DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Every Saturday, in secluded beach villas, hotel banquet halls and luxury apartment towers across Dubai, Jews arrive to worship at some of the world's most hidden synagogues even as the United Arab Emirates encourages the dramatic growth and openness of its Jewish community.
CAIRO (AP) — For the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the smell of freshly baked orange biscuits and powdered sugar-dusted cookies typically fills the air in Mona Abubakr’s home. But due to higher prices, the Egyptian housewife this year made smaller quantities of the sweet treats, some of which she gives as gifts to relatives and neighbors.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Millions of Muslims in Indonesia returned to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in full swing Monday after two years of subdued festivities due to pandemic restrictions and travel curbs.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Thousands of Iranians marched in the capital of Tehran on Friday to mark “Quds Day," or Jerusalem Day, a traditional show of support for the Palestinians. It was the first time such marches were held since before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
APRIL 22 – APRIL 28
As Russian attacks across Ukraine this week dominated the news, French President Emmanuel Macron was reelected, winning another five years in the presidential palace. Many countries celebrated Orthodox Easter, this time without the restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic, while elsewhere the Islamic holy month of Ramadan continued.
CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese authorities released two outspoken former government officials from jail, lawyers said Wednesday, part of trust-building measures amid efforts to end the country’s political impasse.
Afghanistan should join a list of the “worst of the worst” violators of religious freedom in the wake of the Taliban's return to power, a U.S. advisory body is recommending to the State Department.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Christians celebrated their “Holy Fire” ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Saturday against a backdrop of rising tensions with Israel, which imposed new restrictions on attendance this year that it said were needed for safety.
CAIRO (AP) — When the Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins, a battle rages in Habiba Khanom’s mind: If she goes without food or drink, is she doing it for God or because of her anorexia? Deep down she knows the answer, and it saddens her.
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of members of an Islamist group rallied in Bangladesh’s capital on Friday to protest recent violence in Sweden involving an anti-Muslim far-right group and fresh clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.
PARIS (AP) — From attacks on “wokeism” to crackdowns on mosques, France’s presidential campaign has been especially challenging for voters of immigrant heritage and religious minorities, as discourse painting them as “the other” has gained ground across a swath of French society.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Sunday entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City to secure the way for Jewish visitors to the flashpoint holy site, fueling clashes that left 17 Palestinians wounded, according to Palestinian medical workers.
It’s a convergence that happens only rarely. Coinciding with Judaism’s Passover, Christianity’s Easter and Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, Buddhists, Baha’is, Sikhs, Jains and Hindus also are celebrating their holy days in April.
PERTUIS, France (AP) — Muslim headscarves, a perennial issue in France, took center stage in the country's presidential campaign Friday amid far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s push to ban them in the country that has western Europe's largest Muslim population.
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — After a two-year break, thousands of people in Bangladesh and Nepal on Thursday celebrated their respective new years with colorful processions and musical soirees as the coronavirus pandemic eased and life swung back to normal.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-confidence vote early Sunday set Pakistan on an uncertain political path, with his supporters taking to the streets in protest and the political opposition preparing to install his replacement.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s political opposition toppled Prime Minister Imran Khan in a no-confidence vote in Parliament early Sunday after several political allies and a key party in his ruling coalition deserted him.
CAIRO (AP) — The new head of Yemen’s internationally recognized government said on Friday that the council he was chosen to lead will work to end the country’s grinding, eight-year civil war.
In his first televised address, Rashad al-Alimi thanked his government’s backers —Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — which have been helping Yemeni government forces fight the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for years.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Prime Minister Imran Khan’s bid to stay in power, ruling that his move to dissolve Parliament and call early elections was illegal. That set the stage for a no-confidence vote by opposition lawmakers, who say they have enough support to oust him.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's top court began hearing arguments Monday on whether Prime Minister Imran Khan and his allies had the legal right to dissolve parliament and set the stage for early elections.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister threw the country into political limbo on Sunday, accusing the United States of attempting to oust him and cancelling a no-confidence vote he was poised to lose.
NEW DELHI (AP) — A recent court ruling upholding a ban on Muslim students wearing head coverings in schools has sparked criticism from constitutional scholars and rights activists who say that judicial overreach threatens religious freedoms in officially secular India.
BEIRUT (AP) — Muslim-majority nations, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and the United Arab Emirates, declared that the holy month of Ramadan, when the faithful observe a dawn-to-dusk fast, would begin at sunrise Saturday.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistanis celebrated Wednesday their National Day with a military parade in the capital, Islamabad, showcasing this Islamic nation's elite army units and high-tech weaponry. On display were short, medium, and long-range missiles, tanks, fighter jets and other hardware.
NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian court Tuesday upheld a ban on wearing hijab in class in the southern state of Karnataka, saying the Muslim headscarf is not an essential religious practice of Islam in a ruling that is likely to further deepen religious tensions in the country.
BAGHDAD (AP) — Thousands of pilgrims dressed in black made their way on foot towards a gold-domed shrine in northwestern Baghdad on Saturday, part of a weeklong procession to commemorate the death of a revered figure in Shiite Islam.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Kabul University, among Afghanistan’s oldest and most revered institutions of higher education, reopened Saturday for the first time since the Taliban takeover six months ago.
CAIRO (AP) — The young woman could hear her heart pounding so hard that she worried the microphone placed in front of her would pick up its sound. Seated around her were officials from Islamic nations, including her country’s president.
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Palestinian militants scrambled out of the tunnel and attacked an Israeli tank in broad daylight as gunfire and explosions echoed across the Gaza frontier.
This time it wasn't the start of another war, but an action scene filmed for a TV series produced by the territory's militant Hamas rulers.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Thousands of cars and motorbikes paraded in celebration of the 43rd anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution on Friday, although fewer pedestrians were out for a second straight year due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani women rallied Thursday to denounce a ban imposed in a region in neighboring India on the wearing of the traditional headscarf, or hijab, by Muslim girls in schools.
BARZAN, Syria (AP) — Roza Barakat's tormentors have been defeated, but the horrors she endured still hold her captive.
She was 11 years old when she was captured and enslaved by the Islamic State group, along with thousands of other Yazidi women and girls taken when the militants overran northern Iraq in their brutal 2014 campaign.
NICE, France (AP) — The French government on Saturday introduced a new body to reshape Islam in France, part of President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to rid it of extremism.
The Forum of Islam in France leadership will be made up of clergy and lay people to help guide the largest Muslim community in western Europe.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing criticism for civilian deaths in U.S. airstrikes, President Joe Biden targeted the leader of the Islamic State group on Thursday in an approach — a ground raid by special forces — that was riskier for American troops but intended to be safer for the innocent.
ATMEH, Syria (AP) — The leader of the Islamic State group blew himself up along with members of his family as American forces raided his Syria hideout Thursday, the U.S. said — the second time in three years the United States has taken out a leader of the violent group that has been struggling for resurgence with deadly attacks in the region.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing criticism for civilian deaths in U.S. airstrikes, President Joe Biden targeted the leader of the Islamic State group on Thursday in an approach — a ground raid by special forces — that was riskier for American troops but intended to be safer for the innocent.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia is inching toward changes that govern its national anthem and green flag, which is emblazoned with a sword and inscribed with Islam’s creed as the birthplace of the faith.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A woman who once lived in Kansas has been arrested after federal prosecutors charged her with joining the Islamic State group and leading an all-female battalion of AK-47 wielding militants.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — One of the seven sheikhdoms in the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will allow “gaming” while announcing a multibillion-dollar deal with Las Vegas-based casino giant Wynn Resorts.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday ordered an investigation into a Conservative lawmaker’s claim that she was fired from a government job in part because of her Muslim faith — the latest allegation of wrongdoing that is shaking the Conservative government and Johnson’s grip on power.