In Nigeria’s protracted violence, debate over whether religion is the cause, or the casualty

by News Feed Editor | Mar 5, 2026 | Religion

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — When gunmen stormed villages near Makurdi in Nigeria’s Benue state last year, Pastor Emmanuel Ochefu said the attack felt personal. “They came at night, shouting and burning homes,” said Ochefu, who leads a small Pentecostal church outside the...

Judge blocks DeSantis’ terrorist label of Muslim group

by News Feed Editor | Mar 5, 2026 | Religion

(RNS) — A federal judge blocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ move to designate a Muslim civil rights organization as a terrorist group in the state, calling the governor’s attempt politically motivated and unconstitutional.  Two months ago, DeSantis, a Republican,...

Turkey’s Erdogan offers to try to revive a truce as Pakistan-Afghan border clashes enter sixth day

by News Feed Editor | Mar 5, 2026 | Religion

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday offered to mediate for a new ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan as border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan entered their sixth day. Pakistan’s army chief said lasting peace depends on...

A son of Iran’s late supreme leader is a possible candidate to replace his father as war rages

by News Feed Editor | Mar 5, 2026 | Religion

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has long been considered a contender to the post of the country’s next paramount ruler — even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the...

From Karachi to Beirut, Khamenei’s death sends shockwaves across the Shiite world

by News Feed Editor | Mar 5, 2026 | Religion

BEIRUT (AP) — The killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes over the weekend did not just shake Iran. It has reverberated across the Shiite Muslim world, raising the specter of a broader backlash in the Middle East and beyond....

Pakistan says its forces killed 67 Afghan troops in cross-border clashes. Kabul rejects the claim

by News Feed Editor | Mar 5, 2026 | Religion

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghan forces attacked Pakistani military positions along the border early on Tuesday, triggering intense clashes that left 67 Afghan troops and one Pakistani soldier dead, officials in Islamabad said as cross-border fighting between the two countries...