ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Ban on “Da Vinci” film cites blasphemy
Pakistan on Saturday banned cinemas from showing “The Da Vinci Code” because it contained what officials called blasphemous material about Jesus.
Although the film has not been screened in any theater in mostly Muslim Pakistan, authorities decided to ban it out of respect for the feelings of the country’s minority Christians.
The film version of Dan Brown’s murder mystery novel is based on the premise that Jesus and one of his followers, Mary Magdalene, had children whose descendants are still alive.
“Islam teaches us to respect all prophets of Allah mighty, and degradation of any prophet is tantamount to defamation of the rest,” said Minister for Culture Ghulam Jamal.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic
Opposition party wins but needs coalition
The opposition Civic Democratic Party won the Czech parliamentary elections but will have to form a coalition government, according to results released Saturday.
The center-right party got 35.36 percent of the votes cast, the state statistical office said.
The governing Social Democratic Party of Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek finished second, with 32.33 percent, according to the results from 99.87 percent of voting stations.
Three more parties cleared the 5 percent threshold needed to win representation in the 200-seat lower chamber of parliament: the Communist Party, with 12.81 percent; the Green Party, 6.28 percent; and the Christian Democrats, 7.22 percent.
PODGORICA, Serbia-Montenegro
Montenegro declares its independence
Montenegro’s parliament declared independence for the tiny Balkan republic Saturday, forming a new European state and dissolving what was left of the former Yugoslavia.
The assembly adopted a declaration of independence, verifying the results of a May 21 referendum in which Montenegrins supported a split from Serbia by a slim margin.
The document envisages Montenegro as a “multiethnic, multicultural and multireligious society … based on the rule of law and market economy.”
The declaration says Montenegro’s strategic national goal is integration into the European Union and NATO, and the new country will apply for admission into the U.N. and other international organizations.
ROME
Official draws fire for stem-cell stance
Italy’s new research minister has touched off a political storm in his Roman Catholic country by saying he was open to embryonic stem-cell research.
The fuss began when University and Research Minister Fabio Mussi – a left-wing lawmaker from a former Communist Party – said during a visit to Brussels last week that he had removed Italy’s signature from a “declaration of ethics” objecting to using European Union funds for embryonic stem-cell research.
The declaration had allowed its seven signatories to block any EU plans for funding such research in countries that allow it. In Italy, stem-cell research is illegal and is not affected by Mussi’s decision.
KABUL, Afghanistan
Troops reclaim town from suspected rebels
Backed by warplanes, U.S. and Afghan troops recaptured a town from suspected Taliban rebels in heavy fighting as violence across southern Afghanistan left at least 35 militants dead, officials said Saturday.
U.S. and Afghan troops retook the southern town of Chori on Friday, killing up to 20 militants, said Gen. Zahir Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman.
Hundreds of insurgents had attacked the town in Uruzgan province Wednesday, moving in when local security forces were forced to flee. A U.S. military spokesman said Afghan and U.S. troops suffered no casualties in taking Chori back.
