Nightly News reports that a last minute decision by the IOC will allow five Iraqi Olympic team members to attend the Beijing Olympics. However, the decision came very late and as Nightly News reports some of the small Iraqi Olympic team have missed the registration date. The AFP has more details about the IOC's delayed decision.
The Upper Deck Company recently released a set of Presidential Predictor trading cards. This card shows Hillary Clinton supporting the Barack Obama. The charactertures are pretty weird.
Concerns about what China is doing to Tibet is igniting protests along the path of the Olympic torch. Protests marred the torch proceedings in London and Paris. The torch had to be temporarily extinguished in Paris because of these protests. A similar protest is expected to meet the torch in San Francisco.
U.S. Apologizes For Dropping Blasphemous Soccer Balls in Afghanistan
The BBC reported recently that the U.S. dropped soccer balls for Afghanistan children from a helicopter. The effort was an attempt to make the Afghanistan children happy. Unfortunately, the balls contained the words Allah and the Prophet Muhammad and greatly angered the villagers. The balls were not well received because they were seen as an insult by the adult villagers. The U.S. has since apologized for dropping the "blasphemous balls."
Some displayed flags from countries all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, which features the shahada, one of the five pillars of Islam - the declaration of faith.
The words, which include the name of Allah, are revered, and Muslims are very sensitive about where and how they can be used.
Saudi Arabia has complained to the World Cup's ruling body in the past about the use of its flag on footballs.
Mullahs in Afghanistan criticised the US forces for their insensitivity, and around 100 people held a demonstration in Khost.
Afghan MP Mirwais Yasini said: "To have a verse of the Koran on something you kick with your foot would be an insult in any Muslim country around the world."
The soccer balls have very attractive colors but unfortunately the concept was not well planned. Given the anger at Mohammed cartoons someone should have realized they wouldn't want Islamic writings on their soccer balls. Most likely someone was trying to be kind and helpful and ended up being unintentionally inconsiderate.
The BBC 