Author: Nataliya Vasilyeva

Source: Yahoo News

Wire Service: AP

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100125/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_religious_freedoms

Religious freedoms are being rapidly curtailed throughout Russia as the Orthodox Church seeks to boost its dominance, human rights activists warned Monday.

In its annual report on religions freedoms, the independent Moscow-...

Author: Liz Gooch

Source: The New York Times

Author: Dina Rabie

Source: Islam Online

Author: Samira B. Rizvi

Source: The Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6829305.html

Ailia Ahmed wants to start the new year right, so she's organizing a blood drive to mark Moharram and the Islamic new year.

The Islamic year isn't one meant to be celebrated with big parties, but instead, for Shiite Muslims, is a somber occasion commemorating the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein...

Author: E.J. Schultz

Source: The Fresno Bee

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1792504.html

James Fredrick Menefield lost his freedom eight years ago when he was sent to prison for murdering his girlfriend. But the Pleasant Valley State Prison inmate says he should not lose the right to follow dietary rules that come with his strict Muslim faith.

The state of California is on the verge of agreeing with him.

In proposed regulations,...

Author: Michelle Boorstein

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012004488.html?hpid=moreheadlines

A poll about Americans' views on Islam concludes that the strongest predictor of prejudice against Muslims is whether a person holds similar feelings about Jews.

The Gallup poll, released Thursday, also finds that people who report...

Author: Julia Zappei

Source: The Boston Globe

Wire Service: AP

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/01/21/muslim_prayer_room_set_afire_amid_malaysia_tension/

Vandals tried to burn down two Muslim prayer rooms in Malaysia on Thursday, following a string of arson attacks on churches amid a dispute over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians....

Author: Nick Higham and Margaret Ryan

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8472111.stm

An exhibition that has just opened at the Science Museum is celebrating 1,000 years of science from the Muslim world.

From about 700 to 1700, many of history's finest scientists and technologists were to be found in the Muslim world.

In Christian Europe the light of scientific inquiry had largely been extinguished with the collapse of the...

Author: Saadia Khan

Source: Muslim Public Affairs Council

http://www.mpac.org/article.php?id=1012#axzz0dMB4zuyA

This week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reminded the faith-based leaders that Los Angeles was the second most "under-counted" city in the 2000 Census. During the 210 Census Citywide Interfaith Breakfast, he told leaders of Muslim, Christian, Catholic, and Jewish communities many Los Angeles residents did not receive their fair share of...

Author: Toby Sterling

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wire Service: AP

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/dutch-anti-islam-lawmaker-278820.html

Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders sat in the defendant's dock Wednesday, nodding his head as prosecutors read aloud a hundred remarks he has made condemning Islam, Muslims and immigrants — notably one comparing the Quran to Hitler's "Mein...

Author: Whitney Woodward

Source: The Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/ct-x-c-0122-muslims-20100120,0,7141006.story

Frustrated by the negative Muslim stereotypes fueled by high-profile acts of violence and terrorism, a group of Chicago's faith and community leaders are launching a campaign to eradicate these misconceptions by building new relationships across ethnic and racial...

Author: Larry Neumeister

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012002692.html

Two prominent Muslim scholars once accused of having ties to terrorism can reapply to travel to the United States now that the State Department has concluded they pose no danger to the country, federal spokesmen said Wednesday....

Author: Tara Hagan

Source: The Observer

http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2268897

Members of the local Baha'i community are keeping a close eye on a controversial trial underway in Iran.

"We're deeply concerned," said Afsaneh Yazdani, secretary for the Baha'i community in Sarnia, where, members are praying for seven fellow Baha'is currently on trial.

The group -- two women and five men -- have been jailed since...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Herald-Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100120/ARTICLE/100129995?Title=Runaway-girl-to-remain-free-of-Muslim-parents

A runaway teenage girl from Ohio who converted from Islam to Christianity has reached a court settlement that allows her to remain free of her Muslim parents.

The...

Author: Cindy Carcamo

Source: The Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/news/muslim-229011-community-matar.html

In light of the Fort Hood killings and recent arrests of suspected radicalized Virginian youths in Pakistan, perceptions of American Muslims have taken a beating lately.

Closer to home, recent vandalism at a Costa Mesa Muslim mosque and an interfaith display in Mission Viejo delivered yet another blow to a...