Muslims say they do not worship idols. When they go to Mecca, why do they kiss a black stone?

Isn't that like worshippingan idol?
Muslims do not worship the black stone. They regard the stone as a
created thing. The most fundamental principle of Islam is that nothing
or no one is to be worshipped except Allah, the one true God.
Muslims who can afford the journey are required once in their lifetime
to visit the House of Worshipin Makkah. This was the first house built
for the worship of the one true God. It was constructed byAbraham and
his son Ishmael, peace be upon them. The black stone was brought to
them from heaven by the angel Gabriel to function as a corner stone.
It was thus affixed in one corner.
Because Muslims kiss that stone, some observers hastily conclude that
Muslims worship it. A kiss, however, is not an act of worship unless
it is accompanied by an intention to worship. If you kiss your child,
for instance, that does not mean you worship your child.
Some may find it strange that Muslims should treat a stone with
respect. But this is not just any old stone. It is an item out of
paradise.
The act of fixing a stone to mark a place of worship is as old as
history. In the Bible we are told that Jacob, on whom be peace, had
fixeda stone at a place where he saw a vision. He poured oil on it and
calledit Bethel meaning 'house of God' (see Genesis 28:18). He did
this again upon God's instruction (see Genesis 35:1, 14, 15). No one
should understand from this that God instructed Jacob to worship the
stone.

Obama's "red line" warnings merely aimed to seek new pretext for Syria intervention

Once again, Western powers are digging deep for excuses to intervene
militarily in another conflict-torn Middle East country, as U.S.
President Barack Obama warned Monday that the use of chemical weapons
by Syria's government wouldchange his "calculus."
With the hypocritical talksof eliminating weapons ofmass destruction
in Iraq and protecting civilians in Libya still ringing in the ears,
such "red line" threats seem to have almost become a signal for the
United States and some of its Western allies to sharpen their weapons
before exercising interventionism.
The world should stay vigilant that these dangerously irresponsible
remarks would do nothing but effectively escalate the current bloody
situation in Syria and gravely tarnish the prospects of settling
Syria's 17-month-old crisisthrough political means.
It is true that the UN and Arab League-led mediation efforts on the
ground have yet to yield satisfactory results to broker a ceasefire
between government troops and armed rebels in Syria.
However, when continuous radicalism-fueled roadside bomb attacks,
along with heartrending poverty and chaos, have nearly killed the
hopes for stability andprosperity in Somalia, Iraqand Libya, nations
that have suffered West-led military interventions, foreign crusades
would simply incur even more violence, hostilities and hatred in
Syria.
Apart from being ineffective to bring real peace, military
interventions by the United States and its Western partners are always
interests-driven and highly selective.
It is not difficult to find that, under the disguise
ofhumanitarianism, the United States has always tried to smash
governments it considers as threats to its so-called national
interests and relentlessly replace them with those that are
Washington-friendly.
That easily explains why both Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's
Muammar Gaddafi, who once worked closely with the United States, were
later depicted as brutal dictators with the people's blood dipping
through their fingers.
Right now, as conflicts between government troops and rebel forces
still rage in Syria, nations around the world should continue to build
on the progress that has been achieved by outgoing international envoy
Kofi Annan and his team.
Any attempt to scrap the chances for a political settlement and to
turn Syria into the next testingground for Western weapons must be
guarded against and ruledout.
China, being acutely aware of the harm of foreign interventions, has
always stood firmly against them and supported the political
settlement of all crises.
Thus, the Chinese government is keen to continue working with the
international community to back UN-backed negotiations aimed at
bringing real and lasting peace to Syria.

Russia warns West over Syria action

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West yesterday
against any unilateral action on Syria after President Barack Obama
said US forces could act if the Syrian leader deployed chemical
weapons againstrebels trying to topple him.
Lavrov met China's top diplomat and a Syrian government delegation
inwhat appeared to be a push to keep diplomacy going at a time when
fewer Western and Arab governments believe that a UN-backed peace plan
can end the violence in Syria.
Russia and China have opposed military intervention in Syria
throughout 17 months of bloodshed and have vetoed three UN Security
Council resolutions backedby Western and Arab states.
Lavrov spoke at a meeting with China's State Councillor Dai Bingguo
one day after Obama, in some of his strongest language yet, said US
forces could move against Syrian President Bashar Assad if he resorted
to chemical weapons against insurgents.
Russia and China base their diplomatic cooperation on "the need to
strictly adhere to the norms of international law and the principles
contained in the UN Charter, and not to allow their violation," Lavrov
said during his meeting with Dai.
"I think this is the only correct path in today's conditions," Lavrov told Dai.
Lavrov's remarks also underscored Moscow's wish to keep
internationalefforts to end Syria's crisis within the United Nations.
Obama said on Monday he had refrained "at this point" from ordering
military engagement in Syria. But when asked whether he might deploy
forces, for example to secure Syrian chemical and biological weapons,
he said his view could change.
Russia has also expressed concern about Syria chemical weapons,
sayingit had told Damascus that even the threat to use them was
unacceptable.
But Lavrov said on Monday that the Security Council alone could
authorise the use of external force against Syria, warning against
imposing "democracy by bombs."
To help counter Assad's superior firepower, Western powers are giving
non-lethal equipment to rebels and Saudi Arabia and Qatar are believed
to have funded arms shipments tothem.
After the talks with Dai, Lavrov met a Syrian government delegation.
Lavrov said he was interested in hearing"plans for further actions to
shift the situation into the channel of a political dialogue in order
for Syrians themselves to decide their fate without external
interference."
Lavrov said the path to a solution in Syria lay in thehalt to fighting
by both the government and its foes.

Power struggle: Egyptian wife wantsdivorce over energy crisis

An Egyptian woman filed for divorce this week in the city of Giza,
citing her husband's reaction to recent power outages, local media
reported Tuesday.
Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm said thewoman was fed up with her
husband's refusal to leave their densely-populated home district,
which has been hit by recurrent electricity cuts.
In the divorce filing, the woman reportedly cited unsuitable living
conditions, saying the area was not only prone to outages, but has
also become home to ex-convicts and unlicensed street hawkers.
When she insisted the family move house, her husband physically
attacked her in front of her children, the paper said.
She also reportedly said her husband could in fact afford a new house.
The family court based in Giza,near Cairo, has yet to rule on the
divorce request.
Several districts in the Egyptian capital of Cairo have had daily
power cutslasting several hours, while further south in the
governorates of Assuit, Sohag, al-Wadi al-Gadid, Minya, Fayoum, and
Beni Suef, power cuts have been lasting entire days.
The government has blamed the power shortages on spiraling consumption
rates and high temperatures.
Earlier this month, President Mohammed Mursi sought to calm Egyptians,
saying, "I am sorry for the power cuts. I have the same problem athome
and I promise it willbe solved as soon as possible," assuring that new
generation plants will be launched later this year.
Still, power cuts have driven Egyptians across the country to stage a
series of protests, some ofwhich blocked railway lines and highways,
while a number of hydro towershave reportedly been destroyed by
looters seeking electricity.