MICHAEL JACKSON is being urged to apologise after a TV network aired a tape which the pop star apparently referred to Jews as “leeches.”

The American Anti-Defamation League today demanded an apology from Michael Jackson after a TV network aired what was said to be a telephone answering-machine message in which the pop star referred to Jews as “leeches”.

POPE Benedict XVI won praise from Jews and respect from Muslims for his blunt warnings about the rise of anti-Semitism and terrorism in the world - issues that are likely to define his papacy and ones which he confronted head-on during his first foreign trip as pope.

A Jewish leader met with Vatican officials to ask them to publicly restate church teachings on Jesus’ crucifixion, saying Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ, contradicts the Roman Catholic Church’s repudiation of the charge that the Jews killed Jesus.

REPRESENTATIVES of two Jewish groups who attended screenings of Mel Gibson’s forthcoming film, The Passion of the Christ, said it contained offensive stereotypes about the Jewish role in the crucifixion.

Representatives of two Jewish groups who attended screenings of Mel Gibson’s forthcoming film, The Passion of the Christ, said it contained offensive stereotypes about the Jewish role in the crucifixion.