Free Republic

The 2012 London Olympics have been plunged into controversy by the discovery that the Games will clash with Ramadan, the most holy month in the Islamic calendar. The clash will put Muslim athletes at a disadvantage as they will be expected to fast from sunrise to sunset for the entire duration of the Games. In 2012, Ramadan will take place from July 21 to August 20, while the Olympics run from July 27 to August 12. An anticipated 3,000 Muslim competitors are expected to be affected. About a quarter of the 11,099 athletes who took part in the 2004 Athens...

Libyans protesting the Prophet Muhammad cartoons set fire to the Italian consulate in Benghazi on Friday in a riot that killed at least 10 people, an Italian diplomat said. Libyan security officials said 11 people were killed or wounded during the six-hour riot when police firing bullets and tear gas tried to contain more than 1,000 demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles. The casualties included police officers, but the officials declined to say how many people had died. Italian diplomat Domenico Bellantone said between 10 and 11 people had died, and all were Libyan _ either police or protesters. He spoke...

By Elizabeth Pineau and Sophie Louet PARIS (Reuters) - President Jacques Chirac on Sunday vowed to restore order in France after riots in Paris spread across the country and began to unnerve his European neighbours. "The Republic is quite determined, by definition, to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear," Chirac said after a special domestic security council met to respond to the latest violence in which 1,300 vehicles went up in flames. "The law must have the last word," Chirac said in his first public comments since the riots started in the poor suburbs, noting...