Nov. 26 Photo Brief: A Capitol Christmas tree, Mahatma Gandhi impersonator, Onion Johnnies, DR Congo conflict
Santa visits the Capitol Christmas tree, a Mahatma Gandhi impersonator in India, Queen Elizabeth II checks out weapons, DR Congo conflict continues and more in today’s daily brief.
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- Gerald and Twila Morris dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus pose in front of a truck carrying the Capitol Christmas tree in front of the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on November 26, 2012 in Washington. The 65-foot tree is from the White River National Forest in Colorado. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Mexican matador Michelito Lagravere looks at a bull during a bullfight at the Plaza Monumental bullring in Merida November 25, 2012. Michelito became a fully fledged bullfighter on Sunday, a week before his 15th birthday, making him the youngest matador ever, local media reported. (Francisco Martin/Reuters)
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- Mahesh Chaturvedi, 63, who dresses up like Mahatma Gandhi, poses for a photo in front of a statue of Gandhi in the old quarters of New Delhi October 25, 2012. (Mansi Thapliyal/Reuters)
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- Mourners attend the funeral of youth activist Gaber Salah, also known as Gika, at Tahrir in Cairo November 26, 2012. State news agency MENA reported that Salah, a member of the 6th of April youth movement, was wounded and put on life support in intensive care, following last Monday’s clashes between police and protesters on the anniversary of lethal street violence between activists and security. (Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)
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- Taxidermist Werner Beckmann poses with a pot whale skeleton at the Natural History Museum in Muenster, northern Germany, on November 26, 2012. The whale stranded a year ago on the German island Pellworm. (Friso Gentsch/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A Hindu holy man – sadhu – looks on from the banks of the Sangam, the confluence of Rivers Ganges and Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati in Allahabad on November 26, 2012. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Members of the Hamas-run security forces inspect what appears to be part of an aircraft which washed ashore near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 26, 2012. Hamas media outlets claimed it was part of an Israeli plane brought down by militants, but there were no identifying marks on the wreckage which could corroborate the allegation that it was part of an Israeli craft. (Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Shri Chandrasekara Bharathi Theertha Swamigal of Sringeri graces an event as Indian Hindu devotees perform a ritual by lighting diyas – earthen lamps – on the occasion of Karthika month in Hyderabad on November 26, 2012. (Noah Seela/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Dairy farmers stage a protest against EU agricultural policies at the Place du Luxembourg, near the European Parliament, in Brussels, on November 26, 2012. Farmers demonstrated with tractors and fake cows to protest against falling milk prices caused by overproduction in Europe. (John Thys/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Queen Elizabeth II inspects weaponry as she meets members of the Household Cavalry during her visit to Combermere Barracks in Windsor, on November 26, 2012. (David Parker/AFP/Getty Images)
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- A swan swims through flood waters from the River Soar at a caravan park in Barrow Upon Soar, central England, November 26, 2012. (Darren Staples/Reuters)
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- A group of Congolese National Army soldiers drive in the back of a jeep near to a military headquarters in Minova, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on November 26, 2012. Minova has become a bastion of government troops after they were routed from Goma last week by M23 rebels. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
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- French Francois Seite, President of the “Onion Johnnies” association, poses with pink onions destined for Great Britain aboard the Etoile du Roy (Star of the King), a replica of an 18th-century sailing ship, on November 24, 2012 in Roscoff, western France. (Fred Tanneau/AFP/Getty Images)
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- The head of the M23 rebel military forces, Brigadier-General Sultani Makenga, sits on November 25, 2012 in the yard of a military residence in Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over half a million people have been displaced in eastern Congo since the outbreak of the M23 rebellion. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Afghan men work in a traditional wool factory in Herat on November 26, 2012. About 100 women and men work in the wool factory and receive about 4 to 6 USD per day. (Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images)
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- Afghan university students attend an exam in Baharak district in Badakhshan province on November 25, 2012. Afghanistan has closed down three major public universities in the capital Kabul for more than a week after sectarian clashes left one student dead and nearly 30 others wounded, an official said. (Sharif Shayeq/AFP/Getty Images)
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- The annual Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt stands illuminated in the city center on its opening day on November 26, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Man behind anti-Islam film that stoked riots has no regrets: New York Times
Peter Rudegeair | Reuters
2:01 p.m. EST, November 26, 2012
(Reuters) – The Egyptian-born Coptic Christian who made the anti-Islam film that sparked protests across the Muslim world has no regrets about his insulting portrayal of the Prophet Mohammad, according to an interview with the New York Times.
In his first public comments since the 14-minute trailer for his film, “Innocence of Muslims,” gained notoriety in September, Mark Basseley Youssef told the newspaper he wanted to reveal what he called “the actual truth” about Mohammad and raise awareness of the violence committed “under the sign of Allah.”
The film portrayed Mohammad as a womanizer, ruthless killer and child molester. The film touched off a torrent of anti-American unrest in Arab and Muslim countries. For many Muslims, any depiction of the prophet is considered blasphemous.
In explaining his reasons for the film, he cited “atrocities” by Muslims. After a Muslim gunman killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009, “I became even more upset and enraged,” he said in written comments conveyed to the Times through his attorney. A Times request to interview him in person was blocked by prison authorities.
“I thought, before I wrote this script that I should burn myself in a public square to let the American people and the people of the world know this message that I believe in,” said Youssef.
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