Afghanistan
Pakistan: women disenfranchised, persecuted
In a deal with village elders, women are being denied the vote in northwest Pakistan's local elections—as clerics call for military action against "immodest" dress.
Tag: struggle within Islam
Greater Middle East
Syria: Nusra Front announces drive on Damascus
Islamist rebels led by al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front have seized new territory in northwestern Syria, and issued a pledge to take Damascus and topple the regime.
North America
Christian terror plot on Catskill Muslims
A Sufi cleric who is a vocal critic of fundamentalist Islam is targeted by a fundamentalist Christian preacher who sought to massacre the Sufi's community in upstate New York.
South Asia
Ismaili Muslims massacred in Pakistan
In an attack claimed by ISIS, gunmen on motorcycles stopped a commuter bus carrying Ismaili Muslims in Karachi, boarded it and opened fire on the passengers, killing at least 45.
Iraq
ISIS franchise: Nigeria to Yemen to Pakistan
Over the past two months, the ISIS international franchise has made gains from West Africa to the Indian subcontinent, with militants in several countries proclaiming for the "caliphate."
Afghanistan
Four get death in mob killing of Afghan woman
Afghanistan sentenced four men to death for the mob killing of a 27-year-old woman who was falsely accused of burning a copy of the Koran.
South Asia
Bangladesh: protest murder of secular blogger
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Dhaka to denounce the murder of blogger Avijit Roy, who was hacked to death with machetes following threats over his atheist views.
Iraq
Cultural legacy lost as ISIS torches Mosul library
Many rare and antique volumes were lost as ISIS forces put the Mosul library to the torch—over vociferous pleas and protests from the city's notables.
Greater Middle East
Turkish troops in Kobani incursion
Turkish forces crossed into Syria, officially to relocate an Ottoman historic site that had been threatened by ISIS—but also to intimidate the autonomist Kurds in control of the region?
Southeast Asia
Cartoon wars hit ‘moderate’ (sic) Malaysia
In "moderate" Malaysia, an opposition leader is sent to prison for "sodomy," and when a cartoonist lampooned the sentence, he was arrested for "sedition."
Iraq
ISIS and atrocity pornography: politics of horror
The ISIS immolation video reveals a totalitarian cult, but Jordan and other regimes in the anti-ISIS coalition are also despotic—while Syria's pro-democratic forces are betrayed.
Greater Middle East
ISIS burns cannabis, snorts coke?
As ISIS burns the cannabis fields of northern Syria, Kurdish fighters at Kobani claim that ISIS forces besieging the town are snorting cocaine to keep their spirits up.