Ali to be honored with Muslim funeral service (Reuters)

By Steve Bittenbender LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) – The world begins two final days of mourning for Muhammad Ali on Thursday when the boxing great will be honored with a Muslim funeral a day before receiving a final goodbye with an interfaith service. Ali, one of the transcendent figures of the 20th Century for his boxing prowess, showmanship and opposition to the Vietnam War in the turbulent 1960s and ’70s, died last Friday of septic shock in an Arizona hospital. Some 15,000 people are expected at the jenazah, the Arabic word for funeral, set for noon (1600 GMT) at Freedom Hall in Ali’s home town of Louisville, Kentucky, the venue where Ali defeated Willi Besmanoff on Nov. 29, 1961.