Iraqi PM said the destruction of the sites was 'an official declaration of defeat' from the jihadists.
The development has now removed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as next in line to the throne and replaced him with Mohammed bin Salman, who earlier held the position of the deputy crown prince.
Maulana Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars
Images of the events that shaped the world last week.
The Al Qaeda, the Islamic State or Daesh, as it is also called, will continue to exploit the fault lines and the many contradictions in the approaches of different countries, says Hardeep Puri.
'If ISIS was popular, they don't need to use violence.' 'The strategy of violence is a false interpretation of Islam.' 'The main victims of ISIS violence are Muslims.'
According to an IB report, preachers of the extreme Wahhabism form of Islam are trying to take over madrasas and masjids, which is a cause of deep concern, says Vicky Nanjappa
'This is an emotional issue and cannot be resolved by law alone.' 'This can be resolved only by creating trust again.' 'So much bloodletting has taken place, there is no point in going on and on.' 'Let us sit together and negotiate'
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the horrific suicide bombing attack on a shia mosque in Saudi Arabia, which took lives of at least 21 people.
Born in Ayodhya, Ansari was the first to file the suit on the matter in the court of civil judge of Faizabad in 1949.
A Muslim funeral for Muhammad Ali on Thursday drew thousands of admirers to the boxer's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where mourners prayed over the body of a man who battled in the ring and sought peace outside it. An estimated 14,000 people, representing many races and creeds, attended the jenazah, or "funeral" in Arabic, where he was repeatedly feted as "the people's champion." Ali, a three-time heavyweight champion known for his showmanship, political activism and devotion to humanitarian causes, died on Friday of septic shock in an Arizona hospital. He was 74.
'India's reputation is not and cannot be dependent on the whimsical opinions of some obscure foreign advisory committee packed with Hindu-phobic acolytes,' declares Vivek Gumaste.
When the bench asked Sibal 'shouldn't we hear the matter', he replied, 'Yes. You shouldn't.'
'It is to be fervently hoped that a person as rational and brilliant as Hamid Ansari will not be allowed to wilt and simply wither away.'
If Irrfan could have been our finest professor of empirical philosophy, and Nawaz is our foremost poet of that space halfway between the gutter and the stars, then Jaideep Ahlawat has to be our greatest artist-scientist, asserts Sreehari Nair.
Security has been put on high alert across the nation as the Supreme Court of India is all set to deliver its verdict in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, Sabarimala case and a host of other legal wrangles.
Amid the sounds of gunbattle and bombs exploding, on Wednesday, the sound of music arose from the ruins of Mosul in Iraq, all thanks to one man -- Ameen Mukdad. The 28-year-old Iraqi violinist was responsible for a small concert in the city he was forced to flee by Islamic State militants.
'The Pakistani military has encouraged and supported terrorist organisations, especially in Kashmir, as a means of waging proxy war against the Indian military and the country's superior economic resources.' 'The evidence is irrefutable with the recent killing of 46 paramilitary troops being just the latest example.'
An IB report says some 25,000 preachers of the extreme Wahhabi form of Islam came to India last year as visitors, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
'We need to retell this history from many different perspectives.'
'We fear worse things to happen. We feel this is just a teaser.' 'I wonder whether later, the Christian community will be targeted.'
Neither Biden nor his successors can any longer ignore the threat China has come to pose to the US in both economic and military fields, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz with 64 and former president Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party with 43 seats are placed at number two and three respectively, the Election Commission of Pakistan said.
'The surge of Saudi nationalism is the last thing Washington wants,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The issue had cropped up when a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was hearing the batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad high court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided in three parts.
Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's detention was ordered by a court on Friday for questioning over charges of colluding with Palestinian militant group Hamas, even as the Muslim Brotherhood slammed the decision as engineered by a "fascist military regime".
'There is a problem with the rise of a popular view that sees Kashmir through the prism of the larger, chronic Hindu-Muslim tensions.' 'By redefining the Kashmir problem simplistically in Hindu-Muslim terms could end up keeping Kashmir but losing most Kashmiris,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has objections to Totally Siyappa and its dialogues.
TTP chief said the blast was in retaliation for killing LeJ chief Chotu, along with three others in an encounter.
Sukanya Verma tells us how Bollywood gives colours a whole new meaning.
In a historic moment, Pope Francis met the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque at the Vatican.
Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for one of the victims, was blunt in his arguments and assailed the practice of triple talaq various constitutional grounds including the Right to Equality. "The right of triple talaq is available only to the husband and not to the wife and it breaches the Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution," Jethmalani said.
A photo symbolising "love and compassion" of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman getting her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a transparent "hug curtain" has been named the World Press Photo of the Year. This year, according to organisers, 74,470 images were submitted for judging, made by 4,315 photographers from 130 different countries. World Press Photo has been kind enough to allow to share some of this year's winning photos here with you.
Given all the turbulence created by Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi's unexpected tirade against Saudi Arabia, it is likely to be business as usual between the two countries, albeit with a bit of caution on the part of both, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, chief imam of the All India Imam Organisation, who led a delegation of 30 Muslims to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 3, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com how the meeting came about and what was discussed during the 75-minute convivial meet.
A disparate global network of violent fundamentalist Islamic groups threatens India's eastern flank as much as the north and west with a real possibility of these spilling over into our borders, says Shyam Saran.
Authorities said social media posts will be monitored to ensure that no attempt is made to vitiate the atmosphere.
'Small bands of terrorists believe they can destabilise superpowers if they are ready to become martyrs.' 'Since the road to paradise is under the shade of swords, it is a win-win situation for those ready to die for the cause of Allah.'
