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<p>The Islamic State, otherwise known as ISIS, currently has the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-yazidi-community-northern-iraq-2014-8">Yazidi people</a> at their mercy. As many as 40,000 people, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-yazidi-community-northern-iraq-2014-8">most of which are from Iraq's Yazidi</a> religious minority, are trapped atop Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq.</p>
<p>The U.S. has reponded to the crisis with limited <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-strike-in-iraq-isis-2014-8">air strikes</a> against ISIS targets.</p>
<p>The mountain is cut off from food and water. Although the U.S. intervention changes the calculus, there's still a danger that starvation or dehydration <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-yazidi-community-northern-iraq-2014-8"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">will ravage the Yazidis trapped on the mountaintop</span></a>. </p>
<p>Some Yazidis who managed to flee the area have taken <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/iraq/140803/islamic-state-captures-sinjar-yazidis">refuge in the city of Lalish</a> - an important place of pilgrimage for members of the faith.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Lalish is an intense and deeply spiritual holy city. Here are pictures of one of the most important places for a religious group threatened with genocide.</span></p>
<h3>This Yazidi cleric walks through the main temple in Lalish. The Yazidi faith dates back thousands of years, and the religious group is no stranger to persecution.</h3>
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<h3>Here is the same Yazidi temple from the outside.</h3>
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<h3>These Yazidi women wash their faces with holy water from a spring within the Lalish temple. </h3>
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<h3>This woman kisses a monument in front of the Yazidi temple. During the Yazidi summer feast festival, 15,000 people typically make the pilgrimage to Lalish.</h3>
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<h3>A Yazidi worshipper is blessed by a cleric during the fall festival of <span>Eid al-Jamma.</span></h3>
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<h3>Yazidi worshippers engaging in a prayer ceremony during <span>Eid al-Jamma. </span></h3>
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<h3>Here, Yazidis pay their respects within the Lalish temple. The Yazidis were victims of the worst terror attack of last decade's Iraq War, when suicide bombings killed more than 400 Yazidis in 2007.</h3>
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Visit The Holy City Of The Iraqi Religious Minority ISIS Is Threatening With Destruction

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy and political ideology being mismatch have raised new question mark in US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report. As reported by The Economic Times, USCIRF has slammed the BJP Government on the 'Ghar Vapasi' campaign and the violence against Christians. The only respite for Modi is his statement in mid-February in support of religious freedom, which has been deemed by USCIRF as "positive development".<br />
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The annual report of USCIRF mentions, since Modi has come to power, religious minority communities have been subject to "derogatory comments by politicians linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)" and "numerous violent attacks and forced conversions by Hindu nationalist groups" such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).<br />
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In a chapter on India, the report reads, “The states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan tend to have the greatest number of religiously-motivated attacks and communal violence incidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and religious leaders, including from the Muslim, Christian, and Sikh communities, attributed the initial increase to religiously-divisive campaigning in advance of the country's 2014 general election.”<br />
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“Religious minority communities frequently accuse the RSS, VHP and other Hindu-nationalist groups and individuals of intolerance, discrimination, and violence against them, the report adds. Moreover, religious minority communities voice concern that high-ranking BJP members protect or provide support to these groups. In light of these concerns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement in support of religious freedom made in mid-February 2015 was a positive development," the USCIRF report further read.<br />
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As per the news report, USCIRF report adds that the Muslim community in India also has experienced increased harassment and violence. "It faces significant hate campaigns perpetrated by Hindu nationalist groups and local and state politicians that include wide- spread media propaganda accusing Muslims of being terrorists; spying for Pakistan; forcibly kidnapping, converting, and marrying Hindu women; and disrespecting Hinduism by slaughtering cows. Additionally, the Muslim community reports that its mosques are monitored and young boys and men are detained indiscriminately under the pretext of countering terrorism. Muslims also complain that most Indian states violate their religious freedom by restricting or banning cow slaughter, which is required for Muslims during Eid al-Adha," the report has said.<br />
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In what may sound rough to Modi’s liking for the US, the financial daily report, the USCIRF has further urged the US government to urge the central Indian government to press states that have adopted anti-conversion laws to repeal or amend them to conform with internationally recognised human rights standards and make clear US opposition to laws that restrict freedom of thought and association. It has further asked the US to urge Indian government to publicly rebuke government officials and religious leaders that make derogatory statements about religious communities, as per the USCIRF report.<br />
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(Image: Reuters)<br />
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The US didn’t like India’s ‘ghar
wapsi’

<ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>India's parliament passed a new amendment to its citizenship law earlier this month, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities while singling out its minority Muslim population. </strong></li><li><strong>The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> and has sparked deadly protests around the country.</strong></li><li><strong>The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>A controversial amendment to a law was recently passed in India, sparking deadly protests around the country and leading some to question the country's democratic values.</p><p>On December 11, India's parliament passed an amendment to its Citizenship Act of 1955, which sets out guidelines for becoming a citizen in the country. The 2019 revision added a religious element to the bill, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities who fled neighboring Muslim-majority countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. </p><p>The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> as anti-Islam, and they say it further marginalizes India's sizeable Muslim minority. Violent protests have erupted across the country in response, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-burning-protests-new-citizenship-act-2019-12">resulting in the deaths of six people</a>. Dozens more have been arrested or injured in clashes with police.</p><p>The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.</p><p>The bill has also handed more power to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government in crafting a country which affords more rights to its Hindu majority and leaves room for further discrimination in the areas of governance and public space. </p><h2><strong>What exactly does the bill say?</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><strong></strong><p>India's Citizenship Act was first established in 1955 and created comprehensive guidelines related to citizenship in the country.</p><p>It has been amended several times, including at 2003 amendment that authorized the government to keep a national register of all of its citizens (referred to as the NRC). Today, the register has not yet been implemented except in the northeastern state of Assam, which is home to a Muslim-majority population. </p><p>The most recent changes to the Citizenship Act (often referred to locally as CAB or CAA) were passed by India's lower house of parliament - the Lok Sabha - on December 10, before being cleared by the upper house of parliament  - the Rajya Sabha - a day later. The bill was signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind.</p><p>The bill was introduced by Indian home affairs minister Amit Shah, a leading member of ‎Modi's right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and it promised to provide refuge for persecuted religious minorities from three neighboring Muslim-majority countries who entered India before 2015.</p><p>Notably, the act excludes Muslim migrants "as they do not face religious persecution in these Islamic countries," India's parliament <a href="https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=195783">said in a statement</a> after the bill's passage. </p><p>The bill also leaves out two neighboring Buddhist countries, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, which have experienced major refugee crises in recent years. There are about 59,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees residing in over 100 camps in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, according to <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30328790.ece">Indian magazine Frontline</a>, and about 30,000 that live outside these camps.</p><p>The bill also ignores what the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22491&amp;LangID=E">UN has deemed the world's most persecuted minority</a>, the Rohingya Muslims, who suffered ethnic and religious cleansing at the hands of the Burmese military in Myanmar. Authorities <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-india-idUSKCN1AU0UC">have reportedly pledged</a> to deport the estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees currently residing in India, despite facing danger in their home state. </p><p>"The only religion that the Modi government follows is the Constitution of India," the statement added.</p><p>In the statement, Shah "reiterated that the Bill is not against any Minority in India and the rights of each Indian Citizen will be equally protected."</p><p>The bill does not apply to Assam and other indigenous areas.</p><p>A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25425&amp;LangID=E">called</a> the act "discriminatory in nature" and said it undermines India's democratic framework:</p><p>"The law isn't truly about protecting the region's religious minorities," <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/17/india-citizenship-law-protests-narendra-modi-amit-shah-founding-fathers/">wrote Ravi Agrawal and Kathryn Salam of Foreign Policy</a>. "Instead, it challenges India's secularism by making religion part of the basis for citizenship."</p><p>The Citizenship Act has spurred thousands of people from human rights groups, universities and religious groups to come out in protest this month. On December 15, clashes between police and students escalated on two Muslim university campuses - Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh and of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi - resulting in police <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/17/india-protests-students-condemn-barbaric-police">using batons and tear gas on students</a>.</p><p>The unrest has even led authorities to deploy army personnel and <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/curfew-relaxed-few-hours-guwahati-assam-boils-caa-1628386-2019-12-15">impose a curfew in Assam</a>, as protests boil over. </p><h2>This is not the first time the government has targeted its Muslim population</h2><p><strong></strong></p><strong></strong><p>India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has taken steps to further marginalize the country's Muslim population since coming into power in 2014.</p><p>The NRC's exclusive use in Assam has been derided by critics as a way to of stoking religious tensions. According to a <a href="http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW18C-01%20MDDS.XLS">2011 census</a>, Muslims makeup nearly 35% of Assam's population, and are a majority in eight of the state's districts. </p><p><a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/assam-final-nrc-list-out-over-19-lakh-people-excluded-1593769-2019-08-31">In August</a>, 1.9 million people from the region were excluded from the register, effectively stripping them of citizenship. <a href="https://amnesty.org.in/news-update/uncertain-destiny-for-millions-in-assam-post-nrc/">Amnesty International</a> has criticized the NRC and says it leaves the futures of millions of people in the region uncertain.</p><p>In September, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-building-mass-detention-center-illegal-immigrants-assam-citizenship-2019-9/commerce-on-business-insider">India began construction</a> on a large-scale detention center in the Goalpara district of Assam meant to hold at least 3,000 detainees, according to Reuters. </p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kashmir-india-revoke-article-370-quasi-independence-internet-tourists-2019-8">And in August</a>, India also revoked part of its constitution which gave the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir a special status and quasi-independence. Over the past four months, Kashmir, which is home to a significant Muslim population, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/kashmiri-artists-resisting-india-months-long-lockdown-191207062705088.html">has been off from communication, held on lockdown</a>, and is now directly under the control of India's federal government in New Delhi. </p><p>As part of shutting down communication, residents in Kashmir have lost access to phone lines and the internet. According to advocacy groups, the internet shutdown in the region is the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indias-internet-shutdown-in-kashmir-is-now-the-longest-ever-in-a-democracy/2019/12/15/bb0693ea-1dfc-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html">longest-ever crackdown imposed on a democracy</a>. Only authoritarian countries, like China and Myanmar, have experienced longer internet shutdowns.</p><p>The four-month internet blackout has been so severe that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-kashmir-accounts-removed-internet-blackout-2019-12">WhatsApp is deleting the accounts</a> of residents in the region because they've been inactive for so long. </p><h2><strong>State-sanctioned discrimination against Muslims has had dire consequences</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><strong></strong><p>The Modi government's attitudes and policies towards minority groups has sparked racially motivated clashes, and observers say that the ruling Hindu party has fostered a culture of impunity through its inaction in addressing violence.</p><p>Shah, who crafted the citizenship bill, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/india-election-speech/amit-shah-vows-to-throw-illegal-immigrants-into-bay-of-bengal-idUSKCN1RO1YD">vowed in April</a> to throw illegal Muslim immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh into the Bay of Bengal. He has also <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/bjp-amit-shah-hindu-refugees-mamata-bannerjee-1499691-2019-04-11">previously referred</a> to illegal immigrants as "termites." </p><p>India has also seen an increase in attacks against its Muslim minority in recent months. A February 2019 report from <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/02/18/violent-cow-protection-india/vigilante-groups-attack-minorities">Human Rights Watch</a> found that between May 2015 and December 2018, at least 36 Muslims were killed across 12 Indian states. Roughly 280 people were injured across 20 states during the same period, the rights group added.</p><p>In a particularly gruesome case last year, an eight-year-old Muslim girl was kidnapped, raped, and killed in Jammu and Kashmir by a group of Hindu men with the intention of committing the crime <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/six-men-convicted-in-rape-of-8-year-old-girl-that-shocked-india/2019/06/10/cde7b17c-8b5f-11e9-b162-8f6f41ec3c04_story.html">in order to drive away Muslim nomads in the area</a>. </p><p>The country has also seen a <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/asia/in-southern-kashmir-there-s-little-enthusiasm-for-india-s-elections-26253">crackdown on protests</a>, attacks on the <a href="https://thewire.in/politics/narendra-modi-amit-shah-bjp-india-media">free press</a>, and history books <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/india-modi-culture/">have been rewritten</a> in favor of Hindu achievements.</p><h2>India is inching towards fascism</h2><p>Experts have noted that India is straying away from its democratic values under the Bharatiya Janata Party. </p><p>"There is absolute political consensus within the Bharatiya Janata Party that India is culturally a Hindu country," Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-12-17/citizenship-law-moves-india-closer-to-being-hindu-country">Los Angeles Times</a>. </p><p>Harish Pullanoor, an editor at Quartz India, <a href="https://qz.com/india/844672/along-with-narendra-modis-rise-india-has-displayed-classic-signs-that-foreshadow-fascism/">wrote</a> in 2016 that India was "displaying classic signs that foreshadow fascism," including the disenfranchisement of religious minorities. </p><p>"The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders," wrote Umberto Eco, an Italian philosopher, who wrote of a <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/">list of features</a> that define a fascist state.</p><p>In April, several Muslim merchants in Old Delhi described fears of religiously-motivated violence against them. </p><p>"I could be lynched right now and nobody would do anything about it," Abdul Adnan, a Muslim businessman, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/world/asia/modi-india-elections.html">The New York Times</a>. "My government doesn't even consider me Indian. How can that be when my ancestors have lived here hundreds of years?"</p><p>According to The Times, the consensus among Indian activists and liberal political analysts is that the country, under Modi, has become "more toxically divided between Hindus and Muslims."</p><p>"In plain language, they are what we now call communal fascists," Aditya Mukherjee, a retired historian told The Times. </p><p>Historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in an op-ed in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/">The Washington Post</a> in August that it was time to downgrade India's status as a world-class democracy. </p><p>"Given the lack of any sort of credible opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the atmosphere of fear among religious minorities and the attacks on a free press, we are now a 40-60 democracy," he wrote of India. </p>

The world's largest democracy is heading toward modern-day fascism

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">A protester wears a mask painted with Xinjiang or East Turkestan's flag and tears of blood in Brussels in April 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>A nonprofit speaking at a UN Human Rights hearing said that China is engaged in widespread harvesting of human organs from persecuted religious and ethnic minorities.</strong></li><li><strong>The China Tribunal made the accusation at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. It said Uighur Muslims and the Falun Gong religious group were affected.</strong></li><li><strong>The China Tribunal is a pressure group backed by an Australian non-profit, which campaigns on the issue.</strong></li><li><strong>A spokesman for the group said described China "cutting out the hearts and other organs from living, blameless, harmless, peaceable people," describing the situation as an atrocity.</strong></li><li><strong>China has denied large-scale harvesting of organs. It has admitted using executed prisoners' organs in the past, but claims to have stopped in 2015.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. </a></strong></li></ul><p>China was accused of the widespread harvesting of human organs from persecuted groups in the country, at a tense meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday.</p><p>According to testimony from the China Tribunal - a pressure group which campaigns on organ harvesting - the government of China has taking hearts, kidneys, lungs and skin from groups including Uighur Muslims and members of the Falun Gong religious group.</p><p>The China Tribunal describes itself as a group of lawyers, academics, and medical professionals. It is backed by End Transplant Abuse in China, an Australian NGO.</p><p>China has denied carrying out mass harvesting of organs in any circumstances.</p><p>Addressing UN representatives, China Tribunal lawyer Hamid Sabi said the group has proof of the "forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience in China."</p><p>Sabi said that the tribunal had "proved beyond reasonable doubt" that China is committing "crimes against humanity" by harvesting organs from religious minorities like the Uighurs, and Falun Gong, a religious movement banned and widely persecuted by the Chinese government.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/islamic-world-stopped-calling-out-chinas-muslim-persecution-2019-4?r=US&amp;IR=T"> A wave of Islamic countries started to stand up to China over its persecution of its Muslim minority. But then they all got spooked.</a></em></p><p>"Forced organ harvesting from prisoners of political conscience, including the religious minorities of Falun Gong and Uighurs has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale," Sabi said, <a href="https://chinatribunal.com/statement-made-to-the-united-nations-september-2019/">a video published by China Tribunal on its website showed.</a></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-falun-gong-spiritual-movement-meditate-at-the-news-photo/133578816?adppopup=true">Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty</a></span></p><p class="caption">Members of Falun Gong spiritual movement meditate</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Sabi was presenting evidence from <a href="https://chinatribunal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/China-Tribunal-SHORT-FORM-CONCLUSION_Final.pdf">the tribunal's final report</a>, which was published in June. It claims that a "very substantial number" of members of Falun Gong were "killed to order" by the Chinese government. </p><p>Falun Gong members were "cut open while still alive for their kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, cornea and skin to be removed and turned into commodities for sale," the report said.</p><p>The body parts were then used for medical purposes, it said, citing extremely short waiting times for organ transplants in Chinese hospitals as evidence of the practice.</p><p>The report from June was led by British lawyer Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, who was the lead prosecutor in the trial of former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-xinjiang-undercover-report-police-paranoia-muslim-crackdown-2019-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">Chilling undercover footage taken inside China's most oppressive region shows it's virtually impossible to escape the paranoid police state</a></em></p><p><em><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-religious-ethnic-minorities-uighur-muslim-harvest-organs-un-human-rights-a9117911.html">Screenshot/The Independent</a></span></p><p class="caption">Hamid Sabi, a lawyer for the China Tribunal.</p></div><p></p></div></div></em></p><p>Sabi told the UN on Tuesday that China's efforts involved "hundreds of thousands of victims," and described the process as "one of the worst mass atrocities of this century."</p><p>He did not specify exactly how many organs the China Tribunal believes have been harvested, or the number taken from Uighurs and members of Falun Gong respectively.</p><p>"Victim for victim, and death for death, cutting out the hearts and other organs from living, blameless, harmless, peaceable people constitutes one of the worst mass atrocities of this century," he said.</p><p>"Organ transplantation to save live is a scientific and social triumph, but killing the donor is criminal."</p><p>China has consistently denied that it is involved in any large scale organ harvesting activities.<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-organ-harvesting/un-urged-to-investigate-organ-harvesting-in-china-idUSKBN1W92FL"></a></p><p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-organ-harvesting/un-urged-to-investigate-organ-harvesting-in-china-idUSKBN1W92FL">According to Reuters, </a>China has insisted that it "stopped using organs from executed prisoners in 2015."</p><p>Business Insider has contacted the Chinese government for comment on the testimony given by Sabi, but is yet to receive a response.</p><p>Sabi concluded by saying that it is the "duty" of international bodies like the UN to investigate the tribunal's findings "not only in regard to the possible charge of genocide, but also in regard to crimes against humanity."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reporter-luke-harding-explains-life-under-fsb-surveillance-2017-12">A reporter who lived in Russia for 4 years reveals what it was like being stalked by Russian spies</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

China is harvesting thousands of human organs from its Uighur Muslim minority, UN human rights body hears

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The influential Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani had been previously targeted by an ISIS affiliate.</li><li>The religios leader supported access to education for Afghanistan's girls and women.</li></ul><p>A prominent Taliban religious leader, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, has been killed by a suicide bomber who hid explosives in an artificial leg, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-cleric-killed-blast-kabul-intelligence-official-2022-08-11/">Reuters reports. </a></p><p>Sheikh Haqqani was targeted during a visit to a religious seminary in Kabul on Thursday, According to local reports, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-62508070">per the BBC.</a></p><p>"Very sadly informed that respected cleric (Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani) was martyred in a cowardly attack by enemies," said Bilal Karimi, a spokesperson for the Taliban administration. </p><p>The Taliban said Haqqani's death is a "very huge loss for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."</p><p>The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/islamic-state-claims-responsibility-attack-school-kabul-2022-08-11/">Reuters reports. </a></p><p>Sheikh Haqqani, a prominent critic of ISIS, may also have been targeted because he supported the right of girls and women to be educated.</p><p> "There is no justification in the sharia [law] to say female education is not allowed. No justification at all," he said <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-61470748">in an interview with the BBC.</a></p><p>He added: "All the religious books have stated female education is permissible and obligatory, because, for example, if a woman gets sick, in an Islamic environment like Afghanistan or Pakistan, and needs treatment, it's much better if she's treated by a female doctor."</p><p>Sheikh Haqqani had survived two previous assassination attempts, according to the BBC.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-isis-k-islamic-states-afghanistan-affiliate-taliban-enemy-2021-8">Islamic State's Afghan affiliate, ISIS-K</a>, has become a growing threat to the Taliban regime that now rules Afghanistan, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bomb-detonates-at-crowded-afghanistan-mosque-injuries-deaths-2021-10">attacking religious minorities</a> and assassinating Taliban officials.</p>

Senior Taliban cleric killed by a suicide bomber who had hidden explosives in his artificial leg

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Kevin Frayer/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Regional authorities in Xinjiang, China, appeared to legalize "re-education centers" for its persecuted Uighur minority despite Beijing's previous denials that they existed. Here, Uighur men gather for a holiday meal in Turpan County, Xinjiang, in 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Regional authorities in China revised a local law to encourage the existence of "re-education centers" for its persecuted Uighur ethnic minority.</strong></li><li><strong>The new law promulgated by the government in Xinjiang, western China, formally encouraged officials to set up "re-education institutions ... to carry out the educational transformation of those affected by extremism."</strong></li><li><strong>Beijing previously denied that such centers even existed, claiming that it only set up vocational training centers to help those affected by religious extremism.</strong></li><li><strong>Human Rights Watch said that "without due process," those centers "remain arbitrary and abusive, and no tweaks in national or regional rules can change that."</strong></li></ul><p>Chinese regional authorities have legally formalized the existence of re-education centers for the country's persecuted Muslim Uighur ethnic minority after Beijing denied that such camps existed.</p><p>Officials in Xinjiang, the western Chinese region where 8 million Uighurs live, revised a local law to encourage "re-education institutions" to help those "affected by extremism."</p><p>The new law, which was published on Tuesday, <a href="http://www.xjpcsc.gov.cn/1009/t4028e49c665347630166588b8cf40001001.html">stated</a>: "Officials at or above the county level may set up vocational education and training centers, and other re-education institutions and management departments, to carry out the educational transformation of those affected by extremism."</p><p>Beijing justifies its surveillance and crackdown on Uighurs as a measure to counter terrorism and religious extremism. It has also repeatedly insisted that people in Xinjiang - known to Uighurs as East Turkestan - lived in harmony and enjoy religious freedom.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Ng Han Guan</span></p><p class="caption">Chinese national flags are hung prominently in a passage in Kashgar, Xinjiang.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>China previously denied that such camps existed. Shortly after a United Nations panel said it had received credible reports that 1 million Uighurs were held in internment camps, senior Communist Party official Hu Lianhe <span>claimed that there are "</span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-un-uighurs/china-rejects-allegations-of-detaining-million-uighurs-in-camps-in-xinjiang-idUSKBN1KY0Z7">no such things as re-education centers</a>," but had detained people it considers extremists.</p><p>Earlier this month <span>Radio Free Asia this week </span><a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/transfer-10022018171100.html">quoted unnamed regional authorities as saying</a><span> they had to transfer inmates out of Xinjiang to other regions across China because, one said, "we are experiencing an overflow of inmates."</span></p><p><em><strong>See more:</strong> <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/photos-show-huge-expansion-of-china-facility-for-xinjiang-uighur-minority-2018-10">Photos show huge expansion of Chinese facility where Muslim minorities say they are persecuted and forced to sing hymns to Xi Jinping</a></em></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomas Peter/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">A police officer checks a Uighur man's ID documents in Kashgar, Xinjiang, in March 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><h2><span>Is this law legitimate?</span></h2><p>Rights activists claim that Xinjiang's local government have no right to legalize re-education camps because the process itself is still "arbitrary and abusive."</p><p>Maya Wang, the senior researcher on China at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement sent to Business Insider:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Xinjiang's regional government is not empowered under China's constitution to legalize detention in the political education centers where a million Turkic Muslims are being held.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Without due process, Xinjiang's political education centers remain arbitrary and abusive, and no tweaks in national or regional rules can change that."</p><p><span>Uighurs who have been inside detention and re-education camps have described witnessing and experiencing physical and psychological torture, including being <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/life-inside-china-internment-camps-for-uighur-minority-in-xinjiang-bbc-report-2018-8">shackled to a chair and beaten up, deprived of sleep, and forced to sing about President Xi Jinping to get food</a>.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Ng Han Guan</span></p><p class="caption">Former Xinjiang detainee Omir Bekali demonstrates how he was strung up by his arms in Chinese detention before being sent to another internment camp during an interview in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in March 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>China has also justified its method of "training" religious extremists as "the necessary way to deal with Islamic or religious extremism."</p><p>Last month a spokesman for China's state council information office, Li Xiaojun, said that detaining Uighurs in such centers was "not mistreatment," but "to establish professional training centers, educational centers."</p><p>"If you do not say it's the best way, maybe it's the necessary way to deal with Islamic or religious extremism," Li said, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang/chinese-official-says-china-is-educating-not-mistreating-muslims-idUSKCN1LT1LV">according to Reuters</a>. "Because the West has failed in doing so, in dealing with religious Islamic extremism."</p><p>"Look at Belgium, look at Paris, look at some other European countries," he added, referring to terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris carried out by Islamic extremists in 2015 and 2016. "You have failed."</p>     <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-caffeine-does-body-brain-2017-3">Here's what caffeine does to your body and brain</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

China okays massive re-education camps for Muslim minorities after denying the camps exist

<ul><li><strong>India has rejected a US State Department report that made critical comments on the status of minorities in the South Asian country.</strong></li><li><strong>US has no 'locus standi', said a spokesperson from the <keyword id="6374106" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ministry-of-external-affairs">Ministry of External Affairs</keyword>.</strong></li><li><strong>This is a fresh front in the India-US bilateral ties that has come to the fore ahead of Mike Pompeo's visit.</strong></li></ul>India has rejected a US State Department report that made critical comments on the status of minorities in the South Asian country. US has no 'locus standi', said a spokesperson from the Ministry of External Affairs. This is a fresh front in the India-US bilateral ties that has come to the fore ahead of US Secretary of State <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/us-secretary-of-state-may-visit-india-in-june/articleshow/69571301.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Michael Pompeo's visit to India</a>.<br /><br /> "We see no locus standi for a foreign entity/government to pronounce on the state of our citizens' constitutionally protected rights," he said. "India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion," Kumar said.<br /><br />This was in response to a query on the latest 'Report on International Religious Freedom', published by the State Department, which said, ", “There were reports by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that the government sometimes failed to act on mob attacks on religious minorities, marginalized communities, and critics of the government. Some senior officials of the Hindu-majority Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made inflammatory speeches against minority communities… According to some NGOs, authorities often protected perpetrators from prosecution. As of November, there were 18 such attacks, and eight people [were] killed during the year.”<br /><br /><strong>Pressure tactic<br /></strong><br />The report is further significant as it has been released just days  ahead of Pompeo's visit to India. He will arrive in New Delhi on Tuesday on a three-day visit ahead of his trips to Japan and South Korea. <br /><br />There are multiple points of difference between the Donald Trump and Narendra Modi administrations. This report may sour the mood in the Indian government before the bilateral talks, which will include a whole host of contentious issues from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-tariff-on-us-imports-ahead-of-mike-pompeos-visit-to-delhi/articleshow/69819645.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">trade tariffs</a> to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/us-donald-trump-plans-a-15-cap-on-h-1b-visas-for-selective-nations-including-india/articleshow/69869965.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">curbs on US visas for Indians</a>, from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/us-secretary-of-state-may-visit-india-in-june/articleshow/69571301.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">defence deals with Russia</a> to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/serious-diplomatic-engagement-can-still-reduce-us-iran-tension-2019-6?IR=T" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">oil purchases from Iran</a>, from the difficulties <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/seven-indian-pharma-companies-are-being-dragged-into-a-us-lawsuit-over-high-drug-prices/articleshow/69318841.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">faced by Indian drug makers</a> and IT services exporters in US to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-walmart-seek-us-help-against-indias-new-draft-e-commerce-policy/articleshow/65228547.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">new e-commerce policy</a> that will make life difficult for the likes of Amazon and Walmart (which owns Flipkart) in India, and these are just a few of the top issues.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO: </strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/us-donald-trump-plans-a-15-cap-on-h-1b-visas-for-selective-nations-including-india/articleshow/69869965.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Trump plans a 15% cap on H-1B visas — and Indians will be hurt the most</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-exports-to-be-affected-most-by-us-withdrawal-of-trade-benefits/articleshow/69631996.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">These sectors will hurt the most from US withdrawing trade benefits to India</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-walmart-seek-us-help-against-indias-new-draft-e-commerce-policy/articleshow/65228547.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Amazon, Walmart seek US help against India’s new draft E-commerce Policy</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/us-donald-trump-plans-a-15-cap-on-h-1b-visas-for-selective-nations-including-india/articleshow/69869965.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&amp;utm_medium=text&amp;utm_campaign=cppst" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Rise in US H-1B visa rejection may force Indian tech companies to look at M&amp;A</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-tariff-on-us-imports-ahead-of-mike-pompeos-visit-to-delhi/articleshow/69819645.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">India hits back at US with added tariffs on 28 products including almonds, apples and walnuts — just ahead of Pompeo's visit</a><br /><br /><em>With inputs from IANS</em><br /><br /><br />

India tells US to shush after the State Department called out the Modi government's passivity to 'hate' against minorities

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>Even Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson's (R) received a rather personal objection to the state's controversial "religious freedom" legislation. </p><p>When Hutchinson announced on Wednesday that he <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/arkansas-just-baked-down-on-controversial-religious-freedom-law-2015-4">would not sign the bill in its current form</a>, he cited his son's opposition as a sign that the issue was "divisive" and should be treated with care.</p><p class="p1">"My son, Seth, signed the petition  asking me, Dad, the governor, to veto this bill. And he gave me permission to make that reference," Hutchinson said.</p><p class="p1">The governor said his son's opposition suggests there's a "generational gap" on the "religious freedom" issue that has generated nationwide debate. Proponents of this type of legislation say it simply protects religious people from government interference with their practices. Critics say it opens the door to discrimination against gays and lesbians. </p><p><span>"The issue has become divisive because our nation remains split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions and firmly held religious convictions. It has divided families and there is clearly a generational gap on this issue," Hutchinson said.</span></p><p>The "religious freedom" controversy was ignited last week when Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) signed his state's bill into <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword>. After a wide swath of businesses and government leaders vowed to boycott the state, Pence held a press conference on Tuesday defending the bill but announcing <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mike-pence-holds-defiant-press-conference-on-religious-freedom-law-2015-3">he would push for a legislative "fix"</a> to clarify that it does not permit discrimination. Powerful interests like Arkansas-based Wal-Mart also lobbied Hutchinson <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wal-mart-religious-freedom-law-statement-2015-3">to veto the bill</a>, which he previously said he would sign. </p><p><span>For his part, Hutchinson was cautious in describing his concerns about the Arkansas measure. His main complaint was that it did not "precisely mirror" the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Hutchinson said he asked the state's legislative leaders to recall the bill and tweak it to be closer to the federal guidelines. </span></p><p><span>Pence has also cited the federal law as a sign the "religious freedom" issue shouldn't be especially controversial. However, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">the White House said the 1993 law is far different from some of the state bills under discussion.</span></p><p><span>"Governor Pence has tried to falsely suggest that the law that was signed in Indiana is the same as the law that was passed at the federal level in 1993," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday, according to a transcript. "That is not true. And the reason that that's not true is that the 1993 law was an effort to try to protect the religious liberty of religious minorities based on actions that could be taken by the federal government."</span></p><p><span>Hutchinson's son did not respond to Business Insider's requests for comment on his communications with his father about the legislation. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-headphones-tricks-2015-2">14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="o2OGM3czpWcydnvhjbkDBd6feXPuExiD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The Arkansas governor's own son urged him not to sign the controversial 'religious freedom' law

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella became the first major tech CEO to speak out against a new citizenship law <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-india-democracy-heading-toward-modern-day-fascism-2019-12">India passed last month</a> that discriminates against Muslims. </li><li>"I think what is happening is sad," Nadella told reporters at a media event earlier this week, and called the law "just bad."</li><li>The law, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-india-democracy-heading-toward-modern-day-fascism-2019-12">called the Citizenship Amendment Act</a>, gives immigrants from all major South Asian religions, except Islam, a clear path to citizenship in India.</li><li>Nadella also emphasized the role technology and immigration had on his life and career, making it possible for him to become the CEO of a major American tech company. He lamented that India may be closing itself to those types of opportunities.</li><li>The law has been deeply criticized because it seen by many as a first step by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government to make India's Muslim population into second-class citizens. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summarymary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul><p>Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella became the first major tech CEO to speak out against a new citizenship law <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-india-democracy-heading-toward-modern-day-fascism-2019-12">India passed last month</a> that discriminates against Muslims. </p><p>Nadella said the law is "just bad," speaking to reporters at a media event earlier this week.</p><p>"I think what is happening is sad," he also said of the law.</p><p>He emphasized the role technology and immigration had on his life and career, and how they made it possible for him to get to where he is now, as the CEO of a major American tech company. He lamented the fact that India may be closing itself to those types of opportunities. </p><p>"I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the CEO of Infosys. That should be the aspiration. If I had to sort of mirror what happened to me in the US, that's what, at least I would hope happens in India," Nadella said. </p><p>The law, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-india-democracy-heading-toward-modern-day-fascism-2019-12">called the Citizenship Amendment Act</a>, gives immigrants from all major South Asian religions, except Islam, a clear path to citizenship in India. It amends the Citizenship Act of 1955, which sets guidelines for becoming a citizen in the country. The 2019 revision added a religious element, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities who fled the neighboring majority-Muslim countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. </p><p>The law has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-india-democracy-heading-toward-modern-day-fascism-2019-12">been deeply criticized by opponents</a>, seen as a first step by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government to make India's Muslim population into second-class citizens and essentially stripping away India's secular nature. </p><p>India's largest religious group is Hindus, but it's home to many other smaller religious groups. Islam is the largest minority religious group in India, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/world/asia/india-muslims-citizenship-narendra-modi.html">with over 200 million Muslims living in the country</a>. When India gained independence over 70 years ago, political leaders carved out special protections for religious minorities, including Muslims, in the constitution. Hindus and Muslims in India have historically had a rocky relationship.</p><p>Prime Minister Modi and his political party have been pushing for a more Hindu-centric country, and this is the widest reaching piece of legislation they've passed to pursue this agenda. </p><p>In the past month, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tens-of-thousands-march-in-southern-india-to-protest-citizenship-law-2020-1">India has experienced widespread protests against the law</a>. It's the first major challenge to Modi's government and its agenda. </p><h2>First major CEO to speak up</h2><p>Nadella is the first CEO of a big tech company to speak out against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Microsoft, like many other tech companies, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/indias-eros-now-ties-up-with-microsofts-azure-platform-2019-9">has a large footprint in India</a>. </p><p>Nadella grew up in the Indian city of Hyderabad, and said this week that growing up in a multicultural city was invaluable.</p><p>"I'm very, very proud of my heritage, culturally from that place. In fact, I grew up in the city of Hyderabad, which I always felt was a great place to grow up, we celebrated Eid, we celebrated Christmas, we celebrated Diwali. All three festivals that are big for us," he said, referring to the major holidays for Islam, Christianity and Hinduism and other Indian religions. </p><p>Nadella acknowledged that while immigration and national security is a real issue countries have to deal with, the way in which India addresses it will be important. He sees hope in the fact that India is a democracy.</p><p>"It's a messy democracy and people are debating. It's not something that is hidden and it's something that is being debated actively and I'm hopeful that that that country will figure it out but I'm definitely clear on what we stand for and what I stand for."</p><p>Shortly after Nadella made these remarks, Microsoft released an official statement from Nadella: "I'm shaped by my Indian heritage, growing up in a multicultural India and my immigrant experience in the United States. My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefiting Indian society and the economy at large."</p><p><em>Nicholas Carlson contributed reporting to this story.</em></p><p><em><strong>Got a tip?</strong> Contact this reporter via email at <a href="mailto:pzaveri@businessinsider.com">pzaveri@businessinsider.com</a> or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.</em></p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/bi-intelligence-daily?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=microsoft&amp;itm_campaign=bi-intelligence-daily"></a></p>

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella strongly criticized a new Indian citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims, saying it's 'just bad'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>The Pentagon moved swiftly to shoot down a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/american-forces-said-to-bomb-isis-targets-in-iraq.html?smid=tw-bna" target="_blank">New York Times report</a> Thursday afternoon that American military forces had bombed at least two places in northern Iraq targeting fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).  </p>
<p>"Press reports that US has conducted airstrikes in Iraq completely false. No such action taken," Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, <a href="https://twitter.com/PentagonPresSec/status/497488631599464448" target="_blank">wrote</a> on Twitter.</p>
<p><span>President Barack Obama is preparing to make a statement Thursday evening, the Times reported. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.</span></p>
<p>The Times reported, citing Kurdish officials, that U.S. military forces struck at least two targets with the intention of routing ISIS fighters who have created what officials have called an urgent humanitarian situation in northern Iraq. ISIS has trapped <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-iraq-airstrikes-isis-religious-minorities-2014-8" target="_blank">tens of thousands of religious minorities on <span>Mount Sinjar</span></a> <span>who belong to the Yazidi religious sect.</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-militants-seize-christian-villages-1407404503" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal also reported</a> that U.S. airstrikes appeared underway. Anwar Haj Othman, deputy head of the Peshmerga ministry, a <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> ministry for the Kurdish forces, told the Journal that U.S. jet fighters struck targets in both the Mount Sinjar plains and in a Kurdish area known as Gwair. </span></p>
<p><span><span>The situation has given the Yazidis a near-impossible dilemma - leave and risk being killed by the militants, or stay and hope aid comes their way. <span>UNICEF said that as of Tuesday, about 40 children had already died on the mountain from dehydration and heat exhaustion. </span></span><span><br /></span></span></p>
<p><span>A senior Defense Department official <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-iraq-airstrikes-isis-religious-minorities-2014-8" target="_blank">told Business Insider earlier Thursday that</a> the U.S. was <span>considering emergency-relief airdrops of food and medicine to aid the religious minorities. Other reports indicated Obama was considering airstrikes targeting ISIS fighters at the base of the mountain.</span><span><br /></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>"We have been working urgently and directly with officials in Baghdad and Erbil to coordinate Iraqi airdrops to people in need," the Defense Department official told Business Insider. "The Government of Iraq has initiated air drops in the region, and we are in constant communication with them on how we can help coordinate additional relief, enhance their efforts, and provide direct assistance wherever possible."</span><span><br /></span></span></span></p>
<p><span>White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday that the White House "strongly condemns" the situation on Mount Sinjar, which he said was "nearing a humanitarian catastrophe." But he repeatedly declined to comment on any specific options Obama was considering.</span></p>
<p><span>"I'm not in a position to shed light about the president's thinking at this point," Earnest said.</span></p>
<p><span>Earnest reiterated, as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-iraq-statement-plan-isis-2014-6" target="_blank">Obama has many times throughout the unfolding crisis in Iraq</a>, that any U.S. military action would be limited in scope and would not include any American "boots on the ground." He also blamed the unfolding situation on a political failure by the Iraqi government to bring different sects together in government.</span></p>
<p><span><em>MORE TO COME...</em><br /></span></p>

Pentagon Denies Report US Is Bombing ISIS Targets In Iraq

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div><p></p></div>President Barack Obama said, "if necessary" he will continue airstrikes to combat "terrorists" affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL) in his weekly address, which was released on Saturday. However, Obama also insisted the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-bombs-isis-in-iraq-airstrikes-2014-8">military operations he launched in Iraq this week</a> do not represent the start of another American war in that country. </p>
<p>"As Commander-in-Chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq," Obama said. "American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, because there's no American military solution to the larger crisis there."</p>
<p>Obama described his rationale for the two different military operations in Iraq. He described airstrikes near the city of Erbil as a "targeted" efforts to protect U.S. personnel.</p>
<p>"I directed our military to take action to protect our American diplomats and military advisors serving in the city of Erbil. In recent days, terrorist forces neared the city. Thursday night, I made it clear that if they attempted to advance further, our military would respond with targeted strikes," said Obama. "That's what we've done. And, if necessary, that's what we will continue to do. We have Americans serving across Iraq, including our embassy in Baghdad, and we'll do whatever is needed to protect our people."</p>
<p>Obama described efforts to provide supplies to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-yazidi-community-northern-iraq-2014-8">members of the Yazidi religious minority who are trapped on a mountain in the northern part of the country</a> and deter further attacks against them as an attempt to stop ISIS from engaging in "genocide."<br> <br>"We've begun a humanitarian effort to help those Iraqi civilians trapped on that mountain. The terrorists that have taken over parts of Iraq have been especially brutal to religious minorities-rounding up families, executing men, enslaving women, and threatening the systematic destruction of an entire religious community, which would be genocide," said Obama. "The thousands-perhaps tens of thousands-of Iraqi men, women and children who fled to that mountain were starving and dying of thirst.  The food and water we airdropped will help them survive.  I've also approved targeted American airstrikes to help Iraqi forces break the siege and rescue these families."</br></br></p>
<p>In addition to insisting these airstrikes would not be the start of another war in Iraq, Obama also said "the United States cannot and should not intervene every time there's a crisis in the world."  </p>
<p>"But when there's a situation like the one on this mountain-when countless innocent people are facing a massacre, and when we have the ability to help prevent it-the United States can't just look away," Obama said. "That's not who we are. We're Americans.  We act.  We lead.  And that's what we're going to do on that mountain. As one American who wrote to me yesterday said, "it is the right thing to do." </p>
<p>Watch the president's weekly address below.</p>
<p></p>

Obama Vows To Continue Iraq Airstrikes 'If Necessary' 

<p>Donald Trump expressed skepticism on&#xa0;Tuesday about&#xa0;Hillary Clinton's religious faith.</p><p>Speaking to a group of Evangelical voters behind closed doors in New York, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee&#xa0;implied that Clinton, a Methodist, may not be religious.&#xa0;</p><p>"The thing about Hillary in terms of religion is that she's been in the public eye for years and years, and yet there's nothing out there. There's like nothing out there. It's going to be an extension of Obama because with Obama you had your guard up. With Hillary you don't," Trump said.</p><p><div> </div></p><p>Though the meeting was closed to reporters, Christian radio broadcaster E.W. Jackson posted <a href="https://twitter.com/ewjacksonsr">several short video clips online</a> of Trump's appearance.&#xa0;</p><p>In the videos, Trump reiterated his gratitude for Evangelical Republican primary voters whom he credited for helping him clinch the nomination.</p><p>"The Evangelical vote was mostly gotten&#xa0;by me," Trump said. "I ended up getting massive majorities in the Evangelical vote, and then people were saying 'What's going on?'"</p><p>Clinton has occasionally opened up about her religious faith on the campaign trail. In several town hall appearances earlier this year, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee&#xa0;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/25/hillary-clinton-gets-personal-on-christ-and-her-faith/">ruminated at length</a> on the impact of faith on her life.</p><p>"I feel very fortunate that I am a person of faith, that I was raised in my church and that I have had to deal and struggle with a lot of these issues about ambition and humility, about service and self-gratification, all of the human questions that all of us deal with," Clinton said.</p><p>Following Trump's meeting Tuesday afternoon, Clinton's campaign blasted out a press release quoting slamming Trump.</p><p>"As an evangelical Christian, it troubles me deeply to see abuse of the vulnerable and intolerance toward religious minorities on the rise," said&#xa0;<span>Deborah Fikes, a&#xa0;</span>former top advisor at the&#xa0;World Evangelical Association.</p><p>She added: "Mr. Trump's proposals are not just un-Christian - they're un-American and at odds with the values our country holds dearest."</p><p>The Clinton campaign did not return Business Insider's request for comment.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obamas-responses-mass-shootings-orlando-2016-6">The number of times Obama has had to respond to mass shootings during his presidency is staggering</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="U5bmU0NDE6HbSDHDJMW_fyh8xnGXWkmW" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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