RIYADH, June 20, 2024 (AFP) – The death toll from this year’s hajj has exceeded 1,000, an AFP tally said on Thursday, more than half of them unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia. The new deaths reported Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of 658 Egyptians who passed away, 630 were unregistered pilgrims. All told, around 10 countries have […]
Tag: Islam
More than 50 killed, dozens wounded in Pakistan blasts
QUETTA, Pakistan, Sept 29, 2023 (AFP) – More than 50 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Friday by a suicide bomber targeting a procession marking the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, officials said. A second suicide attack by two men at a mosque hundreds of kilometres north in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province led to a roof collapse that killed four people, officials said. While the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday […]
Saudi summons Swedish ambassador over Koran burning
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia has summoned Sweden’s ambassador to denounce a Koran burning outside a Stockholm mosque that sparked a diplomatic backlash across the Muslim world, state media reported early Monday. The kingdom — home to the holiest sites in Islam, in Mecca and Medina — had already condemned Wednesday’s incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Muslim holy book and set several pages alight. […]
France closes Paris mosque in clampdown over teacher’s beheading
by Alexandre HIELARD / Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French authorities said Tuesday they would close a Paris mosque as part of a clampdown on radical Islam that has yielded over a dozen arrests following the beheading of a teacher who had shown his pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. The mosque in a densely-populated suburb northeast of Paris had disseminated a video on its Facebook page days […]
Four arrested in plot to target Muslims in NY state
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Four young men were arrested in New York state for allegedly planning a “potentially lethal” attack on a Muslim community regularly targeted by US extremist sites, police said Wednesday. Police in Greece, New York recovered three explosive devices and 23 weapons — mostly shotguns — from the homes of the suspects, according to spokesman, Jared Rene. The four, whose ages range from 16 to 20, were accused of planning […]
Pakistan overturns non-Muslim woman’s blasphemy death sentence
Pakistan’s Supreme Court Wednesday overturned the conviction of Asia Bibi, a non-Muslim mother facing execution for blasphemy, in a landmark case which has incited deadly violence. Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in deeply conservative Muslim Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam and its Prophet Mohammed can provoke death at the hands of vigilantes — and the acquittal immediately sparked large protests from hardliners. Bibi appeared to be in state of disbelief after […]
London attack accused hoped to kill Corbyn
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A man accused of deliberately driving a van into a group of London Muslims told his trial on Tuesday that he wanted to kill the British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn. Darren Osborne said killing the leftist Labour leader would have been “one less terrorist off our streets,” while killing Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan as well “would have been like winning the lottery.” Osborne is accused of murdering 51-year-old Makram Ali and […]
UK man ‘obsessed’ with Muslims hit group with van: court
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A British man “obsessed” with Muslims deliberately drove into a group outside a mosque in an act of terrorism intended to kill as many as possible, a court heard Monday. Darren Osborne is accused of murdering 51-year-old Makram Ali and trying to kill others in the Finsbury Park area of north London in June last year, after growing angry at recent terror attacks and child sexual exploitation scandals involving gangs of mainly […]
Saudi vows new Islamic alliance ‘will wipe terrorists from the earth’
by Anuj Chopra Agence France Presse RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince vowed to “pursue terrorists until they are wiped from the face of the earth” as officials from 40 Muslim countries gathered Sunday in the first meeting of an Islamic counter-terrorism alliance. “In past years, terrorism has been functioning in all of our countries… with no coordination” among national authorities, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defence minister, said […]
EU court rules workplace headscarf ban legal
by Bryan McManus Agence France Presse LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg (AFP) — European companies can ban employees from wearing religious or political symbols including the Islamic headscarf, the EU’s top court ruled Tuesday in a landmark case. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) said it does not constitute “direct discrimination” if a firm has an internal rule banning the wearing of “any political, philosophical or religious sign.” The Luxembourg-based court was considering the case of a Muslim […]
Quebec mosque shooter charged with six murders: police
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canadian police on Monday charged a political science student who has professed admiration for Donald Trump with six counts of premeditated murder and five counts of attempted murder in the shooting at a Quebec City mosque. A police spokesperson said search warrants were still being executed and more charges were expected later, including terror-related charges. © 1994-2017 Agence France-Presse
At least five dead in shooting at Quebec City mosque: media
QUEBEC CITY, Canada (AFP) — At least five people were killed and several people wounded after gunmen opened fire at a mosque in Quebec City late Sunday, media reported. A Quebec police spokesman confirmed that there were people killed, but did not say how many. Two suspects in the shooting were arrested, he said. Police did not rule out the possibility of a third suspect who had fled the scene. The motive of the attack […]





