News

The Islamic New Year and Jewish New Year Co-exist in 2016
October 2, 2016 By Faith Matters

The Islamic New Year and Jewish New Year Co-exist in 2016

The start of the Islamic New Year (Hijri) and the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) take place at the same time this year on the 2nd of October 2016. The Hijri is the start of the new Islamic year and this year marks the beginning of the Hijri year 1438. It is based on lunar […]

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Pope says gender theory part of ‘global war’ on marriage, family
October 2, 2016 By Faith Matters

Pope says gender theory part of ‘global war’ on marriage, family

Pope Francis warned on Saturday of a “global war” against traditional marriage and the family, saying both were under attack from gender theory and divorce. Francis made his comments in an impromptu response to a question at a meeting of the small Catholic community in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia. “You mentioned a great enemy […]

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Russian, Syrian missiles pound Aleppo, destroy hospital – rebels and aid workers
October 2, 2016 By Faith Matters

Russian, Syrian missiles pound Aleppo, destroy hospital – rebels and aid workers

Russian warplanes and their Syrian government allies battered rebel-held areas in and around Aleppo on Saturday, and rebels and aid workers accused them of destroying one of the city’s main hospitals and killing at least two patients. M10, the city’s main trauma hospital, in eastern Aleppo, was struck as the United States and its allies […]

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Islamist group bombs Somali restaurant, at least three dead
October 1, 2016 By Faith Matters

Islamist group bombs Somali restaurant, at least three dead

Somali Islamist group al Shabaab bombed a restaurant frequented by members of the security forces in Mogadishu on Saturday, killing at least three people, officials and the group said. Police said a suicide car bomb rammed the Blue Sky restaurant in the capital, which is located near a detention centre, known as Jilaow, where militants […]

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Bosnian Muslim politician wages veiled fight against prejudice
September 30, 2016 By Faith Matters

Bosnian Muslim politician wages veiled fight against prejudice

Politicians across Europe are calling for a ban on the Islamic veil but Bosnian Muslim Indira Sinanovic is defying the trend as well as widespread prejudice in her own country, becoming the first fully-veiled woman here to run for public office. Sinanovic, 37, wears the niqab – a garment that covers the hair and all […]

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Bulgaria bans full-face veils in public places
September 30, 2016 By Faith Matters

Bulgaria bans full-face veils in public places

Bulgaria’s parliament on Friday banned the wearing of face veils in public in a move which supporters said would boost security in the wake of Islamist militant attacks in Europe. The “burqa ban” law, pushed by the nationalist Patriotic Front coalition, echoes similar measures in western European countries such as France, Netherlands and Belgium which […]

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Islamist rebel gets 9 years imprisonment for Timbuktu destruction
September 28, 2016 By Faith Matters

Islamist rebel gets 9 years imprisonment for Timbuktu destruction

War crimes judges on Tuesday sentenced a former Islamist rebel who admitted wrecking holy shrines during Mali’s 2012 conflict to nine years in prison, in the first such case to focus on destruction of cultural heritage. Human rights groups and international legal experts hope Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi’s case in the International Criminal Court may serve […]

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Man purporting to be Boko Haram leader taunts Nigerian military in video
September 26, 2016 By Faith Matters

Man purporting to be Boko Haram leader taunts Nigerian military in video

The purported leader of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau appeared in a video posted on social media on Sunday in which he rejected statements by the country’s military that he had been seriously wounded. In recent years, the Nigerian military has said it has killed or critically wounded Shekau on multiple occasions, […]

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Jordanian Writer and Cartoonist Murdered in Broad Daylight by Religious Extremist
September 25, 2016 By Faith Matters

Jordanian Writer and Cartoonist Murdered in Broad Daylight by Religious Extremist

Few would have known Nahed Hatter who had written on Islamist violence and narratives for decades. A writer who had left Jordan for the Lebanon for his views, he had returned to his country only to be murdered this morning for a cartoon that he had posted on his Facebook page. The post initially was […]

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Sister of French militants put under formal investigation
September 24, 2016 By Faith Matters

Sister of French militants put under formal investigation

The sister of French Islamist militants Fabien and Jean-Michel Clain was put under formal investigation for criminal association in relation to a terrorist undertaking and remanded in custody on Saturday, a judicial source said. Anne-Diana Clain, born in 1975, was arrested Tuesday night at Roissy international airport near Paris along with her partner, who had […]

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