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Muslim organisations say they were not consulted before counter-terrorism raids that resulted in arrests relating to a church stabbing in SydneyFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastRepresentatives of the Australian Muslim community have called out what they called “questionable law enforcement tactics” after seven minors were arrested and six of...

Longtime, legendary pastor of San Francisco’s Glide Memorial church was advocate for civil rights and social justiceReverend Cecil Williams, the longtime head of a church that grew to international fame for being a safe haven for San Francisco’s most marginalized citizens, has passed away. He was 94 years old. He, alongside his wife and poet Janice Mirikitani, transformed Glide memorial church into an institution...

Opposition says prime minister targeting Muslim minority with ‘hate speech’ and violating election rulesIndia’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been accused of hate speech during a campaign rally where he called Muslims “infiltrators” who had “many children” and claimed they would take people’s hard-earned money.The opposition accused Modi of “blatantly targeting” India’s 200 million Muslim minority with comments made while addressing voters at a...

Pope Francis to attend installation that includes short film featuring Zoë Saldaña and Giudecca inmatesOriginally a convent dating to the 13th century, and once a reformatory for prostitutes, the Giudecca women’s prison, set on an island in the Venetian lagoon, will this summer perform a quite different role: as the official pavilion for the Vatican at this year’s Venice Biennale.Pope Francis is due to...

NSW premier says a ‘major and serious criminal investigation’ is under way after incident at Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley was deemed terrorism attackFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastPolitical and religious leaders are pleading for calm amid a “combustible situation” set off by a stabbing at...

Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, 92, was evaluated by psychiatrist after defense attorneys said he’s too sick to be triedSeven months after his arrest on rape and kidnapping charges, 92-year-old Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker appeared in court in Louisiana on Thursday in an orange prison jumpsuit, was rolled in a wheelchair to a back room and was evaluated by a doctor to see if he’s...

Gabriel Attal says state will file a complaint against student over accusation against principal who had to resign for his safetyThe French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has defended French secularism following the resignation of a Paris school principal who received death threats after asking a student to remove her Muslim veil on the premises.Attal, a former education minister, said the state would be filing...

For years Haredi men have been allowed to continue Torah study, but proposal could force some to enlist A proposed bill to extend compulsory military service to ultra-Orthodox students, historically exempt from conscription, has ignited a fierce debate in Israel, with Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warning that failure to pass the law could jeopardise the stability of the government.Israel has mandatory army service but for...

Law Reform Commission says schools shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate against staff and students on basis of sexuality, gender identity or relationship statusGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastBlanket exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against staff and students on the basis of sexuality and gender identity should be repealed, a key report to the federal government has...

Young people are slowly stopping attending Dalston mosque that could be forced to accept developers’ offers, says ownerNestled among the kebab shops, Caribbean takeaways and flashy new-build flats in Dalston, north-east London, sits the UK’s first Turkish mosque. Like many things built by and for the deep-rooted communities in this heavily gentrified part of London, it is fighting for survival.“Our bills have tripled, costs...

Citizenship amendment act grants Indian nationality to refugees who are Hindu, Christian, Parsi, Jain or Buddhist, but not MuslimThe Indian government has enacted a divisive citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims, just weeks before prime minister Narendra Modi heads into a general election.The law, known as the citizenship amendment act (CAA), was one of the most controversial pieces of legislation proposed by...

Displaced families prepare to spend holy month in Rafah amid food shortages and fear of attackMiddle East crisis – live updatesSeventy days after they were forced to leave their house in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Hanaa al-Masry, her husband and their six children are preparing for Ramadan in their new home: a dilapidated tent. Here, there will be no decorations, no...

Open letter signed by families of victims including Manchester Arena bombing says debate ‘must not play into terrorists’ hands’More than 50 survivors of terrorist attacks, including the Manchester Arena bombing and the London Bridge attacks, have signed an open letter warning politicians to stop conflating British Muslims with extremism.The signatories include Rebecca Rigby, the widow of soldier Lee Rigby who was murdered in south-east...

In today’s newsletter: As suspended backbencher Lee Anderson launches a fresh attack, a former Tory MEP explains how the party got here• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Your 7am Lee Anderson update: still not apologised. The reason, he said yesterday, is that “when you think you are right you should never apologise, because to do so would be a...

Prayer room of Great Mosque of Algiers, beset by political wrangling and cost overruns, accommodates 120,000 peopleAlgeria has inaugurated a gigantic mosque on its Mediterranean coastline after years of political upheaval transformed the project from a symbol of state-sponsored strength and religiosity to one of delays and cost overruns.Built by a Chinese construction firm throughout the 2010s, the Great Mosque of Algiers features the...

Carved wooden tabot has been at Abbey since British forces looted it at Battle of Maqdala in 1868Westminster Abbey has agreed “in principle” to returning a sacred tablet to the Ethiopian Orthodox church, igniting a debate around restitution claims made by the East African nation.The tabot – a blackened flat piece of wood featuring a carved inscription that symbolically represents the Ark of the...

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

Father’s lawyers label high court of Australia decision a ‘monumental outcome’ for families of clergy sexual abuse victimsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s highest court has rejected the Catholic church’s bid to avoid paying damages to the father of a choirboy allegedly sexually abused by Cardinal George Pell.The father,...

Fears decision on Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi could increase religious tensions and inspire more claimsAn Indian court has ruled that Hindus can worship inside a contested mosque, a verdict that it is feared will increase religious tensions and galvanise further claims against other Muslim places of worship.Gyanvapi mosque, in the holy city of Varanasi, was built in the 17th century by the Mughal emperor...

Aimenn Penny, 20, had firebombed the church in Chesterland in protest of a planned drag brunch and children’s story hourAn Ohio man, who had allegedly been a member of a neo-Nazi ‘white lives matter’ group, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for firebombing a church that planned to host drag events, the US justice department announced on Tuesday.After making and throwing two...

Shop will be open only to non-Muslim diplomats – but some fear it is first step to wider availability of alcohol in teetotal kingdomThe news that Saudi Arabia will allow its first alcohol shop has citizens and foreigners alike mulling one question: is this a minor policy tweak, or a major upheaval?Sources familiar with preparations for the store disclosed details of the plan on...

Narendra Modi hails controversial opening as fulfilment of ‘dream that many have cherished for years’More than three decades after a mob of militant Hindu radicals razed a mosque to the ground in the Indian town of Ayodhya, the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has inaugurated the new Hindu temple that will stand in its place.For some, the inauguration marks a hugely significant religious moment....

Prosecutors say they intend to charge Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and dozens of other suspects with murder and terrorismKenyan prosecutors have said they intend to charge a suspected cult leader and dozens of other suspects with murder and terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers, after a court warned it may have to free him.The self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie is...

Saunders has not been charged with any offence and denies allegations he sexually assaulted and groomed young Aboriginal men in WA over 50-year careerFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastChild abuse detectives have searched a Broome property which the ABC reported was the temporary home of the disgraced bishop emeritus...