In Bahrain, Pope’s message may get caught in Shi’ite-Sunni Muslim divide
Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis leaves on Thursday for Bahrain, a trip aimed at improving ties with the Islamic world but which could thrust him into a human rights conflict between the Sunni-led monarchy and its Shi’ite Muslim opposition. It is only the second visit by a pope to the Arabian Peninsula, following his 2019 […]
Essay: Another terrorist attack reminds us of the Taliban’s failure to protect Afghan citizens
ELLIS HEASLEY, of UK-based religious freedom advocacy CSW, says it is “increasingly apparent that more needs to be done to hold the Taliban to account and to ensure that the lives of Hazaras and other Afghan citizens are protected”…
Clashes kill 10 as Iraq’s Sadr quits politics, loyalists storm complex
Baghdad, Iraq Reuters Heavy clashes erupted in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people on Monday, after powerful Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said he would quit politics, prompting his loyalists to storm a government palace and fight with rival groups. As night fell, machine-gun fire and explosions rang out, with tracer fire rising into the sky […]
Blast in Kabul mosque, IS bombs in north Afghanistan kill 14
Islamabad, Afghanistan AP A series of explosions shook Afghanistan on Wednesday, the Taliban said, including a blast inside a mosque in the capital of Kabul that killed at least five worshippers and three bombings of minivans in the country’s north that killed nine passengers. The Islamic State group’s local affiliate claimed responsibility for the minivan […]
Deadly blasts claimed by Islamic State hit northern Afghan cities
Kabul, Afghanistan Reuters An explosion claimed by the Islamic State at a Shi’ite mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday killed at least 11 people, a health official said, one of a series of blasts around the country. A separate blast caused at least 11 more casualties in Kunduz, another northern Afghan […]
Death toll climbs to 63 in deadly Pakistan IS mosque attack
Peshawar, Pakistan AP Officials vowed Saturday to hunt down and arrest the masterminds behind a deadly mosque attack in Pakistan a day earlier claimed by an Islamic State affiliate. The assault killed 63 people and wounded nearly 200. IS said in a statement the lone suicide bomber was from neighboring Afghanistan. He shot two police […]
At least 56 killed in suicide bombing at Shi’ite mosque in Pakistan
Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters A suicide bombing at a Shi’ite Muslim mosque during Friday prayers in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar killed at least 56 people and injured nearly 200, police and hospital officials said. An armed man who arrived near the mosque on a motorcycle opened fire when he was stopped by police, before […]
Essay: Religion in the (US) classroom – where the faithful and the ACLU can agree
Author STEPHEN MANSFIELD, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says the problem with religion in the US lies in ignorance…