Today's Top Five Stories

1. Christians warned they'll face wrath from Muhammad depiction uproar
With tens of thousands of Muslims rioting and demonstrating around the world against published caricatures of Muhammad, Christians fear they'll face a violent backlash. The Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk, Iraq, told Reuters that Sunday's church bombings were the result of the cartoons, first published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper. Christians in Palestine are nervous that they'll be next—and they're not just paranoid, says the London Times: "A leaflet handed out by the militant groups Islamic Jihad and Fatah warned 'infidels' that there are Muslims who 'are tough and ready to become a martyr for their religion' and that 'European provocations have placed offices and churches under fire.'" The Times says Hamas has promised Christians protection, but The Washington Times says others are worried that life under Hamas will be difficult after the demonstrations die down. In related news, a brief line in today's Wall Street Journal is awfully cryptic: "Evangelical Protestants split on whether U.S. should deal with Hamas; 53 percent of nonevangelicals favor diplomacy." So 53 percent doesn't constitute a split? (There's no additional information on the poll.)

2. Anti-Christian militants kill six in the Philippines At about 1 o'clock this morning, a militant group attacked homes on the Philippine island of Jolo, demanding that residents answer whether they were Christians or Muslims. Three men, two women, and an eight-month-old boy were killed in the attack. Six others, including three children, survived with injuries. One was a Muslim married to a Christian; the others were Christians. The attackers may have been part of the ...