Law and Religion Headlines

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Wednesday, 6 January 2021

The College of Cardinals in 2021: Who could vote in a future papal conclave
(Marco Mancini, Catholic News Agency)

Weekly highlight #137: The ethics of COVID: Vaccines, mortality, and morality
(Berkley Center, Joint Learning Initiative, WFDD)

China brings its cruel crackdown on Uighur advocates to the U.S.
(The Editorial Board, The Washington Post Opinion)

Priests targeted by racist attacks by the faithful in Brazil (Portuguese)
(André Bernardo, Época)

Dozens of Nigerian Christians killed during Christmas
(Evangelical Focus)

Algeria: Mocking the government and religion: 3 years in prison
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Anti-Jewish COVID theories top list of worst antisemitism outbreaks
(Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post)

Taiwan: Tai Ji Men: Fabricated case, arbitrary auction, illegal arrest
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Letters sent to world leaders by Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community during covid-19 pandemic to be published for first time
(Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK)

Putin observes Christmas at 13th century island church
(Associated Press)

Turkmenistan: Conscientious objector jailed, awaiting second trial
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)

A teenager in Zimbabwe is using taekwondo to fight child marriage
(Al Jazeera)

Wadi-e-Hussain: A graveyard for Pakistan’s Shia victims
(Syeda Sana Batool, Al Jazeera)

Pakistani Shiites continue sit-in over killing of 11 miners
(Abdul Sattar and Munir Ahmed, Associated Press)

Pakistani court orders rebuilding of destroyed Hindu temple
(Associated Press)

Christian lay leader arrested on blasphemy charges in Pakistan
(Morning Star News)

Leveraging religious values to drive climate resilient development in Africa
(Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)

The shocking state of Christian persecution in South Sudan
(Juma Peter, Religion Unplugged)

Priest complains after Hindu ritual performed outside Catholic church in Goa
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

India deals another blow to religious freedom
(Mission Network News)

Right to religion not higher than right to life, temple rituals may be conducted without compromising COVID-19 protocol: Madras High Court
(Meera Emmanuel, Bar and Bench)

Supreme Court to examine state laws on religious conversion due to interfaith marriage
(Press Trust of India, Business Standard)

Alberta man charged with hate crime for disrupting Mass
(Andrew Ehrkamp, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Canadian church latest to clash with authorities over COVID-19
(Charlie Butts, One News Now)

Tuesday, 5 January 2021

South Africa tightens restrictions on religious funeral services during pandemic
(Kgothatso Madisa, Sowetan Live)

Montenegro's President rejects changes to controversial religion law
(RFE/RL's Balkan Service, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)

Monday, 4 January 2021

Trade deals and human rights: the scramble for high moral ground in dealing with China
(Ruth Ingram, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)

PSB officers raid home Bible study; arrest Xuncheng Reformed Church Pastor An Yankui and five other Christians
(China Aid)

Dr. Gulshan Abbas sentenced to 20 years in jail: the CCP is punishing her sister Rushan, for her campaign on behalf of the persecuted Uyghurs
(Ruth Ingram, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)

3 states, 3 anti-conversion laws: what’s similar, what’s different
(Apurva Vishwanath, The Indian Express)

Kochi, India: Church declares interfaith marriage invalid
(Sandeep Thomas, The Times of India)

2020 in review: A year without precedent
(The Bahá’í World News Service)

The year of smashing statues
(Convivium: Canada's Premier Hub for Faith in Common Life)

Yes, this is a religion question: Year in, year out, why is January 1st New Year’s Day?
(Richard Ostling, GetReligion)

2020 Parliament of World Religions Annual Report
(Parliament of World Religions)

20 Catholic missionaries killed in 2020
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

For Sri Lankan Muslims, the coronavirus isn’t the only thing they’re hoping to see the back of in 2021
(CSWPress, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)

Articles of interest - 4 January 2021
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Armenian churches under attack by Azerbaijanians and Turkey
(Uzay Bulut, Blitz)

Top Nigerian prelate calls for ‘new beginning’ amid national woes
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Catholic bishop released five days after kidnapping in Nigeria
(Angelus News)

Algerian jailed for 3 years for political protest memes
(Agence France-Presse, Courthouse News Service)

Algeria: Two Kabyl Christians sentenced to heavy prison terms
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

IS gunmen kill 11 minority Shiite coal miners in SW Pakistan
(Abdul Sattar, Associated Press)

Pakistani Shiites rally against killing of coal miners by IS
(Abdul Sattar, Associated Press)

Philippine Catholic leaders doubt that killed Indigenous fired first
(Catholic News Service)

The world should have no place for blasphemy laws
(Arielle Del Turco, CBN News)

Consequences for Jehovah's Witnesses after completing sentences
(Kavkazskii Uzel, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))

Israel’s recognition of Utah marriages gives hope to ineligible couples
(Michele Chabin, Religion News Service)

Violations of religious freedom persist worldwide
(U.S. Embassy in Georgia)

Saturday, 2 January 2021

Photos of the Year
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)

Friday, 1 January 2021

Religious leaders worldwide, across faiths who died in 2020
(David Crary, Associated Press)

Part One: Latin America’s biggest Catholic stories of 2020
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Part Two: Latin America’s biggest Catholic stories of 2020
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Top news articles of 2020 Christians should know about
(Kayla Koslosky, Christian Headlines)

10 notable Christian figures who died in 2020
(Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)

Religious news from around the web December 28, 2020
(World Religion News)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Salima, Malawi, has intensified its fight against gender-based violence
(Malawi News Agency, The Nation)

Religious freedom lately: Gordon College lawsuit, mask mandates and more
(Timothy Nerozzi, Religion Unplugged)

Shrines in Japan prepare to welcome visitors for New Year as virus rages
(Toma Mochizuki, Japan Today)

Japan gave key information to the United States and Britain on China's Uighur crackdown
(Kyodo, The Japan Times)

Armenian Christian community caught between Israelis and Palestinians
(Daoud Kuttab, Religion News Service)

Brazilian President Bolsonaro criticizes Argentina's legalization of abortion
(Catholic News Agency)

Biden’s national security adviser criticizes Saudi Arabia for jailing women’s rights activist
(Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East)

Project to save Dead Sea going nowhere
(Osama Al Sharif, Al-Monitor: Jordan Pulse)

Christian persecution in China and India expected to increase in 2021
(Premier Christian News)

20 photographs of the week
(Jim Powell, The Guardian)

Islamist militants attack Nigerian village on Christmas Eve
(Rebecca Paveley, Church Times)

Iraq Parliament unanimously passes bill recognizing Christmas as national holiday
(Julio Cachila, Christianity Daily)

Russia: Special bimonthly FORB digest (16-31.12.2020)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

In new playground Dubai, Israelis find parties, Jewish rites
(Isabel Debre, Associated Press)

Pakistan arrests 31 people over demolishing of Hindu temple
(Riaz Khan and Muhammad Farooq, Associated Press)

Twenty most important events of religious life in 2020
(Credo.Press, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))

All you need is not ‘love jihad’, but liberty, say India’s embattled interfaith couples
(France 24)

Dozens arrested following communal violence in Indian state Madhya Pradesh
(Bilal Kuchay and Kashif Kakvi, Aljazeera)

Pakistan regional gov’t to fund construction of destroyed temple
(Al Jazeera)

China cracks down on Christmas by closing churches, banning singing
(Michael Foust, Christian Headlines)

Underground Catholic bishop dies in China
(Catholic News Agency)

Pope Benedict’s secretary reflects on awful 2020 with German Magazine
(Catholic News Agency)

Thursday, 31 December 2020

Source: Iran sentences 8 Baha’is to prison, other punishments after ‘unfair’ trial
(Michael Lipin, Ramin Haghjoo, VOA)

Pandemic hits religious communities in South Africa
(Christopher Joseph, Union of Catholic Asian News)

Nuns arrested as Beijing turns up heat on Catholic church in Hong Kong
(Greg Torode, Reuters)

Wednesday, 30 December 2020

How Jews celebrated Hanukkah with Uyghurs in mind
(Ruth Ingram, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)

United Nations declares the International Day of Human Fraternity
(Religions for Peace)

USCIRF welcomes enactment of the Tibet Policy and Support Act
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

Deprogramming in Japan: Damages awarded in Unification Church Case
(Willy Fautré, Bitter Winter)

Russian monk charged with inciting suicidal acts in sermons
(Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press)

Nicaragua bishops fear violence ahead of 2021 presidential poll
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Why does no one care about genocide?
(Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes)

Bill legalizing abortion passed in pope’s native Argentina
(Almudena Calatrava and Débora Rey, Religion News Service)

Argentina legalizes abortion, a milestone in a conservative region
(Daniel Politi and Ernesto Londoño, The New York Times)

Argentina approves bill to legalize abortion
(Deutsche Welle)

Argentina to become largest country in Latin America to legalize elective abortion
(Ruby Mellen and Ana Vanessa Herrero, The Washington Post)

The Supreme Court sided with ROSHVE (Russian)
(Religion Today)

Our best religion stories from a terrible year
(Religion News Service)

'The Next Jihad' authors talk religion, Christian persecution in Nigeria with Nick Cannon
(Jackson Elliott, The Christian Post)

At least 5 dead after Boko Haram attacks Nigerian Christian community
(Theophilus Abbah, Religion Unplugged)

Sudan joins forces with Egypt to crack down on Muslim Brotherhood
(George Mikhail, Al-Monitor)

Acquittal in assault of Christian woman casts pall over Christmas for Egypt's Coptic community
(Shahira Amin, Al-Monitor)

USCIRF calls for release of Ramy Kamel
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

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