Karachi: Dancing and chanting in Swahili at a crocodile shrine outside Karachi, hundreds of Sheedis swayed barefoot to the rhythm of a language they no longer speak — the celebration offering a rare chance to connect with their African roots. For many Sheedis, the swampy crocodile shrine to Sufi saint Haji Syed Shaikh Sultan —…

  Vatican City: Pope Francis on Sunday called for “reconciliation” in the Middle East, singling out the conflict in Yemen during his Easter message to the world. “We beseech fruits of reconciliation for the Holy Land, also experiencing in these days the wounds of ongoing conflict that do not spare the defenceless, for Yemen and…

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Wednesday blocked access to Facebook and suspended internet services in a troubled central district after police warned that rioters were using social media to spread anti-Muslim sentiment. The government declared an island-wide state of emergency Tuesday and imposed curfews across Kandy after days of rioting claimed at least two lives and left…

NEW YORK: The city of New York has agreed to pay $180,000 to three Muslim women forced by police to remove their headscarves to have mug shots taken, officials said Wednesday. Each of the women is to receive $60,000 after the settlements were finalized in a Brooklyn federal court earlier this week, their lawyer Tahanie…

NEW DELHI: In a big move, the Indian government Tuesday announced to withdraw subsidy for Hajj pilgrims, and use the funds for girls’ education and minority women. Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi made this announcement. The minister added that “Hajj subsidy funds will be used for educational empowerment of girls and women of minority…

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson (PTI) Imran Khan said that the US aid cuts to Pakistan are a consequence of our political rulers’ actions. He is currently addressing a press conference at his Bani Gala residence. He began his press conference by condoling the demise of former air chief Air Marshal Asghar Khan, who passed away…

CASABLANCA: “Teaching young people to dream again” is the vision of a Moroccan cultural centre in a rundown Casablanca district, once home to a group of suicide bombers who killed 33 people in 2003. Based in a white building next to a tramline and opposite a mosque, the Stars Cultural Centre in Sidi Moumen regularly…

NEW DESK: A self-driving car engineer has created a religion based on creating and worshipping a so-called ‘god’ of Artificial Intelligence (AI) . Anthony Levandowski, the former Google and Uber executive currently at the centre of a bombshell lawsuit, says he’s serious about starting a religion centred around super-smart artificial intelligence. The lawsuit was filed…

A room that used to house Sunday School classes is pictured at a church in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China December 18, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Shepherd WENZHOU, China: When authorities in China’s southeastern city of Wenzhou outlawed Sunday School earlier this year, Christian parents determined their children must still learn about Jesus and the Bible, reported Reuters….

WASHINGTON: Hundreds of Muslims attended Friday prayers in front of the White House to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Responding to the call of American Muslim organizations, worshippers laid out their prayer mats at a park in front of the president’s residence. Wearing traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarves…

Prince Karim Aga Khan is the 49th imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He arrives in Islamabad today. NEWS DESK: Prince Karim Aga Khan, the 49th imam and spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad today (Thursday) for an official visit. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had officially invited…

By Minerwa Tahir KARACHI: Let an attack happen. Blame either of the following: India, Afghanistan, Israel, US, Illuminati. Repeat. We as Pakistanis are more familiar with this pattern than our history. Perhaps this is going to be our history – what other tales will we have to pass on to our children? That is, if…

NEWS DESK: A Muslim woman in North London has claimed she was refused service in a McDonald’s restaurant because she was wearing a hijab, reported The Independent. The 19-year-old student said she was stopped in a McDonald’s on Seven Sister’s road in Holloway, North London. McDonalds has apologised and said the security guard responsible had…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Saturday said he wept hearing the plight first-hand of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, adding that this meeting was a condition set for his trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Rohingya meeting was a highly symbolic gesture of solidarity with the Muslim minority fleeing violence in Myanmar, and the pontiff told…

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday rapped his deputy foreign minister for “offensive” remarks in which she said US Jews were too “comfortable” to understand threats to Israel. Tzipi Hotovely of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party apologised later on Israeli public television. “I apologise from the depth of my heart if anyone was upset by…

KABUL: A strong smell of blood and flesh permeated the Imam Zaman mosque in Kabul on Saturday hours after dozens of Shiite worshippers were slaughtered by a suicide bomber during evening prayers. Broken glass and dust covered the red carpet, soaked in the blood of the men, women and children who had been praying on…

NEWS DESK: The decision by an Indian court in May to annul the marriage of a Hindu woman who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man has grabbed headlines in the country, with many referring to it as a strike against “love jihad”, reported BBC. The term was popularised by radical Hindu fringe groups,…

NEWS DESK: An ancient temple of the Jain community has survived in Nangarparkar even though there are no Jains in the region. Watch this report:

NEWS DESK: It is hard to respond to hate with love and tolerance. But when a woman in Canada let off a racist rant after mistaking a Sikh politician for a Muslim, he responded with remarkable kindness, reported The Independent. Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh had barely started his meet and greet when a woman accosted…

By Minerwa Tahir NEWS DESK: Gauri Lankesh, a senior Kannada journalist and activist known for her criticism of Hindutva extremism and advocacy of secularism, was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru, India, Tuesday night. When a brutal murder happens, natural human reaction is sorrow and expression of grief. Not so much in the case…

WASHINGTON: There were reports of hundreds of religiously motivated killings and assaults across India , including an increase in violent incidents by cow protection groups against mostly Muslims victims, according to the latest annual report issued by the US State Department. According to the 2016 International Religious Freedom report, groups most frequently targeted in India…