In the News
WORLD
ANKARA, Turkey – Pope Benedict XVI urged leaders of all religions Tuesday to “utterly refuse” to support any form of violence in the name of faith, while Turkey’s top Muslim cleric complained to the pontiff of growing “Islamophobia” in the world.
As he began his first visit to a Muslim country – a trip that drew extraordinary security but few onlookers – Benedict sought a careful balance as he extended friendship and brotherhood to Muslims, hoping to end the outcry from many Muslims over his remarks linking Islam to violence.
WORLD
ANKARA, Turkey – Pope Benedict XVI urged leaders of all religions Tuesday to “utterly refuse” to support any form of violence in the name of faith, while Turkey’s top Muslim cleric complained to the pontiff of growing “Islamophobia” in the world.
As he began his first visit to a Muslim country – a trip that drew extraordinary security but few onlookers – Benedict sought a careful balance as he extended friendship and brotherhood to Muslims, hoping to end the outcry from many Muslims over his remarks linking Islam to violence.
Benedict’s journey is extraordinarily sensitive, a closely watched pilgrimage full of symbolism that could offer hope of religious reconciliation – or deepen what many say is a growing divide between the Christian and Islamic worlds.
The original goal of the pope’s trip to Turkey was to meet Bartholomew I, leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians. The two major branches of Christianity represented by Bartholomew and Benedict split in 1054 over differences in opinion on the power of the papacy, and the two spiritual heads will meet in an attempt to breach the divide and reunite the churches.
NATION
PORTLAND, Ore. – Lawyer Brandon Mayfield, wrongly arrested by FBI agents after the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings, has settled his lawsuit against the U.S. government for $2 million, his attorney said Wednesday.
The lawsuit said Mayfield was wrongly detained for two weeks in 2004 on the basis of a misidentified fingerprint.
Mayfield, a convert to Islam, said he was arrested because of his faith.
An earlier report by the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General said FBI examiners were not aware of Mayfield’s religion when they conducted fingerprint analysis.
The settlement allows Mayfield to continue to pursue his challenge of the USA Patriot Act, Mayfield’s attorney said. Mayfield claims the act violates the Fourth Amendment because it allows government searches without probable cause that a crime has been committed.
STATE & LOCAL
RICHMOND – Virginia’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.7 percent in October, the lowest rate in 5 1/2 years, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Wednesday.
It was the lowest October jobless figure since the 1.9 percent rate in 2000 and the best rate for any month since April 2001, when 2.6 percent of Virginians were out of work.
According to the VEC, the unemployment rate fell 0.4 of a percentage point from 3.1 percent in September. The national unemployment rate last month was 4.1 percent.
The commission said October is usually a strong employment month because schools are in session, construction contractors are trying to beat the onset of winter, harvest is in full swing and the economy is starting to build toward the holidays.
Unemployment decreased in every metropolitan area of the state. Northern Virginia had the lowest rate at 1.9 percent. Danville continued to have the highest rate, 6.8 percent.
