KASHMIRI COMMUNITY LEADER BRIEFS INDIAN LAWMAKERS ON CONTENTIOUS WAQF BILL

Sat 25 January 2025: Community leader and preacher Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday conveyed to Indian lawmakers the Kashmiri religious community’s concerns over a proposed law seeking more government control over Waqf properties. Waqf is endowment of land or property by a Muslim for religious, educational or charitable purposes. Farooq attended the parliamentary committee in […]

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DANISH PROSECUTORS FILE CHARGES IN HISTORIC QURAN DESECRATION CASE

Sat 25 January 2025: For the first time in Denmark’s history, two individuals have been charged with improper treatment of a religious scripture after allegedly disrespecting the Quran, prosecutors announced Friday. “The Public Prosecutor in Copenhagen has brought the first case of violation of section 110e(2) of the Danish Criminal Code on improper treatment of […]

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MULTI-STOREY HOTEL THREATENS BO-KAAP’S IDENTITY

Thu 23 January 2025: Cultural heritage clashes with modern development. A proposed six-story hotel, planned just 20 meters from the Auwal Masjid, in the heart of Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, where the call to prayer echoes through cobblestone streets, has sparked outrage among residents. The Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayers Association, led by Osman Shabad, is leading the […]

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BIDEN AWARDS POPE FRANCIS PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM WITH DISTINCTION

Mon 13 January 2025: US President Joe Biden has awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction, the highest civilian honor granted by the president. The White House in a statement on Saturday said Biden bestowed the award to the pope during a phone call. It described the pontiff as “the People’s Pope […]

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SECOND SYNAGOGUE IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA DEFACED WITH ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI

Sat 11 January 2025: Australia has seen a series of anti-Semitic incidents in the last year, including graffiti on buildings and cars. A synagogue in Sydney has been daubed in anti-Semitic graffiti, police said, a day after the anti-Semitic vandalism of a separate synagogue in the New South Wales state capital. According to police officials, vandals […]

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OVER 400 CHRISTIAN LEADERS URGE PRESIDENT MURMU, PM MODI TO ADDRESS ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE

Fri 03 January 2025: The appeal comes after at least 14 incidents of violence, threats, and disruptions targeted Christian gatherings across the country during the Christmas season, the leaders and church groups wrote in a press release. New Delhi: Over 400 senior Christian leaders and 30 church groups on Tuesday (December 31) have issued an urgent […]

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POPE FRANCIS URGES WORLD LEADERS TO ANNUL DEBT OF POORER NATIONS

Thu 02 January 2025: Pope Francis on Wednesday urged world leaders to annul the debt of poorer countries, the official Vatican news agency reported. Speaking after his traditional New Years’ Day Angelus, the pontiff said: “I encourage leaders of nations with Christian traditions to set an example by canceling or significantly reducing the debts of […]

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AT CHRISTMAS, POPE CALLS FOR ‘SILENCE OF ARMS’, SAYS GAZA SITUATION ‘GRAVE’

Wed 25 December 2024: Pope Francis has denounced the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza while appealing for the release of captives and a ceasefire in the war-torn coastal enclave. In his Christmas “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and world) address on Wednesday at the Vatican, Francis also appealed for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. “I […]

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POPE FRANCIS AGAIN CONDEMNS ‘CRUELTY’ OF ISRAELI STRIKES ON GAZA

Mon 23 December 2024: Pope Francis doubled down Sunday on his condemnation of Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip, denouncing their “cruelty” for the second time in as many days despite Israel accusing him of “double standards”. “And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of schools and hospitals. […]

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RUSSIA’S TOP ISLAMIC AUTHORITY PERMITS POLYGAMY FOR MUSLIM MEN

Mon 23 December 2024: Russia’s top Islamic authority has issued a ruling permitting polygamy in specific circumstances, according to state-run news agency RIA Novosti. Mufti Ildar Alyautdinov, deputy chairman of the Ulama Council of Russia’s Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM), announced the decision and outlined the conditions for religious polygamy or, more specifically polygyny, the practice […]

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