Latest Islam News

France's withdrawal from Niger could jeopardize counterterrorism operations in the Sahel

Sep. 27, 2023 10:46 AM EDT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The French troops withdrawing from Niger were seen as a key line of defense for about a decade in Western efforts against jihadi violence in Africa's Sahel region, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert. As the U.S. keeps pushing for a diplomatic...

1st Saudi envoy to the Palestinians in West Bank, Israeli minister in Riyadh amid normalization push

Sep. 26, 2023 12:30 PM EDT

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Saudi Arabia's newly appointed envoy to the Palestinian Authority presented his credentials to President Mahmoud Abbas during his first visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a move linked to recent American efforts to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia...

After 4 months, Pakistan resumes issuing ID cards to transgender people, officials say

Sep. 26, 2023 03:57 AM EDT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities resumed issuing ID cards to transgender people, officials and activists said Tuesday, after a four-month pause and following an Islamic court's controversial ruling that gutted a law aimed at protecting trans rights. The national database and...

Jury selection opens in terrorism trial of extended family members dating to 2018 New Mexico raid

Sep. 25, 2023 18:14 PM EDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Jury selection began Monday in federal court as members of an extended family confronted kidnapping and terrorism charges stemming from the search for a missing 3-year-old boy by agents who raided a squalid New Mexico encampment in 2018. The boy's badly...

Egypt sets a presidential election for December with el-Sissi likely to stay in power until 2030

Sep. 25, 2023 10:41 AM EDT

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt will hold a presidential election over three days in December, officials announced Monday, with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi highly likely to remain in power until 2030. Waleed Hamza, the chairman of the National Election Authority, said the vote will take...

Today in History: September 24, Dodgers play final game in Brooklyn

Sep. 24, 2023 00:08 AM EDT

Today in History Today is Sunday, Sept. 24, the 267th day of 2022. There are 98 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Sept. 24, 1957, the Los Angeles-bound Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field, defeating the...

Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir free a key Muslim cleric after years of house arrest

Sep. 22, 2023 03:58 AM EDT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian authorities released a key Muslim cleric after four years of house arrest and allowed him to lead Friday prayers in Srinagar, the main city of Indian-controlled Kashmir, according to mosque authorities. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has been spearheading...

Mali’s junta struggles to fight growing violence in a northern region as UN peacekeepers withdraw

Sep. 22, 2023 02:17 AM EDT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Attacks in northern Mali have more than doubled since U.N. peacekeepers completed the first phase of their withdrawal last month after a decade of fighting Islamic extremists, resulting in more than 150 deaths. In one brazen attack, militants targeted a...

Azerbaijan claims full control of breakaway region and holds initial talks with ethnic Armenians

Sep. 21, 2023 23:58 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Azerbaijan regained control of its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in a deadly two-day military offensive and held initial talks with representatives of its ethnic Armenian population on reintegrating the area into the mainly Muslim country, Azerbaijan’s top diplomat...

Indonesia imprisons a woman for saying a Muslim prayer before eating pork in a TikTok video

Sep. 21, 2023 20:38 PM EDT

PALEMBANG, Indonesia (AP) — A court in Indonesia has convicted a woman of inciting religious hatred and sentenced her to two years in prison for saying a Muslim prayer and then eating pork — considered forbidden in Islam — on a TikTok video. Judges at Palembang court in South...