Boston mosque says bombing suspect had outbursts but wasn’t violent
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (RNS) Leaders at a Cambridge mosque say Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev "disagreed with the moderate American-Islamic theology" of the mosque, but they never had "any...
View ArticleArmenians cast doubt on ‘Misha’ impact on bombing suspects
WATERTOWN, Mass. (RNS) Two relatives of Tamerlan Tsarnaev say he was influenced by an Armenian convert to Islam named Misha. Armenian Americans say it is very unlikely an Armenian would become a Muslim.
View ArticleSyrian civil war forces Sunni and Shiite Muslims to pick sides
(RNS) Whether the battle will be contained to Syria is in doubt now that Islam's two major strands have taken sides against one another, threatening to spark a wider war that is centuries in the making...
View ArticleFate of Jerusalem looms over peace talks
(RNS) Competing claims on the land are most intense in the Temple Mount-Haram al Sharif area and the stone-paved 1-square-kilometer area of Jerusalem's Old City. But Jewish neighborhoods and...
View ArticlePolitical Islam on the defensive across the Middle East
(RNS) The conflict between secularists and Islamists is generating a new religious dialogue about the role of religion in politics, as political leaders in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait...
View ArticleJews ordered to register in east Ukraine
(RNS) The leaflet begins, "Dear Ukraine citizens of Jewish nationality," and states that all people of Jewish descent over 16 years old must report to the Commissioner for Nationalities in the Donetsk...
View ArticleIn a nutshell: What is Boko Haram?
(RNS) Boko Haram opposes the education of girls and has kidnapped girls to use as cooks and sex slaves. It has killed hundreds of children.
View ArticleIraq militants announce new Islamic state
(RNS) The militant group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant announced it will now be known as The Islamic State.
View ArticleRockets or not, Birthright still going to Israel
(RNS) Rocket fire from terrorists in Gaza may have scared off U.S. and European airlines, but Taglit-Birthright Israel is still sending thousands of young Jews to the famed summer Israel experiences.
View ArticleBoko Haram emerges as brutal Islamic State of Africa
(RNS) Nigerian government troops seem weak and incapable of stopping Boko Haram from becoming a growing danger to Africa's most populous country and the world's 10th largest oil exporter.
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