Religion Today Daily Headlines - November 13, 2012

Religion Today Daily Headlines - November 13, 2012

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

  • 200,000 Remain Without Electricity Two Weeks After Superstorm Sandy
  • Israel Fires Warning Missile into Syria
  • Egypt: Women Assault, Cut Hair of Christian Woman on Metro
  • CAIR Poll: More Than 85 Percent of American Muslims Picked Obama

 

200,000 Remain Without Electricity Two Weeks After Superstorm Sandy

Nearly two weeks after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the northeast, more than 200,000 in the region still remain without electricity, the Christian Post reports. A shortage of gasoline is compounding the crisis; cars are lining up at stations that are open for business, and officials in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey have implemented gas-rationing systems. The Associated Press reported that hundreds of residents protested outside the Long Island Power Authority, frustrated by its slow response to outages. LIPA has indicated that some of the 130,000 blacked-out homes and businesses it serves may not have power restored until the end of Tuesday. "LIPA continues to mobilize additional resources, crews and equipment for the significant restoration efforts underway due to the unprecedented damage to its system by Hurricane Sandy and additional damaged from Wednesday's Nor'easter," a news release on LIPA's website said. According to John Bruckner of National Grid, "We currently forecast about 95 percent of those customers impacted by the storm will by restored by end of day Tuesday. We will continue to work tirelessly until all of them are restored."

Israel Fires Warning Missile into Syria

After a stray Syrian shell from civil strife in that country exploded on Israel's Golan Heights for the second time in recent days, the Israel Defense Forces fired a warning shot at the Syrian military on Sunday for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Jerusalem Post reports. "In the midst of Syrian infighting, a mortar shell fired by the Syrian Army struck near an [IDF] outpost at Tel Azeka," IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said. "In light of the policy instituted by IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, a warning round was fired back into Syria. We don't believe it caused injuries or damages." Concurrently, Israel sent a warning message to the U.N., saying any further firing into Israel would result "in a real response."

Egypt: Women Assault, Cut Hair of Christian Woman on Metro

Two women in full Islamic head coverings assaulted and forcefully cut the hair of a Christian woman on the metro Sunday, the third such reported incident in two months, raising fears of a growing vigilante movement to punish Egyptian women for not wearing the veil in public, the Egypt Independent reports. According to the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the assaulters called the 28-year-old Christian woman an "infidel" and pushed her off the train, breaking her arm. The Christian woman reported the incident to police and filed a medical report to confirm the assault. Last week, a woman wearing the veil cut the hair of a 13-year-old Christian girl on the metro, and a teacher was also given a six-month suspended prison sentence for cutting the hair of two 12-year-old girls after they refused to cover their heads. Naguib Gabriel, director of EOHR, urged Egypt's interior minister to address the recurring attacks on unveiled women before it became a common practice. Opponents of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammed Morsi, say these incidents prove that Islamists are attempting to impose strict sharia laws under his rule.

CAIR Poll: More Than 85 Percent of American Muslims Picked Obama

According to an informal exit poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), more than 85 percent of American Muslim voters picked President Barack Obama in last Tuesday's election, CNSNews.com reports. That number, however, is lower than a similar poll conducted in 2008 that showed 89 percent of American Muslims cast a ballot for Obama. According to this year's poll of 650 respondents, just 4.4 percent stated they voted for Mitt Romney. The poll also found that 95.5 percent of the Muslim voters said they went to the polls on Nov. 6, with the highest number of survey respondents being in California, New York, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Florida, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio. According to Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, "The fact that more than 95 percent of Muslim respondents went to the polls is a clear indication that they are fully participating in our nation's political process and are part of the fabric of America."

Publication date: November 13, 2012

Religion Today Daily Headlines - November 13, 2012