Seizing on the holy fasting month of Ramadan, an Australian charity is championing food tours as a way to promote a better understanding of Islam and Islamic culture, Australia’s Daily Telegraph reported.

At least 250 people have been killed and over 2,000 others injured in two powerful earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks that rocked Iran’s northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

As athletes from different world countries compete for medals at the Olympics, another competition is taking place outside London stadiums for people’s souls between groups representing different faiths.

Riad Farid Hijab, the Syrian prime minister, has fled the country, activists say, after state television reported that he was sacked this morning.

Facing the first major security emergency since elections, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has vowed to retake control of Sinai Peninsula after gunmen killed 16 guards near the border with Israel, threatening that those who committed the “cowardly” attack and those who worked with them would pay dearly.

Syria’s main armed opposition group has said it has taken control of more than “50 per cent” of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and commercial hub that has been under siege by regime forces for weeks.

Decorating their food dishes with candles, Gazans prepare their Ramadan iftar meal after long hot fasting hours in darkness due to daily electricity outage.

Syrian rebels seized a strategic checkpoint northwest of Aleppo on Monday after a 10-hour battle, securing them free movement between the northern city and Turkey, an AFP journalist said, as France said it will ask for an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria.

Activists say Syrian forces are shelling several neighbourhoods in Aleppo as the battle for control of Syria’s largest city rages into its sixth day.

The iron-fist policies of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and harassment of the Muslim minority are fueling radicalization in Ethiopia and risk stoking civil revolt in the country, analysts agree.