Delicious Pickings | Islamic Ringtones, Tearful Saddam And Refugees

A few of the stories I found interesting these past few days:

– UnIslamic Ringtones: A top Islamic body in Saudi Arabia has hosted a stormy debate on controversial issues, including the use of Koranic verses as mobile phone ringtones, newspapers reported Monday. “The scholars were divided on the use of verses from the Koran as mobile telephone ringtones,” the Al Hayat daily said, describing what it called “a turbulent debate.” During the six-day meeting of the Islamic Jurisprudence Council in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, 70 Muslim dignitaries and scholars will “tackle a number of important topics,” according to the official SPA news agency. [source]

– Teary-eyed Saddam: Saddam Hussein was unrepentant about slaughtering thousands of his own people, but the captured Iraqi dictator grew tearful when his FBI interrogator bade him farewell, according to a new book. [source]

– Cairo: A Graphic Novel: The story brings together an American expatriate, an Egyptian newspaper columnist, an American student, Israeli soldier, and Egyptian drug dealer in a quest for a magical box protected by a jinn and sought by the villain, an uber-gangster with magic powers. While the story crisscrosses Cairo and the spirit world, it touches on important facets of Egyptian life. [source]

– Iraqis Returning Home: According to a government spokesman, Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, 46,030 people returned to Iraq in October alone from neighbouring countries. He attributed the large number to the “improving security situation”. [source]

– Land of the Free: US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on Monday defended his country’s procedures on admitting Iraqi refugees to the United States, saying the process was “efficient.” [source]

– Cash on Hand: The Saudi ambassador to London’s allegedly colourful shopping habits have been revealed in an embarrassing expenses claim including guns, karaoke machines and “party night” girls, a report said Friday. The more than three-million-pound claim also includes expenses for top-of-the-range off-road cars, a thermal night-vision kit for his Hummer H2 and a 391-pound bill for a takeaway meal, The Guardian said. [source]