Quran burning legacy would have lasted generations

(CNN) -- The 'Burn the Quran Day' planned -- and now apparently cancelled -- by a small U.S. church sparked outrage worldwide.

Such an event would not only have hurt the feelings of 1.5 billion Muslims but also of billions of peace-loving people belonging to different religions and cultures of the world.

Such an act is deeply offensive and would have increased divisions and hatred. It could only have been helpful for the cause of extremists, to provide them grounds to exploit the situation to validate their philosophy of hatred. It would have enabled them to recruit vulnerable youth and fuel the growing wave of home-grown radicalization in the U.S. and abroad.

If this event had gone ahead it would not be less than 9/11 in the sense of far-reaching consequences and after-effects. It risked religious clashes and riots. It would have impacted badly upon peacemaking efforts worldwide, the culture of dialogue, and the processes of cohesion and integration between different religions and communities.

Any step which creates a rift between societies, becomes a cause of division between societies, and is damaging for societal cohesion, no matter where it is from and who is committing it, should not be allowed.

A handful of individuals, it does not matter whether they are related to mosque or church, cannot be given the right to flippantly play about with peaceful co-existence, and their so-called sentiments cannot be preferred over global peace.

After the efforts of generations, humanity has come to a point where peaceful coexistence has become a universally agreed principal, and we should not allow any individuals, no matter what their religion is, to push the world back to the path of religious crusading.

CNN

Iran to release American hiker Sarah Shourd, official says

(CNN) -- Sarah Shourd, one of three American hikers held in Iran for more than a year, will be released Saturday, Iranian officials said Thursday.

An official at Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said earlier Thursday that one of the three would be freed this weekend, after the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, without specifying which one. But Bak Sahraei, a representative for the Iranian mission to the United Nations, told CNN that Shourd was designated for release "very soon".

The Culture Ministry official said one of Iran's vice presidents will be present when the hiker is released at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Shourd, along with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were detained July 31, 2009, after they allegedly strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region. Tehran has said the three hikers were spies, and Iran's intelligence minister has hinted the country may consider releasing them in exchange for the release of Iranian prisoners, according to state news outlets.

Masoud Shafii, the Iranian lawyer who represents the hikers, said he has put in a formal request for the trio's release within the past two weeks. Shafii said he told prosecutors that a year had passed since their arrests and the government had not shown any just cause for their imprisonment, and that Shourd has a medical condition that requires proper care.

After the news first broke Thursday, the mothers of all three said they had seen the reports and were "urgently seeking further information".

CNN

Suspect had 'GET MONEY' shaved in hair

SEATTLE, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Police in Seattle said they arrested a robbery suspect who was easily identified by the words "GET MONEY" shaved into the side of his head.

Investigators said Larry Shawn Taylor, 18, robbed two women of $310 at gunpoint Aug. 23 while they were stopped at a traffic light, Seattlepi.com reported.

The women described the robber to police as a black man with deformed or folded-down ears, the words "GET MONEY" shaved into one side of his head and tattoos with the word "GET" on one hand and "MONEY" on the other.

Police said Taylor was recognized by an officer who pulled over a Toyota Camry for reckless driving. The officer had previously stopped Taylor several times and said another officer had written him a ticket.

UPI

Matt Barnes disputes arrest on Twitter

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Laker Matt Barnes defended himself on Twitter Thursday, disputing the accuracy of reports of his arrest on felony domestic violence charges.

"Don't let your ears witness, what your eyes didn't see!!!" Barnes said in all-capital letters on the social networking and microblogging service.

He offered no further comment or explanation.

Sacramento sheriff's deputies said they arrested Barnes, 30, after responding to an incomplete emergency call and background scuffling sounds from the home Barnes shares with his fiancee, Gloria Govan, who is also the mother of the couple's twin boys.

Barnes and Govan both had visible injuries when police arrived, KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, reported.

Deputies arrested Barnes after determining he was the primary aggressor, the TV station said.

UPI

Detroit Zoo raising baby wallaby by hand

DETROIT, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A baby wallaby rejected by her mother has grown from 7 ounces to 2 pounds under the care of staffers at the Detroit Zoo, officials say.

The young wallaby or joey, named Coral, is being handfed, The Detroit News reported. She spends most of her time in a fleece-lined sling designed to simulate the pouch marsupial mammals use for their young.

Coral's mother was among more than 27,000 exotic animals seized from a Texas dealer in 2009. About 1,000 of the animals were brought to Detroit.

Coral was found on the ground in July after her mother rejected her.

"She was the size of a cherry. She fit in the palm of your hand," said Bob Lessnau, the curator of mammals.

Coral gets round-the-clock care. Staff members take turns bringing her home at night.

Next year, she is expected to join the zoo's Australian Outback exhibit.

UPI

Web site can measure tweets' 'importance'

EVANSTON, Ill., Sept. 9 (UPI) -- New technology can tell who the most influential tweeters are on important issues, U.S. researchers say.

A Web site developed at Northwestern University and online since May and has been tracking the top trending topics from Twitter in real time since then, a university release said Thursday.

The Web site, pulseofthetweeters.com, uses a specialized algorithm to rank the most influential people tweeting on trending topics, says Ph.D. candidate Ramanathan Narayanan, whose thesis project sparked the Web site.

"The question we're really asking is: Whose opinions are most interesting and influential on any given topic?" Narayanan said.

"There are about 50 million tweets produced every day, but most of us only read 10 or 20 tweets in one sitting," Narayanan said. "So, which tweets should you read? Which tweets are being read by media experts on any given subject, such as politics, law, fashion, food?"

While celebrities gain huge followings in the Twitterverse, the top influencers on the hot topics of the day are likely to be people with much lower profiles.

UPI

Alien oceans could be detected by telescopes

The next generation of telescopes could reveal the presence of oceans on planets outside our Solar System.

Detecting water on Earth-like planets offers the tantalising prospect they could sustain life.

Scientists hope the relection of light, or "glint", from mirror-like ocean surfaces could be picked up by a US space telescope set for launch in 2014.

The research by US astronomers has been published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Tyler Robinson at the University of Washington in Seattle is hoping this new technique could be used in the quest to find the Holy Grail for exoplanet astronomers - a possible sister to planet Earth.

"We're focussing on a class of extra-solar planets yet to be detected, so things comparable in size and composition to the Earth and similar distances from their central star as the Earth is from the Sun," he told BBC News.

The goal is to find something Earth-like in almost every sense of the world so we can even prove it has liquid oceans on its surface".

This kind of ocean could be the signature of a planet where life had developed in the same way as it did on our own planet.

Tyler Robinson hopes "glint" - the effect seen when light is reflected from an ocean's surface - may reveal the presence of Earth-like planets beyond our cosmic neighbourhood.

BBC News

Four senior al-Qaeda members escape Baghdad jail

Four prisoners with ties to al-Qaeda have escaped from the US-controlled section of Baghdad's Karkh prison.

The inmates were found to be missing during a security sweep on Wednesday night, after two other detainees were caught attempting to flee.

A spokesman for the US military said the escape was "regrettable".

The jail, formerly known as Camp Cropper, was turned over to Iraqi authorities in July, but US forces retain custody of about 200 inmates.

They are some of the most dangerous prisoners, including those with ties to terrorist groups or Saddam Hussein's former regime.

Second escape

The escaped men are "senior members of al-Qaeda", according to Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi.

"We have no idea if they fled outside Baghdad. We are searching for them," Mr Moussawi said, adding that the four were considered dangerous.

"We are working to apprehend these individuals," said Major General Jerry Cannon, the US deputy commanding General for Detainee Operations.

Camp Cropper, which houses around 1,500 detainees, was the last US prison in Iraq. Its handover ended a difficult period in which thousands of people were held without charges and some were abused by American jailers.

BBC News

Florida pastor calls off burning of Qurans

(CNN) -- The Florida pastor who had planned to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday has called off the controversial event.

The Rev. Terry Jones of the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center made the announcement Thursday.

Earlier Thursday, President Barack Obama called the plan by Jones to burn the Qurans a "recruitment bonanza for al Qaeda".

"You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan or Afghanistan" as a result of the burning, Obama said on ABC's "Good Morning America". "This could increase the recruitment of individuals who'd be willing to blow themselves up in American cities, or European cities".

Jones previously had said he would proceed with the plan Saturday -- the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- despite increased pressure to abandon the proposal and warnings that going ahead could endanger U.S. troops and Americans worldwide.

Interpol on Thursday issued a global alert to its 188 member countries, warning of a "strong likelihood" of violent attacks if the Quran burning proceeded.

The FBI visited Jones at the Dove Center on Thursday, according to Jeffrey Westcott, special agent in charge of the Jacksonville, Florida, bureau. The FBI also visited him a few weeks ago, he said, but would not say what was discussed.

Discussions were taking place within the Obama administration about the possibility of intervening, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Thursday. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the possibility of calling Jones is under consideration, and that Defense Secretary Robert Gates was participating in the discussions.

Earlier this week, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, warned that the plan "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.

CNN

Florida pastor cancels plan to burn Korans on Sept. 11

From Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — 

The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy says he is canceling plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11.

Pastor Terry Jones said Thursday that he decided to cancel his protest because the leader of a planned Islamic Center near ground zero has agreed to move its controversial location. The agreement couldn't be immediately confirmed.

Jones' plans to burn Islam's holiest text Saturday sparked an international outcry.

President Barack Obama, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan and several Christian leaders had urged Jones to reconsider his plans. They said his actions would endanger U.S. soldiers and provide a strong recruitment tool for Islamic extremists. Jones' protest also drew criticism from religious and political leaders from across the Muslim world.

Los Angeles Times

Tom Brady -- Unruffled at Crash Scene

Looking cool, calm and uninjured -- Tom Brady was photographed next to his bashed up Audi at the scene of his car accident in Boston this morning.

As we previously reported, a passenger in the other vehicle had to be removed with the jaws of life. 

Brady was reportedly shaken by the accident -- but was not transported to the hospital. 

In video from the crash scene, the fingers on Tom's left hand are taped up -- the result of an injury he sustained last month during practice. Warning: the video is graphic.

TMZ

Famous Faces -- Too Close For Comfort!

Check out some of your favorite celebrity faces in hi-definition -- but please zoom with caution... there are some things you can't un-see!

TMZ

Donald Trump Offers Cash DEAL for NYC Mosque

Donald Trump is single-handedly trying to put an end to the controversial NYC mosque slated to be built near Ground Zero ... and he's doing it by flexing his wallet. 

Trump has offered to pay the owners of the property the amount they purchased the property for ... plus an extra 25%. 

As part of the deal, Trump is asking that the mosque be built at least 5 blocks from the WTC site.

Trump says he doesn't even think his offer is a good business deal, but he's doing it, "Because it will end a very serious, inflammatory, and highly divisive situation that is destined, in my opinion, to only get worse".

Of course, Donald's offer is all cash. NO word yet on how the offer is being received by the property owner.

TMZ

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Suspect in Domestic Violence

Multiple cop cars from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department showed up at Mayweather's home early this morning.  We're told cops received a call at 5:03 AM from Floyd's baby mama, Josie Harris, who claimed the boxer attacked her.  

Sources tell TMZ Harris went to Southern Hills Hospital in Las Vegas at some point after the incident and has now left.

Law enforcement sources say police were unable to find Floyd and are now looking to interview him.  

Cops want to speak to Floyd before determining if they will arrest him.

TMZ

Houston defends dismissal of firefighters

HOUSTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Houston city officials defended the dismissal of three firefighters over a racial slur that turned up in the electronic report of a routine ambulance call.

Acting Fire Chief Rick Flanagan fired the trio after the offending term was found during an audit of this year's emergency medical service responses.

The firefighters union called the terminations unwarranted and contended the audit could not determine who had actually entered the slur on an ambulance computer terminal, the Houston Chronicle said Thursday.

City Attorney Dave Feldman told the newspaper the investigation was thorough and "certainly showed that each of these individuals was culpable".

UPI

Ohio county auditor charged with bribery

CLEVELAND, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- An Ohio county auditor resigned Thursday as prosecutors filed a 21-count information in U.S. District Court in Cleveland charging him with bribery.

Sources told The Cleveland Plain Dealer that Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo has negotiated a plea agreement that also covers his son, Vince. Russo has reportedly agreed to cooperate with federal investigators to get a shorter sentence.

The investigation into Russo and other county officials has been public since July 2008 when FBI agents raided his home and office and those of County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora. Two years earlier, a building inspector, Bobby Cuevas, agreed to cooperate with the FBI after taking a $4,300 payoff from an undercover agent.

The county has reformed many of its practices, and many contractors and officials have been providing information to investigators, some of them pleading guilty to federal charges.

UPI

Lesbians are good parents too, court hears

MIAMI, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A healthy, normal parental environment can be gay as well as straight, argued a lawyer for a Florida lesbian trying to regain custody of a baby boy she adopted.

"Wholesome environments are not a synonym for straight," Alan Mishael told a three-judge appellate panel.

Mishael represents Vanessa Alenier, who took custody of the baby days after he was born Jan. 9, 2009. She fostered the child before requesting an adoption, which a lower court approved in January.

But the state Department of Children & Families then seized the boy from the mother, who they declared unfit because she is lesbian.

A 1997 Florida law lets gay men and lesbians foster abused and neglected children but forbids them from adopting.

Three lower-court Florida judges recently declared the law unconstitutional and approved adoptions by gay families.

UPI

Somali TFG hangs on as jihadists squeeze

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The suicide bombing at Mogadishu's airport Thursday by Islamist fighters linked to al-Qaida underlined how a 2-week-old insurgent offensive is squeezing the shaky Western-backed government into an ever-shrinking pocket in the capital.

The beach-side airport is deep in territory held by the increasingly fragile Transitional Federal Government, which more and more seems to be hanging on only by its fingertips.

The infiltration by the forces of al-Shebaab, the main Islamist militia, was a powerful omen that the TFG's days may be numbered, unless African states beef up the African Union peacekeeping force, already strengthened from around 4,000 men to 7,000, deployed in Mogadishu.

That force, known as Amisom, is the only thing standing between the TFG and complete disaster. It has mounted counterattacks, largely using artillery and mortars, but al-Shebaab keeps coming.

The Somalia Islamists, beefed up in recent months by a significant number of Arab and Pakistani veterans of al-Qaida's war in the east, have widened the Somali conflict by bombings in neighboring Uganda, whose troops are supporting the TFG in Mogadishu.

UPI

Religious, Political Leaders Decry Planned Quran Burning

Religious and political leaders around the world are decrying plans by a local American pastor to burn the Quran. They fear the action could set off a worldwide extremist backlash.

Muslims believe the Quran is the living word of God. Burning it would represent the highest level of desecration to them.

The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation and a friend of the United States, asked President Barack Obama Thursday to intervene against radical pastor Terry Jones' planned Saturday burning.

Pakistan warned that the planned ceremony would cause "irreparable" damage to world peace, while India, which has the world's third largest Muslim population, called on the U.S. to take "strong action" against the event.

France and Britain also have spoken out against the burning. And Bahrain, home of the U.S. Fifth Fleet called the plan "shameful". The United Nations and the Vatican have joined the growing chorus of global criticism.

The United Arab Emirates' foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nayhan, told VOA the international condemnation of Jones' plan shows Muslims how much their religion is respected.

VOA News

Qur'an burning would increase risk of terror attacks – Interpol

Interpol, the international police agency, has warned of an increased risk of terror attacks if the planned burning of the Qur'an by extremist US pastor Terry Jones takes place on Saturday.

"If the burning goes ahead as planned there is a strong likelihood that violent attacks on innocent people would follow," Interpol, acting partly on a request from Pakistan, said in a statement.

The warning came as Jones, a pentecostal preacher from Gainseville, Florida, hinted he might be prepared to call off the burning – planned to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks – if he was contacted directly by Barack Obama, the state department or the Pentagon.

"That would cause us to definitely think it over," Jones told USA Today. "That's what we're doing now. I don't think a call from them is something we would ignore." But he said that as things stood he was "not convinced that backing down is the right thing".

The White House confirmed it was discussing whether to contact Jones – whose church, The Dove World Outreach Centre, has a congregation of about 50 – to ask him to call off his plans. Pentagon spokesman Geoffrey Morrell said: "That possibility is currently under discussion within the administration. I don't believe they've come to any resolution yet".

Barack Obama earlier joined mounting worldwide condemnation of the plan, saying the event would be a "recruitment bonanza for al-Qaida".

The US president told ABC News: "If he's listening, I hope he understands that what he's proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans," Obama said.

Obama said the event was a stunt that would boost support for terrorism. "This could increase the recruitment of individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities," Obama said.

The president repeated a warning by General David Petraeus, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, that the burning would endanger US troops.

"And as a very practical matter I just want him [Jones] to understand that this stunt could greatly endanger our young men and women who are in uniform," Obama said.

David Cameron's spokesman said earlier that the prime minister strongly opposed any attempt to offend members of a religious group.

Religious leaders of all faiths have warned against the event, with statements of protest coming from both the Vatican and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

This week protests took place in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul where effigies of Jones were burned alongside the American flag.

The Guardian