The president of sanctions-hit Iran called Thursday for Muslim countries to cooperate in fighting United States (US) "economic terrorism" at the opening of a summit aimed at tackling the Islamic world's woes.Hundreds of delegates are attending the gathering in Malaysia - including heads of state and religious leaders - but the meeting has been snubbed by Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines.The summit has also been criticised for undermining the Organisation of Is

Malaysia will this week host a summit of Muslim leaders billed as a forum to look at the Islamic world's problems, but it will be closely watched for Middle East power plays and their stance on China's Uighur minority.Leaders from Iran, Turkey, and Qatar will be among hundreds of delegates attending the three-day event set to discuss myriad challenges faced by Muslims.The summit has been pushed by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has long championed greater solidarity

At least 15 people were killed and another four injured in attacks by suspected Muslim rebels in Thailand's violence-wracked south, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, the largest death toll in years. The Malay-Muslim south has been in the grip of a bloody insurgency that has killed more than 7,000 people over the last 15 years. Late Tuesday militants struck two checkpoints in Yala province manned by civil defence volunteers, opening fire on them as a group of villager

A Thai judge shot himself in the chest in front of a packed court after acquitting several murder suspects and decrying the kingdom's judicial system in an impassioned speech broadcast on Facebook Live.Critics say Thailand's courts often work in favour of the rich and powerful, while delivering swift and harsh sentences on ordinary people for minor offences. But it is virtually unheard of for judges to criticise the system.Kanakorn Pianchana, a judge at Yala court in the he

Malaysia's religious affairs minister came under fire Monday for describing a camp in China where ethnic Uighurs are held as a "vocational and training institution" during a visit.Chinese authorities have placed an estimated one million mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in internment camps that Beijing claims are needed to steer people away from extremism.On the seven-day trip to China last week, a picture was posted on Mujahid Yusof Rawa's Facebook page of people sitting at

Over the click-clack of the teak loom, Niphon's family laments the lack of apprentice weavers at his Bangkok silk shop, as modernity lures young Muslims away from a trade their community has dominated for generations.They say they are the last of the Muslim weavers of Baan Krua, a storied neighbourhood of dilapidated wooden houses and a mosque in downtown Bangkok, nearly engulfed by the city creep of condos and skyscrapers."This is Muslim heritage...

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised the plight of ethnic Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang region during talks with Chinese leaders and stressed that China must fully respect human rights, his spokesman said Monday.Guterres faced calls to speak out on human rights during his visit to Beijing where he attended a summit on Saturday of China's prized Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and held talks with President Xi Jinping.The UN chief delivered a three-point message that s