Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari was detained in Malaysia on Wednesday night and is likely to be extradited soon to Saudi Arabia, where he will be tried for blaspheming religion. Kashgari, 23, had fled the kingdom Monday after he received thousands of death threats. His crime? He posted on Twitter a series of mock conversations between himself and the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Read full article > >

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Saudi writer Hamza Kashgari faces charge of blasphemy after tweets about Muhammad

TEHRAN — A fiery anti-Israel speech by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered shortly after a successful Iranian satellite launch, added to growing global tensions Friday, as Israel warned that it might mount a preemptive strike against the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities despite U.S. objections. Read full article > >

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Khamenei: Iran will back ‘any nations, any groups’ fighting Israel

A group of four Islamic militants, all of them British citizens, admitted on Wednesday to a conspiracy to place a bomb in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange.

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Militants Admit Plan to Bomb London Stock Exchange

TEHRAN — An Iranian scientist involved in purchasing equipment for the Islamic Republic’s main nuclear enrichment facility was assassinated Tuesday when a magnetic bomb attached to his car exploded in morning rush-hour traffic, Iranian media reported. Read full article > >

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Iranian scientist involved in nuclear program killed in Tehran bomb attack

Among the targets were an Islamic center and a Hindu temple in Queens.

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In Queens Firebombings, Sketch of Suspect Is Released

A number of Islamic leaders in New York City boycott Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s annual interfaith breakfast, in protest at reports of spying on Muslims.

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Muslims boycott NY mayor’s event

An Israeli air strike to the east of Gaza City killed the leader of an Islamic militant group, the Israeli military says.

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Israeli raid kills Gaza militant

Militant Islamic sect Boko Haram wants to install sharia law.

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At Least 60 Killed in Nigeria

As we are approaching the end of Muharram, holy month of Shia Muslims, let’s mark the end by talking Iranian paradoxes. While mourning the martyrdom of an Imam who lived more than 1000 years ago seems to some outsiders outdated and too traditional, in Iran there is always a way to fuse the old fashions to modernity. When I was growing up in Iran, the only way of commemorating this religious holiday was watching the marching bands which passed the streets on the 10th and 11th of Muharram. The marchers held large banners displaying Quranic verses or religious poetry which mourned the loss of Imam Hussein and his 72 soldiers. Loud music would fill the streets as a group of religious, bearded men and young boys (some even barefoot) beat their chests with heavy chains. However, Islam, as other religions and traditions, has undergone changes….changes that reflect society. One no longer needs to be strictly devout to perform the Islamic rituals. Thanks to different interpretations of Islam, now, any one could. Just ask yourself in a country where 70% of the people are under the ages of 30, how religious traditions could appeal to the youth? Well, I have found you a picture that sums it all up: This French car, a Peugeot, is a common middle-to-upper class luxury possession in Iran. Here it has been decorated in the most traditional costume of Muharram to show the mournful martyrdom of Imam Hussein. That’s right, now even cars can be Islamic.

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Converting Cars

LOS ANGELES — Lowe’s Home Improvement has found itself facing a backlash after the retail giant pulled ads from a reality show about American Muslims. The retail giant stopped advertising on TLC’s “All-American Muslim” after a conservative group known as the Florida Family Association complained, saying the program was “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.” Read full article > >

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Home improvement giant Lowe’s threatened with boycott for yanking ads from show about Muslims

In recent weeks, Republican presidential candidates have nearly exhausted the list of synonyms for “weak” to describe President Obama’s foreign policy. He’s thrown allies such as Israel “under the bus,” in the words of Mitt Romney. He’s indecisive in confronting Iran over its nuclear program, according to Newt Gingrich, who called this week for “regime replacement” in the Islamic Republic. Read full article > >

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Obama fires back at Romney for his “appeasement” comment

PARIS — European nations, aroused by a mob attack on the British Embassy in Tehran, stiffened their sanctions against Iran on Thursday but stopped short of halting oil purchases from the increasingly isolated Islamic government. The new sanctions targeted additional members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and businesses controlled by its members, according to an announcement after a European Union foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. In addition, the E.U. banned doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line. Read full article > >

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Europeans stiffen sanctions on Iran after embassy attack

TEHRAN — Student hard-liners stormed the British Embassy compound on Tuesday to protest tough new sanctions against Iran, replacing the Union Jack with an Islamic flag and chanting “Death to England” as they hurled satellite dishes from the roof of a security building to the ground below. Student representatives of the paramilitary Basij organization set fires on the grounds of the compound and scattered papers that they found, waving banners emblazoned with Islamic slogans. Read full article > >

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Iranian students storm British Embassy, residential compound

The women waved flags, sang and cried alongside their husbands, fathers and sons because they felt an unprecedented sense of ownership in this revolution. Few would dispute Libyan women’s role in the overthrow of Gaddafi and his loyalists, but even fewer can say whether or not these female revolutionaries will find what they now seek: a safe state guided by Islamic principles that recognizes women as valuable peacemakers in post-war reconstruction.

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Libyan Women: Peacemakers in a post-war nation

After eight years of renovations, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has 15 new galleries for more than 1,200 works of Islamic culture going back more than a millennium.

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Art Review: The Met’s New Islamic Galleries – Review