Shia identity is rooted in victimhood over the killing of Husayn, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, in the seventh century and a long history of marginalization by the Sunni majority. Islam's dominant ...

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support ...

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in ...

The ‘Splainer (as in, “You’ve got some ‘splaining to do”) is an occasional feature in which RNS gives you everything you need to know about current events to help you hold your own at a cocktail party ...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shiite clerics joined Sunni preachers in a march of thousands of mostly black-clad men Wednesday, trying to keep sectarian passions in check after a horrific attack on Shiite pilgrims ...

As Iran prepares for the charade of presidential elections later this month, old and new regime apparatchiks have announced their candidacies. They include former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Mortar battles have erupted between Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad, and the once-mixed city is reeling as the two sides adopt the weapons and tactics of urban civil war.

BAGHDAD, July 12 -- Iraqi politicians on Thursday struck a more pessimistic tone about Iraq than did the White House assessment, and said the deadlock between warring Sunni and Shiite factions makes ...

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- To the outside world, the two groups appear to have much in common: devoutly Muslim, fiercely hostile to Israel and the U.S., and high on Washington's list of terrorist groups. Yet ...

BEIRUT — Four Shiite Lebanese men were killed Sunday in an ambush near the Syrian border, boosting already high sectarian tensions and concerns the civil war raging next door will spill over. Gunmen ...

BEIRUT — The Gaza war has pushed together powerful Iran-backed Shia Muslim paramilitaries with militant Sunni factions in what appears to be closer cooperation between groups that differ in religious ...