.com) – Following complaints from a Muslim group, an online game company removed a video game in which “Jesus,” “Mohammed,” “Buddha” and other religious figures engage in combat. But on Wednesday -- one day after yanking the game – the makers uploaded a new, tongue-in-cheek version. This time, rather than have the religious figures fight each other, gamers are invited to “give love and respect” to them. This is achieved by mouse-clicking on the figures in a bid to prevent them from disappearing. They vanish anyway, and the screen then displays a message, over the backdrop of a burning village,...

CAIRO — An influential Islamic group branded an online video game depicting religious figures fighting each other as offensive to Muslims and Christians and successfully demanded Tuesday that it be taken offline. In the game "Faith Fighter," caricatures of Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad, Buddha, God and the Hindu god Ganesh fight each other against a backdrop of burning buildings. God attacks with bolts of lighting and pillars of fire while the turbaned Muhammad can summon a burning black meteorite. The Saudi-based Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents most Muslim nations, said it should be removed from the Internet. "The...

(IsraelNN.com) Reports in the Catholic media, buttressed by information from sources in Israel who are close to a ten-year-long negotiation between Israel and the Vatican, imply that an agreement is close on the handover of a holy room on Mount Zion to the Catholic Church. However, a Foreign Ministry official denies categorically that Israel plans to hand over any properties. At issue are properties in Jerusalem, Caesarea, and around Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). The most prominent site in question is the room said to mark the burial site of Kings Solomon and Hezekiah, known by Catholics as the Last...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — A Malay-language Bible that does not use the word "Allah" has caused controversy among Malaysian Catholics, as the church here fights a court case to guarantee its right to use the word. The Catholic Herald newspaper, in its Sunday edition, criticised the release this week at an international bookfair of the new Bible, which uses the Hebrew word "Elohim" instead of "Allah" for God. "The Catholic bible that the church uses has the word 'Allah' for God whereas in comparison, this one does not," the paper's editor Father Lawrence Andrew told AFP. "The new Malay bible...

Saturday, April 25, 2009 Following Entry Posted 4/25/2009 10:16:00 AM Taliban Burn Holy Quran SNIPPET: "From Ali Sukhanver in Pakistan: Recently it was reported by some of the private TV channels, including Samaa and the Geo News that at Ring Road in Hazarkhawni, Peshawar on 12th April, 2009, at least 12 trailers loaded with supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan were set on fire by Taliban, resulting in the killing of a driver and injuring two cleaners. In this incident one of the drivers told the Taliban that there was a Holy Quran in one of the trailers but the...

Note: The following text is a quote: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 Iran: Imprisoned Christian women in peril - a call to pray for Iran By Elizabeth Kendal Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 001 Special to ASSIST News Service AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- Maryam Rostampour (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad (30) share an apartment and are active members of Iran's Christian community. On 5 March one of the women attended a summons at the Ministry of Intelligence. Officers then took her back to her apartment, arrested both women and confiscated their computers, books, Bibles and other personal items. According to International Christian...

Israel is not an apartheid state but Islam, as it is practiced in many countries today, is the world’s largest practitioner of gender and religious apartheid. I have been asked to speak about Islamic gender apartheid. To some extent, the documentation of “real” apartheid, which characterizes Islam, should serve as a necessary corrective to the false accusation against Israel as an apartheid nation state. But let me also note that Muslim countries have historically persecuted their non-Muslim citizens but would have us believe that this is not “racism.” Today, Christians, Ba’hai, Hindus, Zoroastrians all live at their peril in Muslim...

A non-denominational Mississauga church known for its liberal religious practices has taken the unusual step of hiring an outspoken Muslim woman to run its youth programs. The Unitarian Congregation announced yesterday it has appointed Farzana Hassan as director of spiritual exploration. Hassan is a well-known author and poet and an outspoken activist who has butted heads with orthodox imams on issues such as hijab, polygamy and terrorism. The Mississauga resident is also a past president of the Muslim Canadian Congress. Hassan will be responsible for introducing and running children and youth programs for the church. This is not the first...

An exlusive documentary archive of destroyed and vandalized churches and monasteries in Kosovo.

22 hours ago WASHINGTON (AFP) — American recruits of Somali extremists addressed a press conference in the conflict-wracked country this week to rally other youths to join their jihad (holy war), a US monitoring group said Friday. On April 5, "two American members of the Mujahideen Youth Movement (MYM) identified as Abu-Muslim and Abu Yaxye" spoke at the news conference and acknowledged that "many" Somali-Americans are "all over Somalia to join the jihad," said the SITE Intelligence Group. The pair said they are "Somali youth" from the United States and are stationed near the southern port of Kismayo. "Some of...

President Barack Obama has put the issue of Islam front and center on the international stage. His visit to Turkey, and his very public statements to the Muslim world, have raised a host of questions at home and abroad. In his speech to the Turkish parliament on Monday, President Obama declared: "The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam." He went on to say that "our partnership with the Muslim world is critical not just in rolling back the violent ideologies that people of all faiths reject, but also to strengthen opportunity for all its...

Obama’s Rabbi By ZEV CHAFETS April 2, 2009 Rabbi Capers Funnye celebrated Martin Luther King Day this year in New York City at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a mainstream Reform congregation, in the company of about 700 fellow Jews — many of them black. The organizers of the event had reached out to four of New York’s Black Jewish synagogues in the hope of promoting Jewish diversity, and they weren’t disappointed. African-American Jews, largely from Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, many of whom had never been in a predominantly white synagogue, made up about a quarter of the audience....

Worshippers are worried about the validity of their prayers after some 200 mosques were found to point in the wrong direction, the BBC reported Monday. The issue came to light after people looking down from high-rises in Mecca noticed that niches in many older mosques were not pointing towards the Kaaba — an ancient building in Mecca's Gran Mosque. Islamic officials reportedly dismissed the concerns, according to the BBC. "There are no major errors, but corrections have been made for some old mosques, thanks to modern techniques," Tawfik al-Sudairy, Islamic affairs ministry deputy secretary told the newspaper al-Hayat.

Those who fulfil Allah’s pact, and break not the covenant; And those who join what Allah has commanded to be joined, and fear their Lord, and dread the evil reckoning; Here is the bulletin insert [46kb PDF] on the Second Sunday After Epiphany, January 20, 2008, for St. Paul's Marquette, at which Kevin Thew Forrester presided, and substituted a passage from the Quran (13:20-23) for the New Testament reading. The Quran reading is at the top of page 3. Reader: A reading from the Quran In the name of God most merciful most compassionate. Is he, then, who knows that...

Last week, the UN Human Rights Council approved a resolution that calls on nation states to limit criticism of religions in general and Islam in particular. Proposed by Pakistan on behalf of other Islamic countries, the resolution passed with the votes of 23 countries on the 47-member council. According to Freedom House, many of the sponsors and supporters of the measure have some of the poorest records of respecting freedom of speech and religion in the world. Critics of the resolution, mostly from Western countries or liberal activists in Muslim countries, say that the resolution is dangerous because it calls...

Thank you UK Muslims: Rowan Williams 28/03/2009 01:02:00 PM GMT src="http://islamicmediacity.com/cms_files/news_images/1238234391.jpg";> (nola.com) I think Islam has made a very significant contribution to getting a debate about religion into public life, Williams said. CAIRO — In an unprecedented move by a Western Christian leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has praised British Muslims for bringing back religion and ethics into public life. "I think Islam has made a very significant contribution to getting a debate about religion into public life," Williams, the leader of the Anglican Church, told the Muslim News. "And I think it's very right that we should have...

March 28, 2009 ISTANBUL, March 27 (Compass Direct News) – Just over a month since Pakistan’s fertile Swat Valley turned into a Taliban stronghold where sharia (Islamic law) rules, the fate of the remaining Christians in the area is uncertain.

Hardline Saudi clerics have called on the government to ban women from appearing on television and to prohibit their images in print media, which they called a sign of growing "deviant thought." In a letter to new Information Minister Abdul Aziz al-Khoja that appeared on websites this week, the 35 Islamic clerics also condemned the increase of music and dancing on television, as well as images of women in popular newspapers and magazines that they labelled "obscene." "Our faith in you is great to carry out media reform, for we have seen how perversity is rooted in the ministry of...

Over the years we've linked to Jihad Unspun several times to illustrate jihadist perspectives. The site's founder, Beverly Giesbrecht, is a Canadian convert to Islam who now goes by the name Khadija Abdul Qahaar -- but her open allegiance to the global jihad didn't stop jihadists in Pakistan from kidnapping her. I've also heard many times that Jihad Unspun was a CIA front, but don't have any confirmation of this, and that doesn't seem to be why the Taliban kidnapped her. Now she calls upon her country -- whose traditions, laws, and society she has despised and rejected -- to...

“President Barack Obama told Iran’s people and leaders that the United States wants to engage with their country and end decades of strained relationship, but not unless their officials stop making threats,” reports the Associated Press. “Obama on Friday released a video message with Farsi subtitles that urged the two countries to resolve their long-standing differences. His video was timed to the festival of Nowruz (no-ROOZ), which means ‘new day.’ It marks the arrival of spring and is a major holiday in Iran.” Excerpts: “So in this season of new beginnings I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders....