14 July 2010

Churches will encourage their
 congregations to vote for secession

Senior religious leaders in south Sudan have called on people to vote for independence in a referendum to be held January next year. The vote was promised as part of a 2005 deal to end years of war between the mainly Muslim north and the south, where Christianity is common.

Daily Mail, London
14 July 2010

Tory backbencher Philip Hollobone has called for a burka ban
in Britain

Britain faced growing calls to ban the burka today after French MPs voted overwhelmingly to outlaw full-face veils in public. Politicians in France united yesterday to ban Islamic veils that cover a woman's face, which some described as 'walking coffins'.

13 July 2010

The bill envisages fines of 150 euros
 for women wearing the full veil

France's lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public. There were 335 votes for the bill and only one against in the 557-seat National Assembly.

The Washington Examiner
12 July 2010

Obama administration officials, including Secretary
 of State Hillary Clinton, no longer speak of supporting
 “freedom of religion.” Instead, they now speak of
“freedom of worship.” These are two very different
 concepts

Does President Obama care about religious freedom? It's disconcerting that this question needs to be asked of a U.S. president, but prominent observers are sounding the alarm.

Al-Ahram Weekly
8 - 14 July 2010

As Khaled Said's alleged killers are referred to trial, another case of police brutality emerges

Khaled Mohammed Said

Two plainclothes police officers who eyewitnesses say beat 28-year-old Khaled Said to death in Alexandria on 6 June have been charged with "illegal arrest, using physical torture and brutality". Warrant Officer Mahmoud Salah and Sergeant Awad Ismail were then referred to Alexandria Criminal Court, according to a statement issued on Saturday by the prosecutor-general's office.

The Guardian
8 July 2010

Studies on modern Egyptian DNA support the view that neither Egyptian Muslims nor Copts are Arab.

Egypt is an Arab country. At least it's assumed to be. This may seem rather obvious, given that its official name is the Arab Republic of Egypt, it is a member of the Arab League and its people speak Arabic. To an outsider, Egypt is in fact an Arab country.

8 July 2010

The latest in a string of failed attempts by Muslim fanatics on the life of  Egyptian Muslim-born Maher el-Gowhary who publicly converted to Christianity in 2008, took place on Sunday July 5, 2010.

Voice of America
01 July 2010

Egyptian activists protest against the daily al Gomhuria newspaper for
"defending the government blindly" in the case of slain Khaled Said, in
front of its publishing house in Cairo, Egypt, 29 Jun 2010

Egyptian authorities appear to have acknowledged public outrage and international outcries, arresting two police officers alleged to have fatally beaten a young Egyptian businessman.