海角大神

With anger still simmering over the anti-Islam YouTube video from the film "Innocence of Muslims," and stoked by cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that ran in a French magazine this week, authorities worldwide braced for another day of protests.

Pakistan was particularly on alert, unsure what the result of declaring a national holiday to honor the prophet would be.

Governments worldwide took steps to mitigate the fallout of expected protests: Tunisian authorities used their emergency powers to ban all demonstrations today, the German Interior Ministry postponed the launch of a government-sponsored anti-radical Islam campaign, and France closed embassies and other French institutions in聽at least 20 other countries for the day, according to The New York Times. The US closed diplomatic missions in Indonesia because of demonstrations Friday, though no violence had been reported according to the Associated Press and CNN.聽

Haaretz reports that Egypt's grand mufti, the country's highest Islamic legal authority, appealed to Egyptians to "follow [the prophet's] example of enduring insults without retaliating." The top leader of France's Muslim community also called on French Muslims to forgo protesting the cartoons published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, warning that a protest, even a peaceful one, could be "hijacked."聽

Meanwhile, France banned any protests over the cartoons today, Reuters reports.

In Pakistan, authorities shut down cellphone service coverage in several major cities, blocked road access to US diplomatic posts, and closed down gas stations and exits from Islamabad after Friday prayers, according to The New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Washington Post.聽The foreign ministry summoned US Embassy Charg茅 d鈥橝ffaires Richard Hoagland today to demand that the US government remove the video from YouTube.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar聽defended the government's decision聽to proclaim the national holiday, deemed聽a "day of Love for the prophet,"聽saying that making it official would encourage peaceful protest, Associated Press reports.聽"We are very confident this will lessen the violence," she said, although she acknowledged, "There will always be elements that will try to take advantage of these things."聽Indeed, at least three people have been killed following the protests there.聽

The Washington Post reports聽two movie theaters were burned down in Peshawar, close the the Afghan border聽and a tollbooth and cars were torched near Islamabad and Rawalpindi as thousands turned out to protest across the country.聽

The AP reports that the US is spending $70,000 to air a television ad in Pakistan that features both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denouncing the video in a bid to tamp down the anger still boiling more than a week after the initial protests.

Ms. Nuland said it was common practice for the US to buy ad time in Pakistan. The US Embassy in Islamabad also distributed an e-mail with a link to a video showing ordinary Americans denouncing the video.