Word: ramadan
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...Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which falls on different dates of the Western calendar each year, began on Aug. 21 in 2009, just in time for another event in Europe with near religious significance: the kickoff of soccer season. But the timing has sparked controversy in Italy, where in the past four days both a prominent coach and a team owner in the top Serie A league have linked the rigors of Ramadan's sunrise-to-sunset fasting to Muslim players' poor performance on the pitch...
...Sunday with Bari, Inter Milan's Portuguese-born coach Jose Mourinho pulled midfielder Sulley Muntari, a practicing Muslim, out of his home debut. "He was clearly struggling," Mourinho said of the 25-year-old Ghanaian player during the postgame press conference. "It's the month of Ramadan, and that's what affected his performance, which is why I took him out." (See pictures from Euro...
...prison outside the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Instead, the van pulled over after just 200 m while officials from the Prisons Department, the Attorney General's chambers and the Islamic courts argued over the case. In the end, a decision was made to defer the caning because of the Ramadan fasting season that had started on Sunday. "This is sad, [because] I am being kicked about like a football," Kartika said on her return home. "I was hoping to be caned and get on with my life." (See pictures of Malaysia...
...days later, in what was supposed to be the quiet Friday before Ramadan, the ministers of the defense, interior and national security and the head of the Baghdad Security Command were angrily grilled during a special meeting called by the deputy speaker of parliament and the defense and security committee of the legislature. Parliament is technically in recess and on holiday until the end of Ramadan (Sept. 19); only two dozen legislators were on hand. But the session, which started at 10 a.m. and lasted past lunch and into the afternoon, was so contentious the deputy speaker asked parliament security...
...phone with his Syrian counterpart, President Bashar Assad, in recent weeks, requesting that Syria use all its influence with Tehran to free Afshar and Reiss. French officials now suspect Iran will mete out some symbolic legal ruling allowing the pair to return to France - perhaps before the start of Ramadan on Friday, Aug. 21. International media reports say a hastily organized visit by Assad to Iran has been planned for this week - presumably to secure Reiss and Afshar's freedom. (See pictures of Sarkozy celebrating Bastille...