CANTERBURY, England (InFocus News Staff) - England’s Anglican leader, Archbishop Rowan Williams, sparked off a storm of controversy last month after he made remarks about the introduction of law into the country. His comments, made in the form of a speech and a separate interview with the BBC, enraged some in the country to call for his immediate resignation and caused such a hostile reaction that they had to be clarified in a subsequent declaration, and in another speech. In the interview, the archbishop of Canterbury declared that the introduction of some elements of Shariah law in the United Kingdom seemed "unavoidable," reported the BBC on Feb. 7. He also said accepting some elements of Shariah could help social cohesion in the country, and also suggested that marital questions could be handled in Muslim tribunals.

RIYADH (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has given the green light for a high-speed rail link between Islam’s holy cities of Mecca and Medina via the commercial hub of Jeddah. The project, first proposed years ago to help transport the hundreds of thousands of Muslims who visit the kingdom for the annual hajj pilgrimage, will reportedly be financed by Saudi investment funds. The train will travel at up to 180 miles per hour, allowing a Mecca-Jeddah journey time of half an hour and Jeddah-Medina in two hours.