Four mosques were vandalized in northern New Zealand overnight Sunday, leaving windows smashed and walls splashed with graffiti, police said...
In Bloomington, Ind., meanwhile, the FBI was investigating an apparent arson Saturday as a hate crime, officials said. No one was inside the Islamic Center of Bloomington when the fire occurred at about 2 a.m. and damage was confined to the kitchen area, said Nathan Ainslie, president of the centre.
A burned Qur'an was found outside, he said.
Two points on the story.
First, the order and emphasis within the article strikes me as odd. My impression is that arson is generally a much more severe crime than vandalism, the burnt Qur'an should be particularly significant after the coverage of Guantanamo, and nothing else aside from the number of incidents seems to justify putting the focus on New Zealand. Both should be reported, but the way it's set up now the Indiana attack seems to be unduly hidden.
Second, New Zealand's Prime Minister rightly condemned her country's attack immediately. It presumably shouldn't take long for a similar message to come from the States - though it bears mention that the Indiana attack occurred earlier, and the article doesn't indicate any statement yet.
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