Ashraf Ramelah
Full text of Obama's Cairo address
I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement.
Al Qaeda vows revenge for France's burqa warning
More than a week after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Islamic burqa was not welcome in France, a message allegedly posted by al Qaeda’s North African branch vowed of revenge against the country, according to a cyber security site. ...
Obama Increasing Aid to Jordan, Other Muslim States
In the latest in a recent series of increased American assistance efforts for Arab and Muslim states, U.S. President Barack Obama has allocated an additional $150 million to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan....
Bloomberg: Schools Can't Observe Muslim Holidays
NEW YORK -- New York's City Council has passed a nonbinding resolution asking the Education Department to observe two important Muslim holidays. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the city is so diverse schools can't observe every holiday....
Australia: Egyptian Muslim stabs stepdaughter 20 times
A man used a butcher's knife to stab his stepdaughter up to 20 times because he believed she was a "slut" who was interfering in his marriage, a court has heard....
Praise Report: Thai Government Agrees to Protect Children
Dear Asharf Ramelah, We are so pleased to report that the Father has answered our prayers! We received word that the Thai government has assured our representatives that the children from our orphanage will not be forced to return to Burma and that the Thai army will stand to protect them against any attack from the Burmese army across the border....
Somali hardline Islamists threaten Ethiopia
MOGADISHU - Somalia's Islamist rebels threatened on Tuesday to attack Ethiopia after repeated witness reports that Ethiopian troops were back in the chaotic Horn of Africa country they withdrew from in January....
Islamic law challenges Western freedom
Islamic law should not be recognized under the United Kingdom’s arbitration laws because its principles are outdated and they contradict Western laws, a report by a British think-tank said on Monday, which Muslim figures dismissed as "scaremongering."...
Fatwa: Bangladeshi woman brutally whipped
DHAKA: A widow was whipped 202 times and a man 101 times following a fatwa by a religious leader for their alleged involvement in "anti-social activity" in a village in southeastern Bangladesh, prompting local protests and action by the police. ...
Teen Injured in Coordinated Arson-Rock Attack in Yitzhar
In what appears to have been a coordinated attack on Jews from Yitzhar, in Samaria, a group of Arabs set fire to agricultural fields on Monday evening and then released a barrage of rocks at people responding to the arson. IDF forces responded to the incident and dispersed the attackers. ...
85 sharia courts in UK
There are as many as 85 sharia courts operating in Britain, according to a new report....
Turks increasingly turn to Islamic extremism
Al Qaeda's reliance on Arabs is altering as recruits from Turkey and Turkic-speaking areas of Central Asia form a recent wave of trainees, experts say. ...
Row after Islam cleric converts schoolboy on Birmingham street
A YOUNG schoolboy was “converted” to Islam on the streets of Birmingham by a radical Muslim preacher, the Sunday Mercury can reveal....
Nine govt troops killed in southern Philippines
Seven policemen and two soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by suspected Muslim guerrillas on the restive southern Philippine island of Basilan, officials said on Sunday....
Iran can monitor calls with Nokia technology
Finnish-German telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) said Monday technology it sold to Iran in 2008 could be used to monitor calls, but denied claims it can be used for web censorship. ...
Muslims protest Belgian school ban on Muslim veil
DUBAI - About a hundred people gathered in Antwerp Sunday to protest a ban on veils imposed over the weekend at the only remaining high school in Belgium that permitted them, according to press reports over the weekend....
Illegal Arab Outposts Targeted in High Court Appeal
A pro-Land of Israel group has filed a motion asking the High Court of Justice to order a halt to construction of illegal Arab outposts in Judea and Samaria, as it has done in the case of illegal Jewish building. ...
“Punished mercilessly” – Is this Islam?
“Annihilate the rioters,” demanded one of Iran’s fundamentalist clerics during Friday prayer. He believes that the opposition “defied the orders” of Iran’s Supreme Leader, who “rules by God’s design.” Therefore, “they should be punished mercilessly.”...
USCIRF Expresses Concern over Reported Attacks on Coptic in Egypt
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is concerned at reports of attacks targeting Coptic Orthodox Christians in the small Egyptian village of Ezbet Boshra-East. ...
Iran detains eight local British embassy staff
Britain calls arrests "harassment and intimidation" ...
Pakistan Christians Detained For “Blasphemy”, “Robbery”
ISLAMABAD -- Two Pakistani Christians remained detained Thursday, June 25, on false charges of "blasphemy" and "robbery", advocacy groups said. ...
Al-Qaeda claims killing of American in Mauritania
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for this week’s murder of an American teacher in the Mauritanian capital, US-based monitoring group SITE Intelligence said on Friday. ...
Ahmadinejad slams Obama, vows to fight corruption
Iran's president once again on Saturday criticized the United States and President Barack Obama, accusing the latter of interference and suggesting that...
Seekers of Ark Left in the Dark
The leader of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church failed on Friday to make good on a promise of an announcement regarding the Ark of the Covenant....
World Bank to Fund Dead Sea-Red Sea Canal
The World Bank has agreed to fund a pilot program of what could turn out to be one of the most ambitious water projects in the world – the Dead Sea Canal Project, which would see the construction of waterworks 112 miles in length, connecting the Red Sea and Dead Sea. ...
Muslims to Offer Qurans to 100,000 American Leaders
Major educational initiative prompted by President's quoting of Islam's revealed text...
Islamic law is major influence on refugee law
New York - The 1,400-year-old Islamic custom of welcoming people fleeing persecution has had more influence on modern international refugee law than any other traditional source, according to a new study sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)....
Egypt imam approves punctuation use in Quran
A prominent Egyptian preacher has issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, approving the use of punctuation in copies of the Quran, which has sparked protests by religious scholars who say the meaning can be changed if punctuation is inserted in the wrong place. ...
Egyptian Court Imposes Islam on Twin Christian Boys
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on June 15, an Egyptian court delivered a conflicting ruling to a Christian mother seeking custody of her twin boys. While the court granted her custody of the twins, it required that they be considered Muslims despite their own express desire to remain Christian. ...
Trickling Jordan River threatens to dry up
Pilgrims might think twice about baptism in the brackish waters after walking in the footsteps of Jesus down to the Jordan River. ...
Bomb kills 13, wounds over 50 in Baghdad
A bomb killed 13 people and wounded over 50 when it exploded in an industrial area of Baghdad on Friday, just four days before United States combat troops are due to withdraw from Iraqi cities and towns....
Fatah Brags About Anti-Israel Terror
Members of Fatah put on a show recently boasting that Fatah leads other organizations, particularly Hamas, in anti-Israel terrorism. The event was attended by former Palestinian Authority leaders....
'Hizbullah bigger threat than al-Qaida'
Hizbullah has a greater capability of staging a mass casualty terrorist attack in the US than al-Qaida does, and military action against Iran might trigger exactly that, according to a top counter-terrorism official with the New York police. ...
Iranian Dissident: Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters - Help Us!
Iranian anti-regime activists are hoping for an Israeli technological hand to help them fight the Islamic Republic. As of now, hundreds of protesters have been killed by the regime, which is evidently using Arabic-speaking armed thugs from Hizbullah to help perpetrate the violence. ...
Holy Ark Announcement Due on Friday
Ethiopian church leader says Friday, June 26, marks the right time to unveil the Biblical Ark of the Covenant, which he says has been hidden in his church for centuries....
Iran's Ahmadinejad compares Obama to Bush
TEHRAN – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Barack Obama on Thursday of behaving like his predecessor toward Iran and said there was not much point in talking to Washington unless the U.S. president apologized....
Show of mercy may be calculated
NAIROBI : A brutally violent Somali militia showed this week that it has a humane side. Sort of....
Mario and Andrew: Happy Birthday
Voice of the Copts extends the best wishes to the two Copts heroes for their fifteenth birthday. ...
ICC-Voice of the Copts Interview Father Issac
Muslims Injure Christians in Attack on Christian Center in Egypt. Police Impose Curfew on Christians after Instigating Assault...
Afgan soliders kill 48 Taliban fighters in Kabul
Afghan soldiers have killed 48 Taliban fighters in two operations in southern Afghanistan aimed at clearing Taliban strongholds ahead of presidential elections in August, officials and the army said Wednesday....
Egypt police kill African migrant at Israel border
Cairo: Egyptian police shot dead an African migrant at the Israel border on Wednesday, as violence at the sensitive frontier resumes after a near 6-month lull, security sources said....
Amid Crackdown, Iran Admits Voting Errors
CAIRO — Iran’s most powerful oversight council announced on Monday that the number of votes recorded in 50 cities exceeded the number of eligible voters there by three million, further tarnishing a presidential election that has set off the most sustained challenge to Iran’s leadership in 30 years....
Bangladesh arrests 20 Islamists, seizes explosives
DHAKA - Bangladesh security forces seized explosives and arrested some 20 Islamist militants in the last two days in raids across the South Asian country of more than 140 million people, police said on Monday....
Italy Backs Demilitarized PA State
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi warmly received Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Tuesday afternoon, backing his call for a demilitarized Palestinian Authority state and the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state....
Pakistanis Beat Co-worker after Discovering He is a Christian
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a young man from Pakistan was beaten by his co-workers after they learned that he was a Christian. ...
Obama’s Plans for PA State Stuck in Neutral
The deep division between Israeli and American views on the future of Judea and Samaria became more evident Tuesday when the office of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced the cancellation of a planned meeting with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, in France....
Extremists sentence Somalis to amputations
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A court run by an extremist Islamic group sentenced four Somali men on Monday to each have a hand and a leg cut off for allegedly stealing mobile phones and guns. The ruling prompted an outcry from human rights activists....
Public security minister draws ire for Temple Mount visit
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch on Tuesday made a rare visit to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, drawing condemnations from the Islamic Waqf, who charged that the tour was a "provocation." ...
'Egyptian envoy here to discuss Schalit'
An Egyptian general has arrived unexpectedly in Tel Aviv in order to discuss a series of issues, including the negotiations for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, according to Palestinian sources. ...
Iran rules out new elections
Iran's powerful Guardian Council ruled out the possibility of nullifying the country's June 12 presidential election, suggesting there has been no record of any major irregularity. ...
Sarkozy: Muslim burka "not welcome"
The burka, or face covering some Muslim women wear, is "not welcome" in France because it is not a symbol of religion but a sign of subservience for women, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday....
Muslims Attacks Church and Loots Copts Homes
An Egyptian Muslim mob attacked a church on Sunday, 6/21/2009 in the village of Ezbet Boshra-East, El-Fashn, smashing its windows and assaulting Copts with clubs and white weapons, wounding 25 Copts, in the presence and with the instigation of the State Security....
BBC supports Islam and attacks Christianity
One of Radio 2's most popular religious presenters has launched a stinging attack on the BBC suggesting the broadcaster is biased against Christianity. ...
Vatican: Relations with Muslims better, but problems remain
VENICE, Italy -- Relations with Muslims have improved significantly in recent years, but problems remain on issues like conversion and freedom of worship, the Vatican's top interreligious dialogue official said. ...
21 more people killed in Pakistan
Islamabad: Pakistan's army offensive in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan heated up Monday, with militants attacking three security force bases and military jets responding with airstrikes that killed at least 21 people, intelligence officials said. ...
Taliban delivers death threats to non-Muslims
Taliban militants are threatening Christians, Sikhs, and Muslim minoritiy sects with death and onerous headtaxes should they not convert to their violent version of Islam....
Muslim prisoners get their own cells
A prison has agreed to give Muslims their own cells after they complained about sharing with other inmates. ...
Iran accuses UK of vote sabotage
Iran's foreign minister accused Britain on Sunday of seeking to sabotage the disputed presidential election that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power and ordered the BBC’s Tehran correspondent to leave within 24 hours, semi-official media reported Sunday. ...
Iran’s Guardian Council confirms fraud in election
Iran’s Guardian Council has revealed that the number of votes cast in 50 Iranian cities exceeded the number of people entitled to vote. ...
Police Load Protestors in Frozen Meat Van
An Iranian philosophy professor protesting the elections in Iran has revealed in his personal diary on Facebook.com scenes that vary from surreal comedy to all-too-real brutality. After the beating of a riot policeman, he admits, “We’re not beasts! We’re not like them!’ I think, ‘But the bastard deserves it.’ I don’t recognize myself and my feelings anymore.”...
42 operational terror camps in Pak, PoK
NEW DELHI: When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acted tough with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in the full glare of television cameras this ...
Barak: Better not to talk about Gilad Schalit
Following his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak refrained from responding to reports that there has been progress in negotiations with Hamas for the release of abducted soldier Gilad Schalit. ...
Iran says 10 killed in violent clashes with police
Tehran: Iranian state television said 10 people were killed in violent clashes between police and what they call "terrorist groups." ...
Muslim Cleric: Pepsi is "Zionist Plot"
Extremist Moslems have not dropped their allegations that Pepsi Cola is essentially the code name for a Zionist plot....
Senate Majority Leader Disagrees with Obama on Israel Policy
Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) disagreed with U.S. President Barack Obama on his tough policy against Israel in a public letter he sent last week....
Iran Blames ‘Dirty Zionists’
Iranian riot police, armed with tear gas and backed by helicopters, forced protestors off the streets Saturday as the massive protests against last week’s elections appeared to weaken....
City corrals Christians at weekend Arab fest
Judge won't let ministry deliver tracts on sidewalks...
US judges can demand removal of Muslim veil
US court ruling allows judges to order Islamic veil removal. Judges in the United States can now order a veiled woman witness to remove her face covering to testify in court, according to a new court ruling issued last week that has human rights groups worried about its potential discrimination against veiled Muslim women. ...
Truck bomb kills at least 30 in northern Iraq
BAGHDAD – A truck bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq following prayers, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens, police said....
Suicide bomber rocks Khomeini's shrine in Iran
A suicide bomber on Saturday blew himself up at the shrine of Iran's revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran, killing himself and wounding two pilgrims, Fars news agency reported, as defeated candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi called for election annulment....
Somalia seeks foreign military aid amid crisis
The speaker of Somalia's parliament Saturday asked neighboring countries to deploy troops within 24 hours to help the embattled government fight rising attacks by hard line Islamist rebels following the killing of high-profile Somali officials Friday....
Austria probes Ahmadinejad link to 1989 murder
VIENNA - Austrian police will probe allegations linking Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the 1989 murder of a Kurdish opposition leader in Vienna, the foreign minister has said. ...
Militants behead Afghan university student
KABUL, Several armed militants entered the compound of Kandahar University in south Afghanistan Friday and after beheading a student took away another. ...
Obama: U.S. supports reformist protests in Iran
US President Barack Obama has warned Iran the "world is watching" its actions, and stated the United States stood with those seeking "peaceful" justice following the election....
Iraq calls US pullback from cities 'big victory'
Baghdad: Iraq's prime minister said the withdrawal of US troops from urban areas by the end of this month will be a "big victory" for the nation. ...
French women may face ban Islamic dress
France could bar Muslim women from wearing full veils in public, a government minister said yesterday as parliament took action over concerns about an increase in women who are wearing the niqab and burka in big cities....
EU and US leaders condemn threats to Iranian demonstrators
EU and US leaders, as well as Amnesty International, on Friday condemned Iran's threat of crackdown on reformist protesters...
Khamenei raises stakes as Iran braces for violence
Iran’s Supreme Leader dramatically raised the stakes in his country’s political crisis today by demanding an end to the massive street demonstrations and warning of a violent crackdown if they continued. He also accused "treacherous" Britain of leading a western conspiracy to destablise the Islamic Republic by fomenting the protests. ...
U.N. Rights Council Renews But Downgrades Mandate on Sudan
Update: The U.S. joined the U.N. Human Rights Council today for the first time. More than half of the 2009-2010 council members -- 25 out of 47 -- fail to meet basic democracy standards. Can the U.S. effect change? Can a majority be found to pass resolutions that hold the worst abusers accountable for violations? Our recent blog postings below on the failed Sri Lanka session suggest the answer is no. But yesterday's qualified victory regarding Sudan holds out some hope. See below for blog postings on Iran's blaming of "unchaste" women, UN Watch in the News, and more......
Muslims Accuse Mentally Challenged Girl of Blasphemy
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the General Secretary of a fundamentalist Muslim party in Pakistan accused a Christian girl of blasphemy, taking her to the police who interrogated her for 16 hours. ...
Algerian jihadists seek to expand
The killing of some 20 Algerian paramilitary policemen in a desert ambush Wednesday by Islamist extremists linked to al-Qaida was a show of force by the jihadists who appear determined to expand their operations across the region and open a new terror front....
Afghan police: 16 Taliban killed in battle
International and Afghan forces killed 16 Taliban militants in a gunbattle in the country's south, police said on Friday. One police officer also died in the fighting. ...
Sudan talks with Darfur rebels adjourned without deal
Talks between Sudan's government and a Darfur rebel group have been adjourned without agreement, both sides said on Friday, blaming each other for the impasse....
Iran leader backs Ahmadinejad re-election
Iran's supreme leader on Friday said last week's presidential elections showed off the country's religious democracy to the entire world. In a rare move, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed the country following Friday prayers at Tehran University....
federal judge: Christian group can’t roam
A federal judge sided with the city of Dearborn today in a dispute with a Christian group over the distribution of religious literature during an upcoming Arab festival....
French Muslim council slams call for burka query
French MP describes burqa as new "green fascism" ...
Suleiman's popularity worries Mubarak government
Senior representatives of the Egyptian regime are "extremely worried" about the growing popularity of General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman and reports that he may succeed President Hosni Mubarak...
US kills nine in missile attack on Taleban
A US missile attack killed at least nine militants at a South Waziristan training camp today ahead of a planned ground offensive by the Pakistani army on the mountainous tribal region....
Lawsuit Against City for Restricting Christian Ministry During Arab Festival
For the last five years, Pastor George Saieg and scores of his volunteers have visited Dearborn, Michigan during its annual Dearborn Arab International Festival to pass out religious literature and discuss their Christian Faith. Pastor Saieg is a Sudanese Christian, and Founder and Director of the Arabic Christian Perspective (ACP), which ministers to Muslims....
Saudi Cleric With Militant Views Paid Medical Visit to Germany
BERLIN — A prominent Saudi cleric who has extolled Osama bin Laden and preached violence against Shiites, Jews and Christians slipped quietly into Germany for medical treatment in April and even received police protection in the hospital before his departure last month, government and medical officials acknowledged Wednesday. ...
Polish Muslims call for change in law
Warsaw - Polish Muslims want to change a 1936 law that requires them to pray for Poland and the country's president, Polish Radio reported Wednesday....
Muslims Halt Construction of Church Wall for Livestock
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that four radical Muslims are trying to stop Christians in Pakistan from building a boundary wall around the only church in their village because the Muslims use the church's land to stable their livestock. To make matters worse, the police are refusing to defend the rights of Christians to build on their own property....
Obama refuses to 'meddle' over protests
Barack Obama, the US president, is refusing to "meddle" in the disputed Iranian elections, despite mass protests over the result which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. ...
232 Sudanese Slaves Liberated
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) issued a report on the liberation of 232 Sudanese slaves earlier this month. The slaves - Christian and traditionalist members of the Dinka tribe - were liberated, with CSI's support, from Arab masters in Darfur and neighboring Kordofan....
Somali minister killed in suicide bombing
Mogadishu: Somalia's internal security minister was among 10 people killed Thursday in a suicide bombing at a hotel in Beledweyne, north of the capital, management at the hotel who witnessed the blast said. ...
Algeria: Islamists killed 20 policemen in ambush
Armed Islamist ambushed a military convoy in Algeria and killed at least 18 policemen,...
US Rejects Iran Accusation of 'Meddling' in Internal Affairs
The United States has rejected Iranian accusations of interference in its domestic affairs as post-election violence continues to wrack the Islamic Republic. ...
Hoenlein Expresses "Concern" About Obama
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and a top lay leader of American Jewry, says Jews who supported U.S. President Barack Obama are now “very concerned” about him. ...
Family killed in name of honour
SHAHDADKOT: Three persons including a woman and a child were killed in the name of honour by a group of armed men in a village near the Sanjar Bhatti Police Station, Shahdadkot district on Tuesday. ...
Saudi fatwa bans travel as swine flu mutates
Brazilian scientists discovered a new strain of swine flu Tuesday as the disease continued to spread in Middle Eastern countries, which reported new cases of swine flu, prompting a Saudi fatwa banning travel amid a global rise in infected cases....
Hamas rejects Carter plea to recognise Israel
A senior Hamas official praised former US president Jimmy Carter on Wednesday but said he failed to persuade Hamas to accept international demands. ...
Mousavi supporters plan new rally in Tehran
Late Tuesday night in Tehran, pro government militia raided university dormitories and injured hundreds of college supporters of Iranian Presidential candidate...
Muslim Countries Lead World in Human Traffic
Muslim countries in the Middle East and north-central Africa lead the world in human trafficking, according to a new U.S. State Department report. ...
Egypt: Christian and Muslims clash over love affair
Twenty people were injured in a village clash that erupted over a love affair between a Muslim man and Christian woman who went missing for two weeks, security sources said on Saturday. ...
Netanyahu’s Speech Enrages Arabs
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered a peace formula that would create a Palestinian state while preserving Israeli security and national identity in his speech Sunday. The reaction? The Palestinians and others in the Islamic world are…enraged. ...
Obama sees no different between Ahmadinejad, Mousavi
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday there appeared to be few policy differences between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his reformist rival Mir Hossein Mousavi. In a television interview,...
Vatican to Consider Revealing Holocaust Orphans
In response to a request by the Yad L’Achim organization, the Vatican says it will consider asking its church members to “reveal to Holocaust orphans their Jewish past and provide them with accurate information concerning their families.”...
The Seven-Point Manifesto of the Iranian Resistance
Their demands include no less than the resignation of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This widely circulated document has been translated by PJM's Ardeshir Arian. ...
Hamas members helping Iran crush dissent
Palestinian Hamas members are helping the Iranian authorities crush street protests in support of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi,...
Pakistan Taliban Threatens To Kill, Rape, Non Muslims
A loose Pakistan-based umbrella group of factions linked to the militant Taliban organization has threatened to kill or rape all non-Muslims to enslave their children and take away their properties, unless they meet tough conditions....
Carter to Obama: Remove Hamas From Terror List
Former President Jimmy Carter says he will ask the Obama administration to remove the militant Palestinian group from the U.S.-designated terror list, just as Hamas says it foiled a bomb plot against Carter.. ...
Jerusalem's Secret Revealed: How They Filled The Sultan's Pool
Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have uncovered the secret to how ancient engineers managed to fill the Sultan's Pool with water in the Old City of Jerusalem. ...
Pakistan: Christians ready to die for their faith
An 11-year-old boy was shot in the head while attending church near Karachi. Christians live in dread of the Taliban, which is demanding conversion to Islam or death....
Somali Islamists issue blanket ban on movies
MOGADISHU — Islamists controlling southern Somalia on Saturday banned watching DVDs or movies on television and said raids would be conducted to catch offenders, who would then be severely punished....
Hardliners open fire as tension grips Tehran
Tehran was a tinderbox tonight after government paramilitaries started shooting during a huge public protest against last Friday's disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ...
Iran: Khamenei Orders Probe into Disputed Vote
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a probe of the disputed national elections following accusations of vote rigging. Supporters of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi accused incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of widespread voting fraud....
The Genocide of Copts
The Egyptian Government, In a new step in long-term and premeditated process of obliterating Coptic identity and history, has decided to change the name of the Coptic village of Deir Abu Hennis, in the Upper Egyptian province of Mallawi, Minya....
Pakistan orders attack on Taleban leader Baitullah Mehsud
Pakistan has ordered its army to attack Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taleban, in his mountainous stronghold of South Waziristan — also believed to be the hiding place of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda chief. ...
Mayhem in Iran
Violence is spreading in Iran as protestors take to the streets following the government’s announcement that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated reform candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi by a 2-1 margin. Mousavi and his backers have accused the government of rigging the election results....
Netanyahu speech rejected by PA and Hamas
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday rejected Benjamin Netanyahu's speech as "sabotaging" peace efforts....
UN food is stolen from the starving in Somalia fake camp fraud
One of the UN’s largest international relief efforts is under investigation after it emerged that thousands of sacks of food aid were being diverted from starving refugees and openly sold for profit. ...
Netanyahu defies Obama with harsh conditions for Palestinian 'entity'
Binyamin Netanyahu threw down the gauntlet to the US last night, grudgingly agreeing to a limited Palestinian state that would be demilitarised and not in control of its airspace or borders. ...
Chinese Muslims face culture shock in Palau
KOROR, Palau (AP) — They came from a land of scorching deserts, snowcapped mountains, camels and mosques. Now after several miserable years imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, 13 Muslims from China will try to resettle on the tiny Pacific nation of Palau — a land of lush beach resorts. ...
Large scale unrest errupts following Iran election
Reporters to leave Iran amid violence, Mousavi appeals to clerics ...
Muslim secretary quits job after sex rumors
Students claimed administrator was a male crossdresser ...
Riots break out in Teheran as Ahmadinejad wins elections
After weeks of excitement and fervor, it is all over. The numbers are in and incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won a "landslide" victory in the Iranian presidential elections. ...
Iranian election results: Ahmadinejad officially re-elected
The Iranian nation re-elected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second four-year term in office. According to Iran's election headquarters, from a total of 39,165,191 ballots cast...
Sensitive Gaddafi woos the women
He has embarrassed his hosts by likening America to terrorism and suggesting that Italy abolish all its political parties, but yesterday Colonel Muammar Gaddafi won praise from hundreds of leading Italian women by condemning the Arab and Muslim world for treating their sex “like pieces of furniture”. ...
North Korea threat to 'weaponize' plutonium
Defying UN sanctions, Foreign Ministry admits uranium enrichment programme and says it won't give up nuclear ambitions...
Highlights of North Korea Resolution
A look at some key points in the U.N. Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea for its second nuclear test in defiance of an earlier ban....
UN Security Council imposes new sanctions on N. Korea
The UN Security Council on Friday punished North Korea for its second nuclear test, imposing tough new sanctions, expanding an arms embargo and authorizing ship searches on the high seas. ...
Death of a village outside Luxor that lived off ancient tombs
Just outside the Valley of the Kings a set of ancient tombs has created a very modern controversy. ...
Iran election results: News agency claims Ahmadinejad re-elected
Iran stae news agency IRNA declared Mamoud Ahmadinejad the winner in the Friday's presidential elections. ...
Should Bibi Give in to Obama? Israelis Say 'No'
Most Israelis do not believe that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should buckle to pressure by U.S....
Christian Murdered for Drinking Tea from a Muslim Cup
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that radical Muslims running a tea stall beat a Christian man to death for using a cup designated for Muslims on May 9. The young man, Ishtiaq Masih, had ordered tea at a roadside stall in Machharkay village, Punjab, Pakistan, after his bus stopped to allow passengers to relieve themselves. ...
Red Cross symbol to be axed over links to the Crusades
A Labour minister has sparked controversy by claiming that an alternative symbol is needed for the Red Cross because of the logo's supposed links to the Crusades....
Anti-Taliban cleric killed in Pakistan blast
A prominent anti-Taliban Pakistani cleric was killed on Friday in a suicide bomb attack in the city of Lahore as U.S. House of Representatives voted to support financial aid for Pakistan in its fight against violent extremists. ...
Iranian Elections Underway
Iranian citizens headed to the polls Friday to select their country's next president. The two front-runners are incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi....
Interview with Father Zakaria Botros, 'Radical Islam's Bane'
An interview with the Coptic Orthodox Priest with a 60 million dollar bounty on his head from al Qaeda....
Norway: Imam arrested for beatings at koran school
An imam in a mosque in Drammen (Norway) was charged last Thursday for violence, for beating several children at a koran school with a cane or stick....
Ahmadinejad fights for survival
Tensions flared in Tehran last night as thousands of protesters marched to the state television centre, enraged by the discovery that President Ahmadinejad was being given far more airtime than his opponents. ...
Mashaal: Why is Obama setting preconditions only for Hamas?
While most of the Arab world responded with enthusiasm to the overtures in Cairo of US President Barack Obama last week,...
Wild man Gaddafi provokes Italy on first visit to Rome in 40 years
Colonel Gaddafi has arrived in Rome at the start of an historic visit to Libya's former colonial masters with an archive photograph provocatively pinned to his chest showing the arrest of an anti-Italy guerrilla fighter dubbed "The Lion of the Desert". ...
Hamas leader in Egypt to discuss raids
Egypt's intelligence chief held talks with Hamas leader Khalid Mesha'al on Tuesday aimed at containing a crisis after West Bank raids by Palestinian national security forces on Hamas targets sparked clashes....
Death toll rises in Peshawar luxury hotel suicide blast
The death toll from a suicide attack on a luxury hotel in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar has risen to 16 with at least 57 injured, including a British aid worker. ...
Praise Report for ICC Supported Orphans in Burma
Dear Asharf Ramelah, Thank you for praying for the children who were attacked last week in our new orphanage in Burma. We are pleased to report that all 90 of our children have been safely accounted for! We're so grateful to the Father for his provision and protection and to you for praying for their safety. ...
Suspect tells AP soldier's killing was justified
A Muslim convert charged with fatally shooting an American soldier at a military recruiting center said Tuesday that he doesn't consider the killing a murder because U.S. military action in the Middle East made the killing justified....
Car bomb blast kills 30 in south Iraq
At least 30 people were killed and 70 others wounded when a car bomb ripped through a busy market in southern Iraq on Wednesday, a local official said....
Temple Institute Rabbi: Obama is a Robber
U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo last week robbed Judaism of its legacy and threatens the existence of the Jewish state, according to Temple Institute Rabbi Chaim Richman. ...
Muammar Gaddafi arrives on mission to meet 700 top women
Muammar Gaddafi and his female bodyguards in Brussels on a previous trip...
Truck bomb strikes five-star Pakistan hotel
At least 11 people were killed and 70 injured when suspected Islamic militants attacked a five-star hotel in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar tonight. Officials said two foreigners were among the dead. ...
Israel Police blocked PA Infiltrators
Israel Police blocked a group of nearly two dozen Palestinian Authority Arabs from infiltrating into the Dead Sea area in pre-1967 Israel on Tuesday....
EGYPT: POLICEMEN SENTENCED FIVE YEARS FOR KILLING a Copt
In spite of evidence, Officers convicted of manslaughter!...
Pakistani Church Shut for Ringing Its Bells
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that authorities for Pakistan Railway have confiscated a church building in Lahore after Muslim leaders complained about the church ringing its bells and using loudspeakers to call Christians to prayer....
Petition for Martha and Raheal
Dear Asharf Ramelah, Following her conversion from Islam to Christianity five years ago, Martha Samuel Makkar, 24, has been persecuted by police and her relatives for changing her religion. Her relatives have even threatened to kill her...
UN: 60 per cent of Swat's schools destroyed
Sixty percent of the schools in Swat in Pakistan's restive northwest, where the military is currently focussing its anti-Taliban operations, have been destroyed, the UN says, quoting government officials. ...
N. Korea threatens nuclear offensive
North Korea said Tuesday it would use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked - its latest bellicose rhetoric apparently aimed at deterring any international punishment for its recent atomic test blast. ...
Lieberman: Sunni-Shiite Nuclear Arms Race Possible
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned that Iran may precipitate a nuclear arms race with its Arab, Sunni Muslim neighbors. However, the Foreign Minister believes, the international community understands the need for cooperation in handling regional threats. ...
Napolitano adds adviser with ties to terror backers
JERUSALEM – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano swore in to her official advisory council the head of an Arab American organization whose officials have labeled deadly anti-U.S. jihadists as "heroes" and opposed referring to Hamas as a terrorist organization. ...
Libya's Gaddafi set for historic trip to Italy
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will make his first trip to former colonial ruler Italy this week in the most open acknowledgement yet that the two nations have put their bitter past behind them to forge deeper investment ties....
Nasrallah accepts defeat in elections
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah on Monday accepted the results the Lebanese parliamentary elections in which the guerrilla group and its allies were defeated by the Western-backed coalition. ...
Left-wing parties stunned as extremists benefit from low turnout
Centre-left parties across Europe were bereft and bewildered today after voters deserted them for extremists and fringe groups or stayed at home in the lowest-ever turnout for elections to the European Parliament. ...
Hamas Using Ambulances to Terrorize Civilians
Hamas has stolen dozens of donated ambulances and is using them in its campaign of intimidation against Gaza civilians, ...
Magdi Cristiano Allam is elected in the European Parliament
Voice of the Copts congratulates Mr. Magdi Cristiano Allam for his election in the European Parliament, wishing him a great success. ...
Christian Man Raped and Murdered for Refusing Islam
Pakistani Caught in Compromising Situation Still Kept His Faith. International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a young Christian man from Pakistan was caught in a compromising situation with the daughter of a radical Muslim family but refused to convert to Islam despite her insistence and the threats of her three brothers. On May 15, the young man's father found his dead body near a canal in a rural Punjab village, after he had been missing for three days....
Embattled Somali president foregoes Italy summit
MOGADISHU — Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed will not attend a conference in Rome on his beleaguered country, a senior government official told AFP Monday....
Washington Post to Obama: Back Down on ‘Settlements'
The liberal-leaning Washington Post, often noted as reflecting U.S. policy, editorialized Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama’s demand that Israel stop all building for Jews in Judea and Samaria may leave him without Israel as an ally and without Arab support. The daily traditionally has taken a harsh view of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria. ...
US allies defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon election
Hezbollah warns its weapons must stay as March 14 wins ...
Supporters of Iran election rivals clash
Supporters and opponents of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed in a Tehran square on Saturday evening and some cars were set on fire, a witness said, in a sign of rising tension ahead of the June 12 election....
Taliban attacks kill 9 in Afghanistan
Kabul: A Taliban ambush in northwestern Afghanistan killed four policemen early on Sunday, while militants killed five other people at the eastern border near Pakistan, officials said. ...
Being British was a capital crime in the eyes of Edwin Dyer’s Al-Qaeda killer
‘He wept, hands bound. Then I heard two shots’...
Iran starts new ground-to-air missile production
IDefense minister says will be able to pursue, hit enemy aircrafts ...
Jerusalem lambasts Syrian stonewalling of IAEA inspections
Jerusalem on Saturday slammed "new suspicious findings [by the International Atomic Energy Agency], as well as Syria's attempts to avoid answering the demands of the IAEA's request to inspect [nuclear sites]," an official statement made by the Israeli Nuclear Research Agency said. ...
The Taliban will ‘never be defeated'
‘Colonel Imam’, the Pakistani agent who trained Mullah Omar and the warlords to fight the Soviets, says the US must negotiate with its enemies...
ICC Orphanage In Burma Attacked by Burmese Government Forces
Two IDP camps, 200 Children Affected ...
IAEA says uranium traces found at 2nd Syria site
Traces of manmade uranium have been discovered at a second site in Syria and Iran has expanded the number of centrifuges enriching uranium to almost 5,000, according to reports released by the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Friday....
Obama in Buchenwald: I will never forget what I've seen here
President Barack Obama witnessed the Nazi ovens of the Buchenwald concentration camp Friday, its clock tower frozen at the time of liberation, and said the leaders of today must not rest against the spread of evil. ...
Royal Navy captures Somali pirates... and sets them free
Nearly a dozen pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades, machineguns and grappling hooks have been seized in the Gulf of Aden, after being intercepted by a Royal Navy warship. ...
Three Christians Beaten in Two Days in Hyderabad, India
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a pastor and two Christians were attacked by Hindu radicals in two separate incidents near Hyderabad, one of India's most developed cities. ...
Pray for ICC Supported Orphans in Burma
Dear Asharf Ramelah, I just wanted to let you know that one of our worst fears has been realized. Our orphanage in Burma was attacked by the Burmese army last night. ...
ICC prosecutor slams Bashir for not cooperating
Al Arabiya reveals details of report to be presented to UN . The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, was set to brief the United Nations on Friday about his activities related to Sudan and was set to present a report denouncing the Sudanese government for not cooperating with the ICC, Ocampo told Al Arabiya TV. ...
Obama calls for redoubling of efforts toward TWO state solution
Prodding the international community, President Barack Obama called Friday "for all of us to redouble our efforts" toward separate Israeli and Palestinian states. "The moment is now for us to act," he declared. ...
Pakistan mosque bombing kills 40 people
Peshawar: A bomb blast killed around 40 worshippers attending Friday prayers at a mosque in a remote area of northwest Pakistan, a senior official in the area said....
Barack Obama routs hardliners
Barack Obama must have said something right if Osama bin Laden, Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran and the Jewish settlers on the West Bank all lined up to denounce his speech to the Arab and Muslim worlds. ...
Obama delivers strong attack on Israeli settlements in speech to Muslim world
Before a crowd of robed Muslim clerics, dissidents who have served time in jail, students from across the region and besuited government officials from authoritarian regimes, President Obama made an historic speech yesterday to try to mend America’s battered ties with the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims. ...
Full text of Obama's Cairo address
US President Barack Obama delivers a speech at Cairo University, Thursday June 4th, 2009...
Obama prepares to embrace Muslim world in Cairo speech
President Obama held talks with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian President, in Cairo this morning as he prepared to deliver a keenly awaited speech reaching out to the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. ...
Egypt Invites Muslim Brotherhood Radicals to Hear Obama
The radical Muslim Brotherhood party, officially banned in Egypt, has accepted an invitation to attend the speech by President Barack Obama on Thursday. The opposition party formally has renounced violence but has been accused of retaining ties with terrorism....
Mubarak Absent from Obama Speech; Boycott or Coincidence?
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will not be among 3,000 people to attend U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic speech shortly after noon Thursday, a possible bad omen for the American leader trying to win respect in the Muslim world. ...
More than the Muslim world watches Obama
Much is being made of President Barack Obama’s upcoming address to the Muslim world in Cairo on Thursday. The White House has made clear that Obama wants to assure Muslims around the world that Americans share common goals and want to work together to achieve them. But religious minorities in Egypt including Coptic Orthodox Christians and Bahá'ís want assurances too....
The Emergence of President Obama's Muslim Roots
The other day we heard a comment from a White House aide that never would have been uttered during the primaries or general election campaign....
In Saudi Arabia, Obama hails ”wise” king
U.S. President Barack Obama started his Mideast tour on Wednesday by meeting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. "The United States and Saudi Arabia have a long history of friendship....
Yaalon Advocates Strong Response to North Korea
Strategic Threats Minister Moshe Yaalon, a former IDF General and Chief of Staff, told the Knesset on Wednesday, “A weak international response towards North Korea’s provocation is liable to encourage Iran to continue its nuclear projects. A strong response, on the other hand, can bring about a change in Iran’s plans.”...
Israel Supports Terror by Giving Money to PA for Hamas
Ichud Leumi (National Union) Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad on Wednesday accused the government of turning Israel into a “state that supports terror” by the practice of transferring money to the Palestinian Authority. The PA uses part of the funds to pay salaries of Hamas members in Gaza....
Obama Invites Iran to July 4th Parties
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras -- In a new overture to Iran, the Obama administration has authorized U.S. embassies around the world to invite Iranian officials to Independence Day parties they host on or around July 4. ...
Egypt launches 'moderate' satellite TV
A group of prominent clerics has announced the launch of a new satellite channel in Egypt that will promote the face of what it calls moderate Islam, in order to counter the "distortion of Islam into a violent, intolerant force." ...Author info
Ashraf Ramelah