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Hindu nationalists go to court over lion named after Muslim emperor in India

The Guardian World news: Islam - 18 February, 2024 - 14:27

Controversy in West Bengal centres around Akbar and Sita, named for a Hindu deity, being placed in the same enclosure

An Indian Hindu nationalist organisation has launched a court petition to stop two lions named after a Hindu deity and a 16th-century Muslim emperor from sharing a zoo enclosure.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a prominent rightwing Hindu organisation, went to court in the state of West Bengal after reports a lioness named Sita had been put with a lion called Akbar.

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Italian town in turmoil after far-right mayor bans Muslim prayers

The Guardian World news: Islam - 18 February, 2024 - 08:00

Bangladeshi residents and others in Monfalcone say decisions to prohibit worship at cultural centres and banning burkinis at the beach is part of anti-Islam agenda

The envelope containing two partially burned pages of the Qur’an came as a shock. Until then, Muslim residents in the Adriatic port town of Monfalcone had lived relatively peacefully for more than 20 years.

Addressed to the Darus Salaam Muslim cultural association on Via Duca d’Aosta, the envelope was received soon after Monfalcone’s far-right mayor, Anna Maria Cisint, banned prayers on the premises.

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Late-night chai and covert flirting: why US Muslims flock to Yemeni cafes

The Guardian World news: Islam - 17 February, 2024 - 15:00

Yemeni cafes are intergenerational gathering places where - controversially - some young people go to check each other out

“It’s straight up fitna, bro.”

This outrageous statement sounds like a joke. How could a coffee shop be causing strife? But Yusuf Saleh, the manager of Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co, is half-serious as he hovers over a hot plate of cardamom-infused mufawaar coffee in Grand Blanc, Michigan. He’s referring to the gossip surrounding Dearborn’s Qahwah House, a competitor Yemeni cafe chain spreading rapidly across the United States.

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Inter Faith Network headed for closure as Gove ‘minded to withdraw’ funding

The Guardian World news: Islam - 16 February, 2024 - 09:56

Row over religious cohesion charity’s appointment of trustee with links to Muslim Council of Britain

A charity that has worked for 37 years for greater cohesion between different UK faith communities is expected to close down next week after the government signalled it will scrap its funding.

The Inter Faith Network (IFN) is due to close after Michael Gove, the communities secretary, said he was “minded to withdraw” £155,000 of provisional funding over concerns about a trustee connected to the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

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Day 131 roundtable

Electronic Intifada - 14 February, 2024 - 23:46

David Miller on employment tribunal victory (12:53); Activist Farrah Koutteineh and The Electronic Intifada’s David Cronin on protests against Sinn Fein in Ireland (45:10); Ali Abunimah on Hillary Clinton and Jeffrey Gettleman laundering fraudulent “mass rape” story at Columbia University (1:10:46); Jon Elmer on resistance in Gaza (1:34:52); and a news update (00:50).

Selma Blair apologises for Islamophobic comment on social media

The Guardian World news: Islam - 14 February, 2024 - 10:17

Actor admits she ‘mistakenly and inadvertently conflated Muslims with radical Islamists and fundamentalists’ in a now-deleted post

Actor Selma Blair has apologised for an Islamophobic comment on social media, saying it “resulted in hurting countless people I never meant to, and I deeply regret this”.

Blair posted a lengthy statement on Instagram following a now-deleted comment on another post attacking state representatives Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib for voting against a bill banning Hamas members from the US. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Blair’s comment read in part: “Deport all these terrorist supporting goons. Islam has destroyed Muslim countries and then they come here and destroyed minds.”

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