Three men and a teenager have been arrested after planning to bomb a Muslim community in upstate New York, and investigators have recovered three homemade bombs and nearly two dozen guns, authorities said on Tuesday. The alleged plot was uncovered after a student at Odyssey Academy, a school in Greece, New York, showed a classmate… Read More Four arrested, charged over plot to bomb Muslim community in New York
Minority Muslims in the southern Philippines cast votes on Monday in a long-awaited referendum on autonomy, the culmination of a peace process to end decades of separatist conflict in a region plagued by poverty, banditry and Islamist extremism. Some 2.8 million people in the volatile Mindanao region are being asked if they back a plan… Read More Philippines conducts referendum for Muslim autonomy in southern region
Abu Bakar Bashir, the radical Muslim cleric and alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings, will be granted early release from jail on humanitarian grounds, Indonesia’s president said on Friday. 81-year-old Bashir, who is considered the spiritual leader of the Islamist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), was convicted in 2010 under anti-terrorism laws for links to… Read More Indonesia to release alleged mastermind of 2002 Bali bombings Abu Bakar Bashir
Unknown gunmen shot dead two Buddhist monks and injured two others in an attack at a temple in Thailand’s mainly Muslim south, the first such killing of a Buddhist monk in the restive region in more than three years. An abbot and vice abbot were killed when at least six assailants believed to be dressed… Read More Two monks killed, two injured as gunmen attack Buddhist temple in Thailand
Ukraine chose the head of a new national Orthodox church on Saturday, marking an historic split from Russia which its leaders see as vital to the country’s security and independence. President Petro Poroshenko said 39-year-old Metropolitan Epifaniy of the Kiev Patriarchate church had been chosen as head of the church by a council, comparing the… Read More Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko names head of independent Orthodox church following split from Russia
Pope Francis called on Monday for the eradication of anti-Semitism following an increase in attacks and hate crimes against Jews in several countries and said it was vital to preserve the memory of the Holocaust. In the worst attack ever against U.S. Jews, a gunman yelling ‘All Jews must die’ stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue on… Read More Pope Francis calls for eradication of anti-semitism following increase in attacks on Jews
A gunman yelling, “All Jews must die,” stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue during Saturday services, killing 11 worshippers and wounding six other people including four police officers, before he was arrested. 46-year-old Robert Bowers of Pittsburgh, was taken into custody after a shootout with a SWAT team. Federal prosecutors charged him with 29 criminal counts including… Read More Eleven killed, six injured as gunman opens fire during Sabbath service at synagogue in Pittsburgh
Chile’s Court of Appeal has ordered the office of Santiago’s Archbishop to pay $450 million pesos (an equivalent of $650,000) to three men who alleged they were sexually abused for decades by Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, a local newspaper said on Sunday. Citing a copy of a leaked judgment, La Tercera said the three judges… Read More Chilean appeal court orders Catholic Church to pay $650,000 damages over clergy sexual abuse
