MISSING AMERICAN-SYRIA-FOLEY
Captured American journalist’s employer seeks prayers
BOSTON (AP) β The head of a Boston media firm has asked for prayers for the family of American journalist James Foley. A video released by the extremist group Islamic State purportedly shows Foley being beheaded.
The request for prayers came from Foley’s employer, GlobalPost.
Foley, who switched to journalism from teaching, went missing two years ago while freelancing in northern Syria.
His parents, John and Diane Foley, became advocates for him. They held regular prayer vigils and worked with diplomats to get information about him.
Islamic State group is so ruthless in its attacks against all people they consider heretics or infidels that it has been disowned by al-Qaida’s leaders. It seeks to impose its harsh interpretation of Islamic law in the lands it is trying to control. It has been denounced by numerous Muslim leaders, including Saudi Arabia’s chief cleric.
SAUDI CLERIC-ISLAMIC STATE
Top Saudi cleric: Islamic State is Islam’s enemy
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) β Saudi Arabia’s top cleric says that extremism — and the ideologies of groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaida — is Islam’s No. 1 enemy and that Muslims have been their first victims.
Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik also said in his public statement that terrorism has no place in Islam, and that the danger of extremists lies in their use of Islamic slogans to justify their actions that divide people.
King Abdullah has been pressing clerics to publicly condemn Islamic extremist groups since the government made it illegal for citizens to fight in conflicts abroad. Clerics who do not condemn terrorism in traditional Friday sermons could face penalties, such as having their licenses to preach revoked.
The Islamic State group’s advances in Iraq and Syria have heightened security concerns in neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia. The group has declared an Islamic state in the territory it controls, imposing its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
University of Southern California professor Philip Seib (seeb) says the Saudis realize that Islamic State could use social media to make inroads with some Saudis.
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282-a-09-(Philip Seib, professor, vice dean, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, in AP interview)-“the Islamic State”-USC professor Philip Seib says it’s unclear just how far the Saudis opposition will extend. (19 Aug 2014)
< 283-a-11-(Philip Seib, professor, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, in AP interview)-“Saudi heart land”-USC professor Philip Seibe says Islamic State could pose a threat to the Saudis. (19 Aug 2014) < 281-a-16-(Philip Seib (seeb), professor, vice dean, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, in AP interview)-“the Saudis themselves”-USC professor Philip Seib says Saudi Arabia’s leaders understand the potential threat of the extremist group Islamic State. (19 Aug 2014) < 284-a-18-(Philip Seib, professor, University of Southern California, in AP interview)-“the Islamic State”-USC professor Philip Seib says the group Islamic State is capable of using social media to make inroads in Saudi Arabia. (19 Aug 2014) < UKRAINE-BATTLE BLESSINGS Priests pray for Ukrainian troops headed into battle KIEV, Ukraine (AP) β Members of a Ukrainian volunteer battalion headed to fight in eastern Ukraine against pro-Russia separatists have been given a blessing by Orthodox priests. It happened during a ceremony on Tuesday in Kiev. The event took place at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Some fighters were dressed in military uniforms and others attended the ceremony although they were injured. AGENTINA-POPE’S RELATIVES CRASH Relatives of Pope Francis fatally injured in car crash BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) β Authorities in Argentina say three relatives of Pope Francis have been killed and a fourth critically injured in a highway car crash. The small car carrying a nephew of the Pope and his family slammed into the back of a truck, killing the wife and children, one 2 years old and the other 8 months old. Photos showed the passenger side of the car smashed and crumpled beneath the cargo truck. The accident occurred between the cities of Rosario and Cordoba, apparently as the family was returning to Buenos Aires following a holiday weekend. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the Pope was informed about the accident and is “deeply pained”. CHINA-SECT ARRESTS China arrests 1,000 members of Christian ‘cult’ BEIJING (AP) β According to state media, about 1,000 suspected members of a Christian sect have been arrested in a crackdown against a group that China considers a “cult.” The group is called “Almighty God” and is said to believe that those who resisted their campaign to join them are “demons.” The scale of the crackdown is similar to the one against the ‘Falun Gong’ spiritual group that became very popular in China more than a decade ago, before it was banned. Five members of the cult have been charged with killing of a woman at a McDonald’s outlet in eastern Shandong Province in May. She is said to have refused to give them her phone number as they tried to recruit new members. PLANNED PARENTHOOD-ABORTION CLINIC Indiana wants ban on abortion pill law lifted INDIANAPOLIS (AP) β State attorneys asking a federal judge to lift an order blocking an Indiana abortion pill law that critics claim targets a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lafayette say women could seek the procedure elsewhere. The Indiana attorney general’s office filed a brief this week supporting its request for summary judgment in the case. Both sides asked Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson to rule in their favor after she issued a preliminary injunction blocking the 2013 law in November. The law mandates that clinics performing drug-induced abortions meet the same standards as those that perform surgical abortions. The Lafayette clinic offers only the abortion-inducing pills. Planned Parenthood of Indiana president Betty Cockrum says the group won’t close the Lafayette clinic if it loses the case, but might stop offering abortions there. ABORTION PILL DISPUTE-IOWA Judge backs ban of Iowa abortion pill system DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) β An Iowa judge has ruled that state regulators had the authority to ban a video-conferencing system that allows doctors in cities to distribute abortion-inducing pills to women in rural clinics. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland had sued the Iowa Board of Medicine, saying the ban reflected board members’ opposition to abortion and was a blatant attempt to limit access. The Des Moines Register reports that Judge Jeffrey Farrell ruled in favor of the board, saying it had authority to regulate such issues and had met legal requirements for making new rules. The new rules require a doctor to be physically present with a woman when an abortion-inducing drug is provided. The change targeted Planned Parenthood’s practice of enabling doctors to prescribe the drugs while meeting with patients in rural areas through an Internet video connection. A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman said her agency would appeal. The ruling takes effect in 30 days. IMMIGRATION OVERLOAD-NEW YORK CHURCH NY church drops plan to house immigrant children COMMACK, N.Y. (AP) β A New York church has abandoned a proposal to host some of the tens of thousands of immigrant children illegally crossing the United States’ border with Mexico to reunite with family. The Rev. Dennis Walker, pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Commack — on Long Island — told Newsday that the church had dropped the plan, which had sparked outrage in the neighborhood. Lutheran church leaders in Manhattan told Newsday that the church missed a deadline to apply for the federally funded program to house immigrants temporarily. They said it was unlikely the proposal would become reality in the next few years. Walker had said the church would be able to pay off debts and create jobs if it took in about 40 children. But neighbors said the plan, details of which hadn’t been released or approved, would be dangerous. WRONGFUL CONVICTION-SETTLEMENT Wrongfully convicted NYC man settles suit for $10M NEW YORK (AP) β New York City will pay a $10 million settlement to a Brooklyn man who spent 15 years in prison for killing a rabbi. A lawyer for Jabbar Collins says the wrongful murder conviction was built on fabricated testimony and hidden evidence that possibly could have cleared him. Collins said in a statement that the settlement recognized “the enormity of the harm that was done.” His conviction for the 1994 killing of Orthodox rabbi and landlord Abraham Pollack was overturned based on a new finding that the key witness who implicated Collins had recanted before the trial. A federal judge called the handling of the case “shameful.”
