GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian group Hamas on Monday condemned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the Palestinian territories. Blinken arrived in Israel on Monday from Egypt on the second leg of his Middle East tour that will also take him to the West Bank city of Ramallah. Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif al-Qanou […]...
COPENHAGEN (AA) – Burning sacred books has nothing to do with freedom of expression, Christian and Jewish religious leaders in Denmark have said, denouncing the recent antics of extreme-right politician Rasmus Paludan. Paludan, a Danish-Swedish politician, has drawn global condemnation after desecrating the Quran outside a mosque in Copenhagen...
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AA) – Attacks against Islam’s holy book should be recognized as hate crimes, say former far-right politicians in the Netherlands who have converted to Islam. They say that Muslims are subjected to double standards. Former politician Arnoud van Doorn, who left the extreme right-wing Freedom Party, said that h...
ANKARA (AA) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Egypt on Sunday, starting a tour that will also take him to Israel and the West Bank. Egyptian Al-Qahera News channel carried the news, without providing any further details. According to the State Department, Blinken will meet in Cairo with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, […...
Lahore, Pakistan (AFP): Several thousand people rallied in Pakistan after Friday prayers to voice outrage over right-wing protests targeting the Quran in Sweden and the Netherlands. Blasphemy and insults to Islam are galvanising issues in Pakistan, where leaders have regularly voiced concerns about rising Islamophobia on the international stag...
Meerut, India (AFP): Hindu fundamentalist Ashok Sharma has devoted his life to championing the deeds of an Indian “patriot”: not revered independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, but the man who shot him dead. Sharma is the custodian of a temple dedicated to Nathuram Godse, who on January 30, 1948, gunned down a figure cel1ebrated the worl...
Tehran, Iran (AFP): The head of security at Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran was killed Friday and two guards injured in an attack by a man who said it was for personal reasons, the city’s police chief said. “A man armed with a Kalashnikov killed the head of the diplomatic mission’s guard,” an Azeri foreign ministry...
Ramallah, Palestinian Territories (AFP): The Palestinian Authority said Thursday it was suspending security coordination with Israel after a deadly army raid in the occupied West Bank, a move that could significantly impact Palestinian civilians. “Security coordination with the Israeli occupation government no longer exists as of now,...
Lafia, Nigeria (AFP): The death toll from a bomb blast that struck a group of herders in central Nigeria has risen to 40 from 27, the local government said Thursday. The explosion on Wednesday took place in Rukubi, a village on the border between Nasarawa and Benue states, a region known for ethnic and religious […]
ISTANBUL (AA) – Israel’s parliament has passed a bill to extend emergency regulations for settlers living in the occupied West Bank for another five years. The bill allows the application of Israeli law on settlers living in settlement blocks in the occupied territory, where it was first enacted in 1967 and has been renewed every […]...