TheRepublic.com - Religious strife News

Myanmar Muslims jailed for killing Buddhist monk

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:46:27 -0400

MEIKHTILA, Myanmar - A Myanmar court sentenced seven Muslims to prison Tuesday - one of them to a life term - in the killing of a Buddhist monk amid deadly sectarian violence that was overwhelmingly directed against minority Muslims but has not led to any criminal trials against members of the country's Buddhist majority.

State Dept: Reports of anti-Semitism increase

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:02:41 -0400

WASHINGTON - The State Department appointed a special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism Monday as a new report documents a global increase in incidents of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.

Imprisoned Ohio Amish complain about schooling

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:38:37 -0400

CLEVELAND - Some of the Amish sentenced in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio are upset with federal prison education requirements.

Myanmar leader, Obama to meet while reforms stall

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:56:55 -0400

WASHINGTON - Myanmar President Thein Sein's historic White House visit next week is the culmination of U.S. outreach to a former pariah regime. That's been based on a principle of taking "action for action" by deepening ties in response to democratic reforms.

Egypt Muslim-Christian clashes leave 1 dead

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:13:47 -0400

CAIRO - Egyptian security officials say clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria left one man dead of a heart attack.

Bangladesh, Myanmar relieved as cyclone fizzles

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:31:36 -0400

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh - A once-fearsome cyclone that was threatening Bangladesh and Myanmar dissipated quickly, causing some deaths but largely relieving authorities who had told more than 1 million people to leave vulnerable coastal areas in preparation for a far worse storm.

Attacks against Lebanese Alawites deepen fears

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:06:06 -0400

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese members of the Syrian leader's Alawite sect fear their tiny community will be a casualty of the civil war raging in the neighboring country.

Attacks on Sunni mosques fuel fears in Iraq

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:20:40 -0400

BAGHDAD - A sharp rise in attacks on Sunni holy sites in Iraq is feeding fears that the country could spiral into a new round of sectarian violence similar to the bloodletting that brought Iraq to its knees in 2006 and 2007.

Syria-linked group blamed in Turkey blasts; 43 die

Sat, 11 May 2013 19:11:13 -0400

REYHANLI, Turkey - In one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years, two car bombs exploded near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing 43 and wounding 140 others. Turkish officials blamed the attack on a group linked to Syria, and a deputy prime minister called the neighboring country's intelligence service and military "the usual suspects."

Indonesia anti-terror squad kills 7 militants

Thu, 09 May 2013 05:37:40 -0400

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's elite anti-terrorism unit conducted several bloody operations to root out suspected Islamic militants, killing seven and arresting 13 others, police said Thursday as they continued to investigate an alleged plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy.

Hard-line Islamists to make gains in Pakistan vote

Thu, 09 May 2013 02:23:34 -0400

MARDAN, Pakistan - The imposing, black-bearded politician in a striking white turban takes the stage at a campaign rally in northwest Pakistan as a song about Islamic holy war blares over loudspeakers. Before a chanting crowd, he praises the Afghan Taliban and blasts Pakistan's government for not protecting Osama bin Laden from U.S. commandos.

Man charged in beating of Sikh elder in Fresno

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:15:04 -0400

FRESNO, California - A Central California man is facing charges of attempted murder and elder abuse in connection with the beating of an 82-year-old Sikh man outside a Sikh temple in Fresno.

Dalai Lama lashes Myanmar, Lanka Buddhist violence

Wed, 08 May 2013 05:55:25 -0400

NEW DELHI - The Dalai Lama has implored Buddhist monks in Myanmar and Sri Lanka to put an end to a series of recent attacks on Muslims in their countries.

Myanmar charges 6 Muslims with sectarian violence

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:49:12 -0400

YANGON, Myanmar - A court in Myanmar has charged six Muslims with murder for their alleged role in an outbreak of sectarian violence that shook the country in March, authorities said Tuesday, as a rights group raised concern over a judicial system that has so far failed to prosecute Buddhists who brutally hunted Muslims down in the streets and torched whole neighborhoods.

Pakistan's minorities have no faith in democracy

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:13:53 -0400

LAHORE, Pakistan - In majority Muslim Pakistan, religious minorities say democracy is killing them.

In Myanmar, living in fear amid religious violence

Thu, 02 May 2013 21:16:27 -0400

YANGON, Myanmar - They have seen how trouble starts from the smallest things. They have seen the police powerless before mobs fired with religious zeal and armed with bricks and swords. They have seen on TV and in newspapers the burning homes of people just like them light up the night. And so they have erected rusted barbed-wire barricades and volunteered to sit on street corners, 10 men at time, watching through the night.

Indian politician acquitted in anti-Sikh riots

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:28:43 -0400

NEW DELHI - An Indian court acquitted a ruling Congress party leader on Tuesday of charges he incited mobs to kill Sikhs during the country's 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

US panel: Afghans need more religious freedom

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:17:13 -0400

KABUL, Afghanistan - Despite significant improvements since the hard-line Taliban ruled Afghanistan, religious freedom remains poor, especially for minorities, and Afghans still can't debate religion or question prevailing Islamic orthodoxies without fear of being punished, a U.S. commission said in a new report on Tuesday.

Syrian prime minister escapes bombing in Damascus

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:10:45 -0400

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's prime minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the heart of the heavily defended capital Monday, state media said, laying bare the vulnerability of President Bashar Assad's regime.

Escaped psychiatric patient attacks rabbi in Paris

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:28:31 -0400

PARIS - An escapee from a psychiatric institution slashed a rabbi and his son with a box-cutter on Tuesday, prompting witnesses to tackle and subdue the attacker after a chase through a Paris synagogue, officials said.

Complex history between Iran and al-Qaida

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:25:45 -0400

Canadian authorities claim al-Qaida operatives in Iran directed a failed plot to attack a passenger train. Iran denies it has any links to the two suspects. What falls in between is Iran's complicated history with the terror group that has included outright hostility, alliances of convenience and even overtures by Tehran to assist Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Correction: Sex Slaying-Minister story

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:28:38 -0400

MOUNT PLEASANT, Michigan - In an April 18 story about the sentencing of a former minister for the murder of a 24-year-old Michigan woman, The Associated Press erroneously reported the location of the church he led. The Christ Community Fellowship church is in Isabella County's Deerfield Township, about 120 miles northwest of Detroit, not in Lapeer County's Deerfield Township, which is about 60 miles north of Detroit.