EVENT, 30 August 2026: Festival of Faiths (Indianapolis, IN, USA)(Religious Freedom Alliance Council)

EVENT, 1-3 September 2026: 8th ICLARS Biennial Conference: State Neutrality and Cooperation with Religion: Protecting Freedom of Religion or Belief without Discrimination (Palermo, Italy) (International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies)

EVENT, 18 September 2026: Idaho Religious Freedom Summit (Boise, Idaho, USA)(Religious Freedom Alliance Council)

EVENT, 14 October 2026: Fourth Annual Interfaith Symposium: Faith, Doubt, and the Next Generation (Chicago, IL, USA)(Religious Freedom Alliance Council) (Interfaith Chicago)

EVENT, 15 October 2026: The US Constitution: Where Separation and Unity Meet (Ames, IA, USA)(Religious Freedom Alliance Council) (Iowa Religious Freedom Day)

EVENT, 22 October 2026: 9th Annual Summit for Religious Freedom (Dallas, TX, USA)(Religious Freedom Alliance Council) (DFW Alliance for Religious Freedom)

Middle East

Israel’s parliament approves laws to enshrine exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from military service (Melanie Lidman and Natalie Melzer, Associated Press)

Christians in Iran continue to face arrest, detention and ill-treatment, UN experts warn (Ephrem Kossaify, Arab News)

Iran: UN experts urge reversal of Tehran church compound seizure and return of its Christian residents (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)

Middle Eastern women honored for powerful films advancing religious freedom (Religion News Service)

Asia

Why the Muslim Brotherhood failed to gain influence in China (Nadia Helmy, Modern Diplomacy)

Bishops in Pakistan: Still no justice for young couple burned alive (Aid to the Church in Need)

How India's houses of worship save lives amid heatwave (Rishabh Jain, Religion Unplugged)

Indonesia: Recognition for Indigenous peoples and their traditional beliefs (Nukila Evanty, Independent Observer)

Why the West Papua rebels are targeting the Catholic Church (Ahmad Syarif, Lowy Institute)

Africa

Kenyan court dismisses Rastafarians' bid to legalise cannabis (Wycliffe Muia and Akisa Wandera, BBC)

Participants at National Dialogue on Freedom of Religion call for stronger collaboration to advance peacebuilding (Godwin Igber, Real Media Nigeria)

Latin America

Cuba continues crackdown on religion five years after public protests, report says (Diana Chandler, Baptist Press)

Foco FoRB: January-June 2026 (CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

France’s National Assembly gives final approval to assisted-dying bill after years of debate (Sylvie Corbet and Samuel Petrequin, Associated Press)

French Muslims question inclusion as debate over secularism and religious rights intensifies (Shia Waves)

German public university creates Islamic theology faculty (Christoph Strack, Deutsche Welle)

Young Europeans gather in Belgium for the third edition of the European Summer School (The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))

European evangelicals draw a clear distinction from their American counterparts (Paul Marshall, Religion Unplugged)

Amnesty International UK regrets report calling British bishops’ conference “anti-rights” group (Fionn Shiner, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

British Sikh groups claim sharp rise in anti-Sikh incidents (Shyam Bhatia, Tribune India)

Orthodox Jewish groups oppose daylight saving bill, argue it would disrupt prayer (Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)

House committee advances bill requiring equal treatment for religious student groups (Alena Dasha Peethala, The College Fix)

2026 State Rankings (Religious Liberty in the States)

National Baptists launch social justice center near US Capitol (Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)

11th Circuit rejects claim that covid requirements violated employees' religious beliefs; criticizes counsel's briefing (Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

After mall stabbing, Utah faith leaders warn against anti-Muslim rhetoric (Ulaa Kuziez, Religion News Service)