Islam

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Teddy Teacher May Gain Early Release

British Muslim lawmakers optimistic as they arrive in Sudan

(Newser) - British Muslim lawmakers came to Sudan today to push for the early release of the teacher whose class set off a national furor by naming a teddy bear Muhammad, the BBC reports. The move raised hopes that Sudan leaders can free her to a Muslim delegation without angering protesters calling...

Armed Mob Wants British Teacher Dead
Armed Mob Wants British Teacher Dead
Nov 30, 2007 11:24 AM CST

Armed Mob Wants British Teacher Dead

Teddy bear case turns uglier as thousands protest in Khartoum

(Newser) - An armed mob thousands strong protested in front of the presidential palace in Khartoum today, demanding the execution of the British teacher who allowed her students to name a teddy bear "Mohammed." Meanwhile, Britain's first Muslim MP is flying to Sudan to push for the teacher's early release,...

Iran Vows to Crack Down on 'Obscene' Rap Music

Officials will 'confront' musicians

(Newser) - In its latest bid to protect traditional Islamic morality from encroaching Western influences, Iran announced it will crack down on rap music it considers "obscene." Rap music in Farsi focusing on social, political and sexual themes is growing increasingly popular on the black market. An official recently condemned...

LAPD Scraps Muslim Mapping Program
LAPD Scraps Muslim Mapping Program
Nov 15, 2007 6:22 AM CST

LAPD Scraps Muslim Mapping Program

Mayor rips 'counterproductive' police plan

(Newser) - Following a frenzy of controversy, the Los Angeles police department is scrapping its much-criticized plan to "map" Muslim communities. The department had hoped to pinpoint isolated Muslim communities in an attempt to identify problem hot spots. Critics said the plan was a form of religious profiling, and that it...

Enemies May Overstate Hamas Split
Enemies May Overstate Hamas Split
Nov 10, 2007 10:41 AM CST

Enemies May Overstate Hamas Split

It's a muddle of 'sub-leaderships,' says Economist

(Newser) - Reports of strife within the Palestinian faction Hamas are likely exaggerated, the Economist says. The Islamist party may be splitting under the pressure of sanctions, but reports are hard to judge because “few observers are neutral.” There are “sub-leaderships," though. After seizing Gaza in June, for...

Jesus 2.0: GodTube Is a Smash With Believers

Site offers networking, user-generated video

(Newser) - GodTube, one of the fastest-growing sites on the web, is drawing masses of the Christian faithful to its user-generated videos, social-networking tools and the "GodCaster," which offers live video presentations. It's not a church, the LA Times reports, but a for-profit business backed by a "who's who"...

Islamic Militants Blamed in Blasts
Islamic Militants Blamed in Blasts
Oct 19, 2007 4:15 AM CDT

Islamic Militants Blamed in Blasts

(Newser) - A "ball of fire" turned a Karachi street from a scene of celebration into one of "absolute horror and carnage" early this morning after two explosions killed at least 136 people gathered to hail the return of former Pakistan Prime Minster Benazir Bhutto, reports the BBC. The Pakistan...

Muslim Scholars to Pope: It's the Same God

Letter calls for peace, understanding between Christianity and Islam

(Newser) - Christianity and Islam are more alike than they are different, Muslim scholars say in a letter to Pope Benedict XVI. Quoting passages from the Bible and Koran, the letter shows links between the faiths, and calls for peace. If enough people heed the statement, one scholar says, “the atmosphere...

Italians Face Off After Town Permits Burka

Immigrants win right to wear coverall, but ruling clashes with law

(Newser) - Italy is in the midst of an ugly dispute over immigration and Islam following one town's decision to permit the wearing of the burka. The Guardian reports that the prefect of Treviso, near Venice, made the ruling despite laws forbidding the Islamic garment, which covers a woman's body from head...

Islamic Rituals Face a Celestial Test

Scholars send astronaut aloft with guide to following Koran in orbit

(Newser) - He wasn’t the first Muslim in space, but Malaysia's Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor will be the first to follow customized guidelines for religious observance in orbit, the Guardian reports. Praying toward Mecca and fasting between sunrise and sunset seemed impossible until scholars spent a year bringing the challenges down to...

Muslim Critic Back in Holland, Goes Into Hiding

Ex-MP Hirsi Ali seeks protection after bodyguards stand down

(Newser) - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the former Dutch parliamentarian who has lived in exile since 2006, has returned home after Holland's government stopped paying for her security. The Times of London writes that Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee known for criticizing Islam, has been under round-the-clock protection since the 2004 murder of...

Sitcom Promises Syriana, Delivers Wonder Years

Aliens in America is sweet, not edgy tale of Pakistani fish out of water

(Newser) - The new sitcom Aliens in America courts controversy by planting a Muslim Pakistani in an American high school—but it ends up just another suburban comedy. A mom orders a foreign exchange student as an insta-friend for her dorky son, only to find the equally dorky Raja Musharaff waiting at...

Al-Qaeda Puts Price on Head of Cartoonist

$100,000 for murder of Swede who drew offensive image

(Newser) - An al-Qaeda affiliate is offering a reward to slaughter a Swedish cartoonist who drew an image offensive to Muslims. In an online statement, Islamic State in Iraq offered $100,000 for Lars Vilks' murder and $50,000 for that of the newspaper editor who published the cartoon. The reward escalated...

Taliban Told Hostages to Convert or Die

Freed Koreans describe harrowing 6-week Afghanistan ordeal

(Newser) - South Korean aid workers held captive by Taliban militants in Afghanistan recounted being urged at gunpoint to convert to Islam during at a news conference in Seoul today, the BBC reports. They were often beaten and forced to work "like slaves" during a six-week ordeal, which ended last month...

Osama Tape 'Sophomoric' and Bizarre

'I expect more from a terrorist mastermind,' says National Review

(Newser) - Osama’s latest tape is “a great disappointment,” as sophomoric as it is bizarre, says James Robbins in the National Review. The terrorist’s invitation for Americans to convert to Islam – which would force “warmongering corporations” to spend energy converting people back – is as odd...

Kean Slams US Security Effort Since 9/11

Americans are no safer, says commission head; foreign policy a disaster

(Newser) - Six years after 9/11 and three years after the 9/11 Commission report, commission chairman Thomas Kean assesses the nation's progress in protecting itself against the threat of terrorism.  On the domestic front, our defenses are better, he writes in the Washington Post., but internationally we have lost ground to...

US Apologizes For Insensitive Soccer Balls

Afghans don't like prophet's name being kicked around

(Newser) - The US military apologized to Afghans today for soccer balls it distributed to young Muslim Beckhams in “good will.” The balls sported the Saudi flag, which carries the Islamic declaration of faith—including the names of Allah and Muhammad. An Afghan governor said villagers wanted to demonstrate against...

Turkish Army Blasts Incoming President

Fears of a coup return as former Islamist ascends to top job

(Newser) - Turkey is heading for a showdown over the relation of the state and Islam as Abdullah Gul, who has been the subject of bitter protests, was named president of Turkey in a parliamentary election today. The nomination of Gul, the foreign minister and a practicing Muslim whose wife wears a...

Iraq Blasts Toll Rises to 500
Iraq Blasts Toll Rises to 500
Aug 16, 2007 12:35 AM CDT

Iraq Blasts Toll Rises to 500

Deadliest terror attack since fall of Hussein

(Newser) - The death toll from Tuesday's series of suicide truck bombings in northern Iraq may exceed 500, with scores more lying injured in hospitals, CNN reports. The attacks were reportedly launched by al-Qaeda against the Yazidi, a pre-Islamic sect, spotlighting the religious warfare that US troop surge sought to quell.

Padilla Terror Trial Targets Islam: Lawyer

Defense charges prosecutors play on jurors' post-9-11 fears

(Newser) - A lawyer for one of Jose Padilla's co-defendants accused prosecutors of turning the terror suspects' trial into a "US versus Islam" crusade to conceal a lack of evidence. Padilla, a US citizen, and two other men face charges of conspiring to murder and injure people in Afghanistan and Eastern...

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