Miscellaneous stories with no particular common theme whatsoever

 
• Carl: Bolton: It's up to Israel to stop Iran:

...It's close to zero percent chance that the Bush administration will authorize military action against Iran before leaving office. At the same time in Tehran they took careful notice of how Israel got into Syria and to prepare for such an action against Iran. Without American policy backing anti-Iraq action Israel should be willing to see themselves as a possible last resort...

• NPR: Muslim Activist Critical of 'Multicultural Mistake':

Seyran Ates is a prominent women's rights lawyer in Berlin. A German of Turkish origin, she has been forced to abandon her legal practice because of death threats from Islamic radicals... Ates is a vehement critic of what she calls an excessively benign Western attitude toward the growing influence of political Islam in Europe.

• Associated Press: Afghan court sentenced student to death for distributing Internet paper that "violated the tenets of Islam":

The three-judge panel sentenced Sayad Parwez Kambaksh to death for distributing a paper that humiliated Islam... Some have accused Kambaksh of writing the paper in question, but Brahimi said that his brother printed it off the Internet... "He told them he didn't write this article," said Brahimi. "It was written by an Iranian."

• AsiaNews: Christian children’s books seized for showing pictures of Muhammad:

...Malaysian authorities have confiscated some Christian children’s books from bookstores because they contained images of Muhammad. The Malysiakini news agency reported that the order came from the Internal Security Ministry headed by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. The reason: illustrations of the prophet offend the religious feelings of the Muslim majority...

• Associated Press: Malaysia Islamic State to Enforce Separate Lines for Women, Men at Supermarkets:

Malaysia's only state run by the Islamic opposition party will get stricter about enforcing separate lines for men and women at supermarkets, an official said Tuesday... Authorities in the northern state of Kelantan... will fine supermarkets and shops if they let men and women use the same lines at checkout counters...