Here is your Religion News Roundup excerpt for today.

By Yonat Shimron
c. Religion News Service 2012
Reprinted with permission

The holy month of Ramadan is drawing to a close. Saturday will likely be the last day of fasting. It’s not too early to wish your Muslim friends an “Eid Mubarak.”

Following attacks on seven U.S. mosques in the last two weeks, Muslims are bracing for a tense holiday. Of course, it pales to the tensions experienced by Syrians, for whom Ramadan has been especially fraught.

Meanwhile, some Middle East researchers say American policy makers and think tanks should pay more attention to Muslims living temporarily in the U.S. because they shape perceptions of America abroad.

A judge is expected to sentence three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot today. Band members were found guilty of hooliganism driven by religious hatred and offending religious believers.

The head of the Family Research Council accused the Southern Poverty Law Center of sparking hatred that led a gunman to shoot a security guard at the Christian lobbying group’s headquarters.

Read the rest of this post here.