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New York: Police sued over surveillance of Muslims

New York: The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the New York Police Department over its surveillance of Muslim communities, accusing the police of trampling on religious freedoms and constitutional guarantees of equality.

The surveillance by the NYPD's intelligence division has extended beyond New York City's five boroughs into neighboring New Jersey and other nearby states. The police department says that surveillance of Muslims is legal under an earlier federal court order.

The lawsuit is the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle between the NYPD and civil liberties advocates over the department's aggressive policing tactics - including its stop-and-frisk practices, which are the subject of a separate federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn, seeks to put an end to the NYPD's surveillance of Muslims, the destruction of all records on individuals created as a result of the program and the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the department....more    

Mosque burns down in London in suspicious circumstances

London: A mosque was burned down on Wednesday in Britain in a suspected arson attack, intensifying fears of a backlash against Muslims after a British soldier was killed on a London street last month. Police said they were treating the mosque fire as suspicious and that the letters "EDL" had been found scrawled on the side of the building. EDL is the acronym of the English Defence League (EDL), a...  

Bangladesh lifts ban on YouTube

Dhaka: Bangladesh on Wednesday lifted a ban on popular video sharing website YouTube, eight months after it was imposed to prevent the viewing of an anti-Islam film which had sparked worldwide protests. "The ban has been lifted," a spokesman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Sunil Kanti Bose said. Talking to state-run BSS news agency Bose said the people in Bangladesh now could have access again to the YouTube as...  

More than 7,000 Syrian refugees return from Iraq

Baghdad: More than 7,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq have crossed back to the rebel-held Syrian border town of Albu Kamal in recent weeks due to better security there, an Iraqi official said on Sunday. The reverse flow coincides with a lull in battles and air raids by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's military, which has been on the offensive elsewhere in Syria, especially in the western town of Qusair, around Damascus...  

Egypt parliament ruled illegal, to stay on until elections

Cairo: Egypt's top court ruled on Sunday that parliament's Muslim Brotherhood-led upper house was illegal but could stay on until elections, dealing the Islamists a moral blow but letting them keep their grip on lawmaking for now. The decision resolves an area of legal uncertainty hanging over a political transition repeatedly upset by the courts. The ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court upheld the upper house's right, as set out...  

Will give development to Muslims, says CP Thakur

Patna: Senior BJP leader CP Thakur on Sunday said the party wants to win the hearts of Muslims through development in the party-ruled states, and does not want to "mislead them by providing skull caps". "The BJP neither intends to mislead Muslims by providing skull caps for them in the party-ruled states nor wants to advertise their photographs with the minority people in the newspapers.... all the BJP wants is...  

Iraq says it has captured al Qaeda chemical gas team

Baghdad: Iraq has captured a suspected al Qaeda cell that planned to produce chemical poisons such as mustard gas to attack Iraqi forces and to ship overseas for attacks on Europe and the United States, the government said on Saturday. The announcement was made as investigators look into allegations over the use of sarin nerve gas in next-door Syria where rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's forces have blamed each other...  

Iraq violence: Baghdad bomb attacks leave 25 dead

Baghdad: A series of bombs battered Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim neighborhoods across Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 25 people in the worst wave of sectarian violence since civil war five years ago. The bloodletting reflects increasing conflict between Iraq's majority Shi'ite leadership and the Sunni minority, many of whom feel unfairly marginalized since the 2003 fall of strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. The latest surge in violence began in...  

Nawaz Sharif's party strengthens parliament position

Islamabad: Pakistan Muslim League (PNL-N) party of Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday strengthened its position in parliament as it secured 35 Reserved Women and Non-Muslim seats raising its strength in the National Assembly to 186. The National Assembly or Lower House of the parliament has a total of 342 seats, Xinhua reported. The Election Commission of Pakistan issued notification for allocation of Reserved Women and Non-Muslim seats to political parties according...  

Protesters rally in London over beheading of soldier

London: Supporters of the far right English Defence League rallied in Central London shouting anti-Islamic slogans in protest over the beheading of a soldier last week. Two war memorials have also been vandalised in the city. Three men arrested in London were on Monday released on bail while the two main accused, shot by police, remain under arrest in a hospital. The trio, aged 21, 24 and 28, were arrested...  

Rockets hit Beirut after Hezbollah vows Syria victory

Beirut: Two rockets hit a Shi'ite Muslim district of Beirut on Sunday, driving home the risk of spillover from Syria's civil war, after the head of Lebanese Shi'ite militant Hezbollah said it would keep fighting on the Syrian government's side until victory. It was the first attack to apparently target Hezbollah's stronghold in the south of the Lebanese capital since the outbreak of the two-year conflict in neighbouring Syria, which...  

Bosnia president, charged with graft, freed from jail

Sarajevo: The president of Bosnia's autonomous Muslim-Croat federation was freed from jail on Friday after the Constitutional Court ordered his release following his arrest last month on corruption charges. President Zivko Budimir was arrested along with 19 other officials in late April 2013 in the most high-profile anti-corruption drive in Bosnia since independence more than two decades ago. A court ordered Budimir and his four co-accused aides to be kept...  

There are signs of new conservatism among the young in UK: Sanjay Suri

The beheading of Lee Rigby in broad daylight in Woolwich, London, has got authorities in the UK, Europe and the US brainstorming over the possibility of 'homegrown' terror groups taking over the mantle of jehadi terror from trans-national entities like al-Qaeda. With groups like al-Muhajiroun, led by Anjem Choudhary, operating in the UK for long with impunity, is this the new concern for the west? CNN-IBN's London Correspondent Sanjay Suri...  

UK soldier beheading: Terror suspects were known to MI5

London: The British government on Friday defended the country's security services against criticism they missed signs which might have helped prevent the brutal murder of a soldier on a street of south-east London. MI5 now faces a House of Commons inquiry after it was confirmed the two terror suspects arrested over his murder were known to the national security agency. But Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said it was impossible to...  

UK soldier beheading could spark reprisal attacks against Muslims

Many fear that the soldier beheading incident in London would spark reprisal attacks against Muslims. England's far-right protest groups called for a protest shortly after the attack in Woolwich. The English Defense League used social media to rally its supporters. ...

Malegaon blasts: Is there an institutional bias in the police?

Nine Muslim youth, accused for the Malegaon blasts and jailed for five years, were let off a few days back after no evidence was found against them. Is there an institutional bias and prejudice in the police? ...

FTN: Malegaon blast: Are security agencies wrongfully arresting innocent Muslims?

The National Commission for Minorities on Thursday slammed the CBI for putting "innocents in jail over serious crimes as terror acts". ...

Pakistan: Imran Khan discharged from hospital

Islamabad: Pakistani cricket-hero-turned-politician Imran Khan left hospital on Wednesday after treatment for back injuries suffered in a fall in Lahore, television stations said. Imran Khan, who has been fitted with a spinal brace to aid recovery, fell from a fork-lift taking him to a poll campaign podium on May 7. A General Election four days later handed a landslide victory to Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). But...  

Obama urges Myanmar to stop violence against Muslims

Washington: President Barack Obama urged the president of Myanmar on Monday to take steps to halt violence against Muslims in his country and move ahead with economic and political reforms. Thein Sein became the first head of Myanmar to visit the White House in 47 years, and he and Obama sat down for talks in the Oval Office. Obama said the Myanmar leader had assured him that he intends to...