California

Muslim team name sparks Jewish protest

It was planned as a way to bring young athletes together for a weekend of fun, but when participants in the Muslim Football tournament started naming their teams Intifada, Soldiers of Allah and Mujahideen, Jewish leaders took offense.

Intifada means “uprising” in Arabic and is the term applied to suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis in the Middle East. Mujahideen means holy warrior.

Rabbi Bernie King, who lives in Irvine, said the teams’ names undermined those who worked to have closer relations with Muslims.

“Something like this … tends to support those in the community who have suspicions about the real intent of Islam,” King said.

One of the Jan. 4 tournament’s organizers said the names were meant to show support for Muslims in the Middle East, but also represent football bravado.

New York City

College Board adds Chinese for AP credits

The College Board, which offers high school students a chance to earn college credits, announced it would offer an Advanced Placement program in Chinese language and culture.

The new program is a joint venture of the College Board and the Chinese government, which will contribute $685,000 to develop the tests — about half the cost.

“Our education system needs to respond to an increasingly interconnected global economy and to the growing cultural diversity in the United States,” said College Board President Gaston Caperton, speaking Friday at a Washington news conference.

In June, the College Board approved in principle a plan to add three other new Advanced Placement courses and examinations in Italian, Japanese and Russian.

South Korea

Credit card cure for economy rebounds

South Korea’s largest credit-card issuer, LG Card, was at the brink of collapse last month when its creditor banks agreed to a $1.7 billion bailout. The other big card issuers are believed to be not far behind.

Financial regulators here reported Tuesday that the industry had racked up losses of $3.45 billion through the first three quarters of this year.

An estimated 3.6 million South Koreans — nearly one in six working people — are delinquent in their credit-card payments.

The bust is forcing South Koreans to look back with a jaundiced eye on what in retrospect was a too-good-to-be-true recovery from a 1997 liquidity crisis.

In its aftermath, the government encouraged the use of credit cards to stimulate the economy.

Last year, South Koreans racked up $520 billion on their credit cards — $11,000 for every man, woman and child.

India

Hindu-Muslim clashes kill five, injure 27

Hindu-Muslim clashes broke out overnight in a southern Indian city, killing at least five and injuring 27, officials said Sunday.

The trouble began Saturday night after Hindu activists removed a black flag that residents of a Muslim-dominated neighborhood in Hyderabad put up to protest the destruction of a historic mosque by Hindu extremists 11 years ago.

Two people were stabbed to death, while three others were killed as police fired bullets and tear gas to stop the clashes, said Chandrababu Naidu, the elected head of Andhra Pradesh state, of which Hyderabad is the capital. At least 27 people were injured, including 19 from police gunfire, Naidu said.

The violence subsided by Sunday morning after police imposed a curfew in several parts of the city.