Prince Saud al-Faisal has promised to have a review of the case of a girl who has been sentenced to 200 lashes because she was raped.
In a typical Islamic fashion the Saudi authorities claim that they are receiving unfair criticism over the case. Al-Faisal is more concerned about the press coverage than about the punishment given to the girl, and then the attempt to claim that she was an adulteress.
The BBC reports that the Islamist movement HAMAS has reportedly stated that Palestinians will not be bound by any decisions taken at this weeks US-backed Middle East Peace talks. Ismail Haniya, the leader of HAMAS in Gaza, who is not attending the talks, has described the discussions as "fruitless".
Several of the Hamas leaders met at the Palestinian Parliament in Gaza city to sign a document stating that Mr Abbas had no right to make concessions in any peace deal.
"The people believe that this conference is fruitless and that any recommendations or commitments made in the conference that harm our rights will not be binding for our people," Mr Haniya said as he entered the building.
"It will be binding only for those who sign it."
Mr Haniya was dismissed by Abbas from his position of prime minister of a national unity government in June, shortly after Hamas seized control of the Gaza strip from the president's Fatah movement.
Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the USA and Israel and is not represented at Annapolis.
It seems that Hamas is only interested in perpetuating the myth that Israel is occupying Palestinian land, but this is clearly not true. Historically, the Palestinians did not exist until around the 1920s. Gaza was won in the 6 day war, and Israel was entitled to occupy that territory. The same goes for East Jerusalem. It does not belong to the Palestinians. Therefore, we should take heed of the following (threatening) words of Mahmoud Zahhar:
Another senior Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahhar, told the BBC that even if the group had been invited, it would be pointless participating because Israel was not prepared to end the occupation of Palestinian land.
"We are very proud that we are not involved in this conference which will bring for us nothing," he told the BBC World Service.
"We don't believe that this is a real peace process, because without fulfilling our basic demand it will be just as previous agreements reached and unable to be practised practically on the ground," he added.
"Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] is not representing the majority of the Palestinian people."
Palestinian officials say, however, that as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Mr Abbas is entitled to negotiate on behalf of Palestinians. Agreements are signed between Israel and the PLO.
Police say the motorcycle was going at top speed and was
not registered for street use, while the two boys - who have been named
only as Moushin, 15, and Larami, 16 - were not wearing helmets and had
been ignoring traffic rules.
Mr Fillon, who visited the scene on Tuesday, called the rioters "criminals" and said nothing could justify the attacks.
"Those who shoot at policemen, those who beat a police
officer almost to death are criminals and must be treated as such," he
was quoted by AFP news agency as telling parliament.
A library and a nursery school went up in flames in Villiers-le-Bel.
Rioting had spread on Monday from Villiers-le-Bel to other areas in the north Paris suburbs.
Ms Alliot-Marie has said the riots were organised and
criminals were using youngsters to lure away police while they pillaged
shops.
The 2005 unrest, also sparked by the deaths of two
youths, spread from a nearby suburb of Paris to other cities and
continued for three weeks, during which more than 10,000 cars were set
ablaze and 300 buildings firebombed.
Mr Sarkozy was heavily criticised at the time after he
called for crime-ridden neighbourhoods to be "cleaned with a power
hose" and described violent elements as "gangrene" and "rabble".
The BBC's Alasdair Sandford says that although plenty of
money has been poured into areas like Villiers le Bel that seems
irrelevant when tension and resentment between young people and the
police is so strong.
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It seems that nothing is about to change in Saudi Arabia in a hurry when it comes to women's rights. I am not a feminist, and it is probably the reason that I feel so angry about the way in which women are treated in Muslim Sharia dominated lands. The feminist movement on the whole has shown little in the way of outrage at the way that women are treated in such countries as Saudi Arabia. However, I do feel outrage, especially when the 19 year old and her boyfriend were both raped by a gang of 7 men, and yet both have been sentenced to 90 lashes because of the offense of "mingling".
Authorities in Saudi Arabia have defended a judicial sentence of 200 lashes for a rape victim.
The justice ministry said in a statement that the sentence was justified because the woman was in a car with an unrelated man.
The case has aroused controversy at home and condemnation abroad.
US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said the sentence was an outrage and urged President Bush to put pressure on Saudi King Abdullah.
The 19-year-old, who has not been named, was travelling in a car with a male friend last year, when the car was attacked by a gang of seven men who raped both of them.
She has become known as the "Qatif girl", a reference to the largely Shia town which she comes from.
Four of the men were convicted of kidnapping - but the court also sentenced the woman and her friend to receive 90 lashes each for the crime of "illegal mingling".
Last week the court increased the woman's sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison.
It also banned her lawyer from the courtroom and took away his licence.
The Saudi justice ministry has defended the verdict and warned against "agitation through the media" - a sign of how sensitive the authorities are to the fact that the woman and her lawyer have sought to use the media to highlight the case, says BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy.
What is most alarming about this story is the fact that it is the Republicans who are remaining silent over the punishment given to the woman. It is almost breathtaking to think that the President of the USA is refusing to intervene on a matter that is against the human rights of the individual. It is in fact damning evidence that the White House seem to be in the "pay" of Saudi Arabia, which is an extremely unhealthy situation to contemplate. I hope that I am wrong on this issue, and that the silence is due to the fact that the Republicans know very little about the case. The verdict is totally disgraceful.
The programme featured undercover
recordings from speakers alleged to be homophobic, anti-Semitic, sexist
and condemnatory of non-Muslims.
Excerpts from preachers and
teachers included "Allah created the woman deficient" and "by the age
of ten, it becomes an obligation on us to force her (young girls) to
wear hijab and if she doesn't wear hijab, we hit her".
Other
statements included "take that homosexual and throw him off the
mountain" and "whoever changes his religion from Al Islam to anything
else - kill him in the Islamic state".
Police initially
launched an investigation into whether criminal offences had been
committed at the mosques and other organisations featured in the
programme.
They then said that it considered offences may have
been committed by those involved in the production and broadcast of the
programme, specifically in stirring up racial hatred.
After
the Crown Prosecution Service advised that the prospect of conviction
was unlikely, police referred Undercover Mosque to Ofcom, complaining
that intense editing had misrepresented those featured in the
programme.
Ofcom also rejected
the 364 viewers' complaints it received after the programme was
broadcast, which it said appeared to be part of a campaign.
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