Headlines:

• Jesus was a Muslim, claims U.S. religions professor
• French summer camp workers sacked over Ramadan fast
• Syrian fighters said to receive missiles via Turkey
• U.S., Pakistan sign deal to allow supply routes through 2015
• China restricts Ramadan fasting for Uighurs in Xinjiang

Details:

Jesus was a Muslim, claims U.S. religions professor:

Religions professor at the Luther College in Iowa, Robert F. Shedinger, has made a claim in a new book, arguing that Jesus Christ was a Muslim. In the beginning of his book, to be released this year, Shedinger asked "Was Jesus a Muslim?" "I will answer with a very qualified yes," he wrote. Shedinger, who is the head of the religious studies department at Luther College in Iowa, also argued that Islam is a better fit for Jesus since it is not a religion but a "social justice movement," Fox reported."I had to rethink what Islam is... I came to the conclusion that it was a social justice movement and I think that's who Jesus was in the first century so I conclude Jesus is more like a Muslim," he said.

French summer camp workers sacked over Ramadan fast:

Tensions between French authorities and the country's Islamic community resurfaced on Tuesday after it emerged that four summer camp instructors had been sacked for fasting during Ramadan. In a row that echoed last year's controversy over a law banning women from wearing full veils on French territory, Muslim leaders denounced a Communist-run town council's dismissal of the workers on health and safety grounds. The four had been employed temporarily by the town of Genevilliers in the Paris suburbs to help run a summer holiday sports camp in southwestern France. They were dismissed on July 20, the first day of Ramadan, after an inspector visited the camp and told them they were endangering children's safety by not eating or drinking between dawn and dusk. Although they were fully paid for the week they had remaining on their short-term contracts, the instructors plan to contest their dismissal through labour courts. The row over the Ramadan sackings erupted as France brushed off US State Department criticism of its ban on veils which fully cover women's faces, introduced last year by the administration of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. In its 2011 International Religious Freedom Report, the State Department expressed concern over a "rising number of European countries, including Belgium and France, whose laws restricting dress adversely affected Muslims and others".

Syrian fighters said to receive missiles via Turkey:

Militants fighting to depose Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have for the first time acquired a small supply of surface-to-air missiles, according to a news report that a Western official did not dispute. NBC News reported July 31 night that the Free Syrian Army had obtained nearly two dozen of the weapons, which were delivered to them via neighboring Turkey, whose ‘moderate Islamist government has been demanding Assad's departure with increasing vehemence'. Indications are that the U.S. government, which has said it opposes arming the militants, is not responsible for the delivery of the missiles. But some U.S. government sources have been saying for weeks that Arab governments seeking to oust Assad, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been pressing for such missiles, also known as MANPADs, for man-portable air-defense systems, to be supplied to the militants. In recent days, air operations against the militants by Syrian government forces appear to have been stepped up, particularly around the contested city of Aleppo, making the militants' need for MANPADs more urgent. Precisely what kind of MANPADs have been delivered to Syrian rebels is unclear and NBC News didn't provide details. Such weapons range from the primitive to highly sophisticate.

U.S., Pakistan sign deal to allow supply routes through 2015:

Pakistan will allow NATO supply convoys to cross its territory into Afghanistan until the end of 2015, one year beyond the deadline for withdrawal of U.S. combat forces there, under an agreement signed Tuesday by U.S. and Pakistani officials. The pact seems to close, for now, one of the most contentious chapters in the turbulent relationship between Washington and Islamabad, cementing cooperation by Pakistan in winding down the war in Afghanistan, at least in terms of logistical assistance. Washington also has urged Islamabad to step up its participation in the peace process by bringing to the negotiating table militant groups that shelter in Pakistani's tribal belt and regularly cross the border to attack NATO troops. The memorandum of understanding signed Tuesday provides the option for both sides to extend the deal in one-year increments beyond Dec. 31, 2015. It would apply to other NATO nations if they sign separate pacts with Pakistan. Pakistani officials said Tuesday that the convoys would resume only after the routes - which span hundreds of miles - are suitably protected. Under the new arrangement, police in cities and towns would handle security until the convoys reach the restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where the nation's paramilitary Frontier Corps would take over. The pact was signed in a ceremony in Rawalpindi by a senior Pakistani Defense Ministry official, Rear Adm. Farrokh Ahmed, and the U.S. Embassy's charge d'affaires, Richard Hoagland.

China restricts Ramadan fasting for Uighurs in Xinjiang:

Authorities in China's restive northwestern region of Xinjiang have banned Muslim officials and students from fasting during Ramadan, prompting an exiled rights group to warn of new violence. Guidance posted on numerous government websites called on Communist Party leaders to restrict Muslim religious activities during the holy month, including fasting and visiting mosques. Xinjiang is home to around nine million Uighurs, a Turkic speaking, largely Muslim ethnic minority, many of whom accuse China's leaders of religious and political persecution. The region has been rocked by repeated outbreaks of ethnic violence, but China denies claims of repression and relies on tens of thousands of Uighur officials to help it govern Xinjiang. A statement from Zonglang township in Xinjiang's Kashgar district said that "the county committee has issued comprehensive policies on maintaining social stability during the Ramadan period. "It is forbidden for Communist Party cadres, civil officials (including those who have retired) and students to participate in Ramadan religious activities." The statement, posted on the Xinjiang government website, urged party leaders to bring "gifts" of food to local village leaders to ensure that they were eating during Ramadan. Similar orders on curbing Ramadan activities were posted on other local government websites, with the educational bureau of Wensu county urging schools to ensure that students do not enter mosques during Ramadan.