Catching Our Eye [[all nazi islamic country sharia imperialism, criminal arab league, for dhimmi martyrs christians slave ]] This is the place where we post news updates, quick takes, and links to items of interest around the web. Bookmark this page and visit regularly to see what's Catching Our Eye. Islamist rebels bolt Syrian coalition. Eleven Islamist rebel groups in Syria have announced they no longer recognise the authority of the main opposition alliance, the National Coalition. Their announcement also calls for the Syrian opposition to unite under an 'Islamic framework'. Its signatories include members of the Free Syrian Army as well as more radical Islamists - among them the powerful al-Nusra Front, which has links to al-Qaeda. The announcement appears timed to damage the National Coalition leader while he is in US to meet the US Foreign Secretary John Kerry. The moderate, Western-backed National Coalition, based in Istanbul, has accused the Islamists of prioritising the establishment of a sharia state over the overthrow of President Assad. There are reports that Christians in north and eastern Syria, where the rebel Islamist groups are strong, are anxious and now preparing to leave their country, fearing the local introduction of Sharia law. Sources: BBC, New York Times Violence locks down Nigerian town, The largely Christian Nigerian town of Kafanchan is under 24-hour curfew after an outburst of violence Friday that left 10 people dead. News reports vary on the details of the violence, but generally agree that it involved two groups of youths -- those indigenous to southern Kaduna state and those of Hausa-Fulani heritage -- wielding machetes, spears and guns. Kaduna occupies north-central Nigeria. The southern portion of the state, where Kafanchan resides, is predominantly Christian. Hausa and Fulani Nigerians are largely Muslim. News accounts were not definitive about what caused Friday's clash. The curfew's impact, however, was clear. Kafanchan Christians stayed home Sunday, holding their own prayer services in place of Sunday church services. Sources: Vanguard; Daily Post Nigeria; OSUN Defender Grenades found in cathedral, Two unexploded grenades have been discovered in Bossangoa Cathedral in the Central African Republic, reports Fides. Last week, World Watch Monitor reported that the interfaith conflict in the country is escalating, while Human Rights Watch has released a report on what it calls the world's "forgotten human rights crisis". Church wants political Syria solution, Church leaders from Syria, Russia, the US, UK, France, Germany and Turkey have called for a political solution as the only way to peace in Syria. They met the UN Secretary General and his Special Envoy to Syria on the same day that Syria's Deputy Prime Minister said that the civil war has reached stalemate with neither side strong enough to win. Qadri Jamil told the UK's Guardian newspaper that Damascus would call for a ceasefire with the armed opposition at further proposed peace talks in Geneva. However, his party has said the paper had misquoted him, and that he was saying the end of external intervention 'would effectively be a ceasefire'. Commentators say this 'personal view' may be a way for the Assad government to test international reaction. The church leaders' statement says talks are urgent and crucial: "We believe there can be no military solution to the crisis in Syria. It is time for the international community to assume its responsibility to end the violence and initiate a political process that brings peace for all the people of Syria...[Globally], churches must continue to raise their voice in their congregations, in their societies and with their governments. We must strengthen the public outcry so that those in power will protect the common interest of humanity.", North Korea shocks UN Commission, The UN Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate human rights violations in North Korea has presented its interim report. "What we have seen and heard so far -- the specificity, detail and shocking character of the personal testimony -- appears without doubt to demand follow-up action by the world community, and accountability on the part of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," said the head of the Commission Michael Kirby. He reported that, in just-completed public hearings held in South Korea and Japan, "We heard from ordinary people who faced torture and imprisonment for doing nothing more than watching foreign soap operas or holding a religious belief." His final report is due in March.

• published: 25 Jan 2014
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