Turkey has withdrawn from a European treaty protecting women from violence that it was the first to sign 10 years ago and that bears the name of its largest city. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decree annulling Turkey’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention is a blow to women’s rights advocates, who say the agreement is crucial […]
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Swiss voters have narrowly approved a proposal to ban face coverings, both niqabs and burkas worn by a few Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandannas used by protesters. The measure will outlaw covering one’s face in public places such as restaurants, sports stadiums, public transport or simply walking in the […]
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Pakistan’s police said they were seeking arrest of two Christian men in the eastern city of Lahore on charges they allegedly used insulting remarks against Islam’s holy book and its Prophet Mohammed. The case against the two men was registered last Saturday on the complaint of a Muslim local resident Haroon Ahmed, said Muratab Ali, […]
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US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has imposed new sanctions on China and said its policies on Muslims and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang constitute a “genocide”. Mr Pompeo made the determination just 24 hours before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. There was no immediate response from the incoming Biden team, although several members have been […]
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Seven Bangladesh navy ships carrying 1,804 Rohingya refugees have arrived at an isolated island where they will be relocated despite concerns among human rights groups about their safety. They reached Bhashan Char island, 21 miles from the mainland, after a four-hour naval journey from the port city of Chittagong, government official Mohammed Khurshed Alam Khan […]
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A man has denied assaulting children while carrying out circumcisions in the community. Mohammad Siddiqui, 54, of Birmingham, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and denied 40 charges relating to 24 procedures between April 2015 and January 2019. They include child neglect and ill-treatment, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and administering prescription-only anaesthetic when […]
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Images recovered from the home of the older brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi indicated he was “sympathetic to the ideals of Isis”, a police chief has told a public inquiry. Ismail Abedi, 27, was arrested the morning after the explosion which killed 22 people and injured hundreds at the end of an Ariana […]
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A comprehensive report into the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in which 51 Muslim worshippers died sheds new light on how the gunman was able to elude detection by authorities as he planned his attack. The nearly 800-page Royal Commission of Inquiry report released on Tuesday shows the attacker, Brenton Tarrant, kept a low profile and […]
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Indonesia’s highest Muslim clerical body is expected to issue a halal certification for the experimental Covid-19 vaccine developed by China-based firm Sinovac Biotech. The certification would be a significant step in immunisation efforts in the world’s most populous Muslim country, should the vaccine be approved for use. Indonesia’s human development and culture minister Muhadjir Effendy: […]
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More than 1,500 Rohingya refugees have been sent to an isolated island by authorities in Bangladesh, despite calls by human rights groups to stop the process. The 1,642 refugees boarded seven Bangladeshi naval vessels in the port of Chittagong for the trip to Bhashan Char, according to an official. After about a three-hour trip they […]
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