Afghanistan
‘Leaning Tower of Herat’ Worries Afghans and Historians
Arab NewsIt has survived 40 years of war, but an iconic tower in Afghanistan’s Herat province, one of the five known as the Musalla Minarets, could soon topple over due to natural wear and tear and lack of restoration efforts.
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Bangladesh
Bangladesh Mosque Gas Explosion Toll Rises to 24
Arab NewsThe death toll from a gas explosion that tore through a Bangladesh mosque has risen to 24, officials said Sunday, as rescuers described how survivors jumped into a nearby open sewer to escape the flames.
Worshippers were at Friday evening prayers when the blast sent a ball of fire through the mosque in the central district of Narayanganj near the capital Dhaka, emergency services said.
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Canada
Canadian Muslims Want Toronto Mosque Attacks Investigated as Hate Crimes
International Quran News AgencyChina
The Situation of Uighur Muslims Will Be Assessed by an Independent Inquiry
ForbesOn September 3, 2020, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, a prominent British lawyer, announced the launch of a new independent inquiry, the Uighur Tribunal, to assess the evidence of the alleged atrocities perpetrated against Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Uighur Region of northwest China. The launch of the Uighur Tribunal follows a request from the World Uyghur Congress for an independent review of the allegations of international crimes being perpetrated against the minority communities.
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Uighur Muslim Teacher Tells of Forced Sterilisation in Xinjiang
The GuardianA teacher coerced into giving classes in Xinjiang internment camps has described her forced sterilisation at the age of 50, under a government campaign to suppress birth rates of women from Muslim minorities.
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Egypt
Egyptian Cinema Hit Hard by Pandemic
Al-MonitorEgyptian cinemas are slowly reopening after months of lockdown, but the huge sector sometimes dubbed “the Hollywood of the Arab world” has taken a severe hit during the pandemic.
After movie theatres were shuttered because of Covid-19 from at least March to June, filmmakers and the wider sector are bracing for an uncertain future.
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Egypt is turning a World War II site into a resort that promises to beat other holiday destinations, such as Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, and add a new destination to the international tourism map
World War II Site Becomes Promising Tourist Destination in Egypt
Al-Monitor
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Egyptian Startup Turns Shipping Containers Into Covid-19 Clinics
Arab NewsTwo Cairo millennials have brought shipping-container architecture to Egypt, converting 20-foot-long metal hulks into everything from pop-up restaurants to corporate offices.
The pair have now turned their talents to creating a portable medical center that can be transported anywhere and rapidly deployed in urban and rural locations where access to conventional healthcare services is difficult and doctors are hard to find.
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Artificial Intelligence Helps Counter Covid-19 Misinformation in Arabic
Arab NewsWith most credible information on COVID-19 and its symptoms supplied in English, Arabic-speaking populations have faced a significant barrier, falling prey to hysterical and inaccurate social media posts that come from questionable sources.
This urgent and potentially life-threatening problem was quickly identified by the team at DxWand, an Egyptian startup providing conversational artificial intelligence (AI) solutions — and they sought a fast and effective fix for it.
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France
Charlie Hebdo Reprints Offensive Prophet Muhammad Caricatures
Al-JazeeraThe French satirical newspaper whose Paris offices were attacked in 2015 is reprinting the controversial caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad that the gunmen who opened fire on its editorial staff cited as their motivation.
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Iran
Millennia-Old Relics Recovered in Zanjan
Tehran TimesIranian police have recently confiscated some historical relics, estimated to date back from 1st millennium BC to the Islamic era, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage has said.
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Israel
Israel Approves Funds For ‘Anti-Muslim Hate Group’ to Fight BDS
Middle East MonitorCasting further light on the nexus between Zionism and the rise of the Islamophobia industry, the Israeli government has approved a grant to an American “anti-Muslim hate group”.
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India
Muslim Volunteers Perform Last Rites of Two Christian Covid-19 Victims
Times of IndiaProbably for the first time, the city saw Muslim volunteers conducting last rites of two elderly Christian men who passeed away due to Covid-19 on Wednesday and Thursday. One at a a private hospital and another at a trust-run one.
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Indian Mps Grill Facebook Over Hate Speech, Allegations of Bias
Al-JazeeraAn Indian parliamentary committee has grilled a top Facebook executive after the social media giant was accused of bias and not acting against anti-Muslim posts on its platform.
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Malaysia
42 Hotels Recognised as Syariah-Compliant to Attract More Muslim Tourists
New StraitsTimesA total of 42 hotels have been recognised to be syariah-compliant under the Muslim-Friendly Accommodation Recognition (MFAR) scheme. The hotels can now bear its latest logo to attract Muslim guests.
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Montenegro
Muslims in Montenegro Fear Greater Serbia Rhetoric After Elections
TRT WorldFollowing a polarising election, Muslims feel the brunt of political change.
Following Sunday’s shock victory which resulted in the long-serving president, Milo Djukanovic losing his grip on power after 30 years, the country’s Muslim population is experiencing a backlash, according to local accounts.
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Myanmar
Myanmar: Deep Reforms Must End Vicious Violence Against Rohingya Minority
The Muslim NewsThe International Crisis Group (ICG) has called for dialogue and deep reform to address issues of citizenship, improve the administrative structure, and rein in the increasing violence in Myanmar.
Ethnicity and conflict are inextricably linked in Myanmar, creating a vicious cycle of violence that continues to escalate, the Brussels-based organization said in a report published on Friday.
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New Zealand
Teen Bolts Into Muslim Women’s Global Powerlist
NewsroomAuckland teenager Aysha Hussan has burst onto a worldwide powerlist of sportswomen, with a dream to score an Olympic first.
At just 14, Aysha Hussan has already achieved so much, as the New Zealand face on the global Muslim women’s sports powerlist for 2020.
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The Online Dehumanisation of Muslims Made the Christchurch Massacre Possible
ABC NewsWhen Brenton Tarrant, a radicalised Australian white supremacist, committed the Christchurch terror attack in 2019, many claimed that the history of racism in Australian politics and media was partly to blame for his unspeakable crime. To be sure, expressions of racism and divisive political rhetoric influence the ways in which minorities are perceived and treated by majority populations. But there has also been a pervasive infiltration of extremist ideology and narratives into mainstream public and political discourse — channelled primarily through social media. Australia has played a disproportionate role in amplifying this extremist content.
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Norway
Norwegian PM Defends Ripping of Quran Pages as 'Freedom of Speech'
Daily SabahNorwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg on Monday defended freedom of speech in her country after an anti-Islam rally took place this weekend where pages were torn out of the Quran.
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Pakistan
Experts Warn of Muslim Refugees’ Influx From India
The NewsPakistani experts have said the lives of millions of Indian Muslims are at stake amid rising Islamophobia and urged world powers to take notice to prevent another refugee influx from knocking their doors, foreign media reported.
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Saudi Arabia
Saudis Try Sandboarding as Domestic Tourism Booms
Arab NewsWhile the international airport and borders remain closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Saudis and expats turn to domestic tourism, many heading for a sandboarding experience on the dunes of the “Saed” desert area, 110 km east of the capital Riyadh.
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South Africa
Call to Prayer: Judgment Impedes Rights of Religious Expression, Says Muslim Council
News 24The Council of Muslim Theologians in South Africa says a High Court judgement restricting athaan (call to prayers) at a Muslim religious Institute in Durban represents an abridgement of the rights of religious expression in the Islamic community.
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Sweden
Danish Racist Leader Applies for Swedish Citizenship
Anadolu AgencyDanish far-right leader and convicted racist Rasmus Paludan announced he applied for Swedish citizenship to be able to freely burn Muslim holy book Quran in the country.
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Turkey
Ayşe Hümeyra Ökten: Pioneer of Modern Muslim Women
Daily SabahThough headscarf-wearing among educated women rose and was popularized in the 1980s, there were earlier examples of such behavior. Writer and journalist Şule Yüksel Şenler and Dr. Gülsen Ataseven were pioneers of headscarf-wearing among educated women in the 1960s. However, there was an earlier example in the public sphere, namely Dr. Ayşe Hümeyra Ökten, who worked at a public hospital while wearing a headscarf in the 1950s.
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UK
The Guardian Documentary Somalinimo: Somali Culture, Blackness and Islam at Cambridge University
The GuardianAs students return to universities around the world, four British-Somali students talk about navigating one of Britain’s most elite institutions: Cambridge University. Their identity is rooted in Somalinimo (‘the essence of being Somali’) and in this love letter to Somali culture, blackness and Islam, they reflect on both belonging and marginalisation. The women discuss conflicts with their parents, the sense of solidarity they have built at Cambridge, and the legacy they are creating for the next generation of British-Somalis. They give new meaning to an old Somali proverb: ‘Clothing that is not yours cannot shelter you from the cold’
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USA
How This Mother Elevates The Islamic Gifts and Décor Scene After Leaving Corporate America
ForbesOriginally from a small town in Bangladesh, Lail Hossain moved to the U.S. as a foreign student after high school to further her education. At the age of 19, she came with $2000 to a land that was unknown to her. Eventually, she earned her Bachelors and Masters in Software Engineering. For the next fourteen years, Hossain worked in the corporate sector including for PepsiCo and Deloitte Consulting. Little did she know that her experience would lead her to a newfound passion.
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Calls For Apology Grow Over Joy Reid's 'Islamophobic' Remarks
Al-JazeeraUS TV host Reid on Tuesday said Donald Trump radicalises his followers ‘the way Muslims’ do.
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With Mosques Closed During The Pandemic, Muslim Converts Navigate Their New Spiritual Path Online
Washington PostSitting at his dining room table, Artemis Rivera said the words “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” in Arabic as he recited the Islamic profession of faith known as the shahada on a Zoom call during his mosque’s online Friday service. He felt a sense of peace, he said, as he became a Muslim in front of the virtual congregation.
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How Muslims in Wisconsin Are Staying Fit During The Pandemic
Wisconsin Muslim JournalExercise and physical activity is good for us. We all know that, right? So why is it so hard to keep it up?
Some people still make exercise and activity part of their daily lives, even during the pandemic. How do they do it?
In an interview with the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, some avid exercisers shared the hows and whys that help them stay on track.
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Muslim Ice Detainees In Florida Given Choice Between Rotten Food and Pork
Above The LawIn Miami, Muslim immigrants at ICE’s Krome detention center would just like some decent food. The Miami New Times reported in late August that ICE officials have been giving their Muslim charges halal meals that are expired and rotten. Muslims who don’t want to eat this are permitted to eat the “regular” meal — but the regular meal is often pork-based. Nothing is labeled — because of COVID-19, everything is prepackaged and served in the housing areas — so it’s difficult to tell ahead of time whether they’re eating something haram (“forbidden”).
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Yemen
Discover The Old City Of Sanaa, Yemen
Middle East MonitorThe Old City of Sanaa is one of the oldest cities in the world. Meaning ‘fortified place’, it remains one of the greatest treasures of Arabia.
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