The Revolution Youth Coalition condemned security individuals affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood after they imprisoned a number of journalists who were covering an event close to the Egypt's presidential palace on Monday.

The journalists were covering the "Eggs March," where a number of revolutionary voices were scheduled to speak regarding the current regime.

The RYC charged that the imprisonment of the journalists was an attempt to distract from the human rights violations committed against the revolutionaries, who oppose the ruling regime of the Muslim Brotherhood. more >>

No cemeteries in Massachusetts will bury Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body, according to Peter Stefan of Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors of Worcester, Mass.

Tsarnaev's body was released by the medical examiner on Thursday. It's been 17 days since he died after a shoot-out with police in Watertown, Mass., on April 19.

The Associated Press reported that Stefan might ask the city of Cambridge to bury him there, but according to a statement the Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy gave on Sunday, there has been no formal application for a burial permit or purchase of a cemetery plot. Healy urged Stefan not to request a burial permit for the city-owned Cambridge Cemetery, saying that the city "would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests, and wide spread media presence at such an interment." more >>

Today, Egyptians celebrate the Spring Festival, or Shame el-Nessim, an ancient Egyptian festival in which Egyptians celebrated the New Year and the start of the spring season.

Copts originally found this day always came during Lent, so they postponed it so that it could be celebrated on the day following the celebration of Easter. Since then, Egyptians have continued to celebrate it on the day following the celebration of Easter.

While it is deemed an official state holiday, Salafists currently prohibit celebrating it, as it is regarded as a blasphemous rite. more >>

If zebras had pink stripes, they would resemble President Obama's "red lines" on Syria.

Obama's policy has communicated the following incoherent and spineless message: "In Libya we intervened to support liberty and prevent a bloodbath: Muammar Gaddafi threatened to hunt down his enemies, 'house by house, alley by alley.' Oh, is that what Basher Assad has been doing in Syria? Well, we can't intervene there because it's too risky. True, our isolationism could mean that the post-Assad Syria will -- as either a failed or Islamist state -- become Al Queda's next headquarters, but surely that can't be as bad as US intervention. Oh, are Syrians being slaughtered by the masses? Well, maybe intervention is justified on humanitarian grounds, but only if Assad uses chemical weapons. Tens of thousands killed by Assad's mortars, guns, tanks, scud missiles, and warplanes don't suffice. Oh, did the intelligence agencies of our allies (Britain, France, and Israel) conclude that Assad used chemical weapons? Well, we still need the international community to confirm these findings with a thorough investigation."

As he backtracked on the issue last week, Obama said, "We don't know how [the chemical weapons] were used, when they were used, who used them." White House officials have conceded that better information is obtainable only if the Syrian government allows international inspectors on the ground. But the notion of any cooperation from the Syrian regime is absurd in light of prior international efforts merely "to monitor" (much less inspect) anything in Syria. The Arab League observer mission, which started at the end of December 2011 and totaled 166 monitors, lasted about two months before security threats compelled its termination. Another toothless effort, the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria established in 2012 (pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2043), involved about 300 unarmed military observers who also had to leave after two months because of safety concerns. more >>

Following the fatwa issued by a Muslim Brotherhood mufti, congratulating Copts on the Easter holiday was prohibited.

There have also been a number of recent calls made to prevent the celebration of Sham al-Nessim, an Egyptian national holiday marking the beginning of spring, which is celebrated the day after Eastern Christians Easter, which is also recognized as an official state holiday.

Fliers were distributed in the governorate of Beni Suef, outside of Cairo, which read "Sham el-Nessim is Not Our Holiday," and included a fatwa prohibiting citizens from celebrating the holiday. more >>

While publications like the Daily Beast and Mother Jones and networks like NPR are exposing the scandal of – gasp – Evangelical adoptions, perhaps they should cover a different religious scandal. Thanks to Jim Geraghty's must-read Morning Jolt e-mail (subscribe if you haven't — it's consistently my favorite read of the day), I ran across this chart from The Economist detailing Muslim attitudes towards Sharia law and apostasy:

Read it and weep. In Egypt, for example, more than 70 percent of the public supports Sharia law, and almost 90 percent of those individuals also support executing those who leave Islam. I feel comfortable saying this is a problem, a much, much greater problem than any alleged American "Islamophobia," and if we turn away from these statistics and believe the fault for continued jihadist bloodshed lies primarily within us — or is primarily the fault of Israel — then we are truly willfully blind.

To be clear, I do not share this chart as evidence of the nature of "true Islam." Unlike our recent presidents, I don't claim to understand the religion so deeply as to pontificate on its true nature. In fact, this chart shows considerable diversity of views (if only Egypt were like Kazakhstan), and I know many Muslims who not only are marvelous people but have provided indispensable help in the war against jihadist terror. Instead, I defy anyone to read this and argue that there aren't deep cultural problems — tied directly to religious belief — in vast and important swathes of the Muslim world. more >>