World news
Turkey’s top Muslim cleric raps Saudi view on Arabian Peninsula churches
Turkey's top Muslim cleric has stepped into an international row over Christianity on the Arabian Peninsula, rejecting comments attributed to the Saudi grand mufti that all churches there should be...
Categories: World news
Tunisians jailed for seven years for Facebook cartoons of Prophet Mohammad
Two young Tunisians have been sentenced to seven years in prison for posting cartoons of the prophet Mohammad on Facebook, in a case that has fueled allegations the country's new Islamist leaders are...
Categories: World news
Pope Benedict reaffirms ban on women priests, assails Austrian “call to disobedience”
Pope Benedict has restated the Roman Catholic Church's ban on women priests and warned that he would not tolerate disobedience by clerics on fundamental teachings.
Categories: World news
The Islamist Spring
Fourteen months after popular uprisings toppled dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, Islamist political parties – religiously conservative groups that oppose the use of violence – have swept interim...
Categories: World news
Russian Orthodox apologise for photo after bloggers rap Patriarch Kirill over watch
The Russian Orthodox Church apologised on Thursday for doctoring a photograph of Patriarch Kirill to remove what bloggers said was a luxury wristwatch following accusations that he lives a lavish...
Categories: World news
Muslim Brotherhood candidate says introducing sharia in Egypt is his main goal
The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for the Egyptian presidency, Khairat al-Shater, declared that introducing sharia law would be his "first and final" objective if he wins elections in May and June.
Categories: World news
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood launches push to “build bridges” with U.S. leaders
With PowerPoint presentations and political promises, Egypt's influential Muslim Brotherhood made its U.S. diplomatic debut this week hoping to persuade Washington that the Islamist group is...
Categories: World news
Egypt jails Christian student to three years in jail for insulting Islam
An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced a 17-year-old Christian boy to three years in jail for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, actions that...
Categories: World news
Russian Orthodox Church takes a divisive political gamble on Vladimir Putin
The Russian Orthodox Church's decision to stand firmly behind Vladimir Putin before he starts a six-year presidential term is a gamble which some experts say could yet backfire and undermine its...
Categories: World news
Tunis reopens ancient Muslim college to counter new radical Islamists
Ziatouna college has reopened its ancient doors to students, part of a drive by religious scholars and activists to revive Zaitouna's moderate brand of Islam, which once dominated North Africa, and...
Categories: World news
An egg by any other name
Obviously an egg is much more than the daily of decision how we like to have our breakfast: scrambled, fried or poached.
Categories: World news
Russian Orthodox Church says it’s under attack after backing Putin
Russia's Orthodox Church said on Tuesday it was under attack from unspecified "anti-Russian forces" seeking to erode its authority after it threw its weight behind Vladimir Putin before last month's...
Categories: World news
France’s halal market prospers despite political polemics
Some French politicians have seized on the spread of halal food to win votes. Producers selling their wares at Paris's annual Muslim food fair are much more sure it will bring something else: profit.
Categories: World news
European far-right groups seek to build anti-Islamic network, meet protests
Far-right anti-Islam activists struggling to throw off the shadow of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik gathered in Denmark on Saturday, but met a protest many times bigger.
Categories: World news
In Sinai, militant Islam flourishes – quietly
Barely noticed by outsiders fascinated by upheavals in Cairo and other Arab capitals, militant Islamists are building a presence in Sinai that might offer a new haven for anti-Western militancy at...
Categories: World news
Egypt’s Coptic Christians quit constitution talks over Islamist domination
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church has announced it is withdrawing from talks on a new constitution, saying Islamist domination of the drafting body made its participation "pointless".
Categories: World news
Turkey passes a school reform law that secular critics view as Islamist
Turkey's ruling party pushed through a school reform act on Friday that provoked brawls among parliamentarians and mass protests by secular Turks and teachers, who said the law was pushing an Islamic...
Categories: World news
Hardline Sunnis find foothold to push Syria’s revolt toward militant Islamism
Sheikh Abu Abdullah Zahed, a Lebanese Muslim cleric with influence amongst radical youth, is part of a growing effort to push the uprising in Syria towards militant Islam.
Categories: World news
Arab revolts bring Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamist regional vision closer
The Muslim Brotherhood has quietly spread its influence far beyond Egypt in its 84-year history, but Arab revolts have opened broad new political horizons the group hopes will reflect its founder's...
Categories: World news
Pope Benedict slams U.S. embargo on Cuba, meets Fidel Castro
Pope Benedict called for an end to the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and met with revolutionary icon Fidel Castro on Wednesday as he ended a trip in which he urged the communist island to change.
Categories: World news




