Law and Religion Headlines
Thursday, 19 May 2016
Muslim states block gay groups from U.N. AIDS meeting; U.S. protests
(Michelle Nichols, Reuters)
Catholic bishops speak out – but is anyone listening?
(Muriel Porter, The Conversation)
Australia: Immigration Minister Dutton’s refugee claims are out of step with evidence and thinking at home and abroad
(Frances Voon and Claire Higgins, The Conversation)
Pakistan's Ahmadi religious minority: attacked, impoverished and ghettoized
(Ali Usman Qasmi, The University of Chicago Divinity School: Sightings)
President Poroshenko: The world cannot allow the repetition of the Crimean Tatars’ tragedy
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Ukrainian religious leaders stand for independent and just judicial system
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
72 years after Crimean Tatar deportation
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Occupants banned Mejlis mourning events dedicated to Crimean Tatars genocide victims - Chubarov
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Cardinal: 'We must celebrate Myanmar's diversity'
(BBC News)
Russia ranked least welcoming country for refugees – survey
(The Moscow Times)
Civil society refugee advocates forge recommendations ahead of World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul
(UN Women)
Pakistan police deny Christian-Muslim tension after blasphemy allegation
(Asif Aqeel, World Watch Monitor)
Imams of five mosques detained in Tajikistan on extremism accusations
(Interfax-Religion)
A Christian water man marginalised for his religion gets his job back
(Herald Malaysia Online)
First church of Republican era to be built for Istanbul’s Syriacs
(Hurriyet Daily News)
Central African Republic: CSW welcomes Interfaith Partnership for Peace
(Independent Catholic News)
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
Sochi resident sentenced to 4.5 years for incitement to religious hatred in social media
(Interfax - Religion)
Geelong mosque destroyed in suspicious fire after witness hears loud bang
(Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian)
US-backed forces slowly gaining ground to recapture ISIS-held territory in Iraq, Syria
(Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)
Religious contempt lawsuit casts shadow over ‘Street Children’
(Toqa Ezzidin, Daily News Egypt)
Russia: 2015 prosecutions for publicly sharing beliefs
(Forum 18 News Service)
McDonald's: NSW man loses fight to register 'McKosher' trademark for Jewish Scottish restaurant
(Giselle Wakatama, ABC News)
Australian agency refuses to approve trademark for "McKosher"
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Baghdad attacks by ISIS point to trouble for group, but not imminent defeat
(Tim Arango, The New York Times)
Protecting gay employees where being gay is a crime
(Laura Colby, Bloomberg)
Militant attacks force Bangladesh's gay community into hiding
(Sanjeev Miglani, Reuters)
Russia's Jehovah's Witnesses fight 'extremist' label, possible ban
(Corey Flintoff, NPR)
Mexican president proposes legalizing gay marriage
(E. Eduardo Castillo Peter Orsi, The Associated Press, The Big Story)
Religion is less central to everyday life for Muslims in Israel than elsewhere in the region
(Kelsey Jo Starr, Pew Research Center Fact Tank)
Canada: Religious freedom office replaced with new 'office of human rights'
(CBC News)
Liberals’ replacement for Office of Religious Freedom will promote broader range of rights
(Lee Berthiaume, Ottawa Citizen)
In Mideast, religion is no ‘bridge to peace’
(Robert Wiener, New Jersey Jewish News)
Maneka Gandhi: ‘It (women’s entry) is about religion, and I’m not sure the state should intrude’
(Shalini Nair, The Indian Express)
Bahrain MPs ban mixing of politics and religion
(Habib Toumi, Gulf News)
Religious leaders ask Opposition to follow law in IEBC dispute
(Joseph Muraya, Capital News)
Muslim leaders remember Bishop Joseph, a prophet against the abusive use of the blasphemy law
(Herald Malaysia Online)
Role of faith and religion
(Padre James Bhagwan, Fiji Times)
One day Interfaith Peace Conference in Lahore
(Pakistan Christian Post)
Global Action Plan to End Statelessness
(The UN Refugee Agency)
Syrian crisis poses challenges in Palestinian refugee camps
(Claus Grue, World Council of Churches)
African churches commit to working for the elimination of statelessness
(World Council of Churches)
Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Egypt: Draft law on construction of places of worship presented to Parliament
(Catholic Information Service for Africa)
Two Tunisian women, emancipated but divided over religion
(Francesca Sforza, Worldcrunch)
Religious alliance vows to protect blasphemy law
(The News International)
Whether the Catholic church will ordain women
(B.C., The Economist explains)
Ultra-Orthodox, Arab, Ethiopian, and settler youth unite under one roof
(Ariel Ben Solomon, The Jerusalem Post)
Rafsanjani daughter meets Baha'is, sparks Iran controversy
(AFP, France 24 International News)
Rafsanjani daughter criticised for meeting leader of banned minority
(The Guardian)
Beijing restricting Hui Islam while courting tourists
(China Digital Times)
Teen charged over alleged terror plan in Sydney 'preached radical Islam' at high school
(Lucy Carter, ABC News)
Iran releases Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani; 3 church members remain in custody
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)
ISIS declares 'state of emergency' after losing ground to US-backed Kurdish korces
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)
Iraq violence: Blasts in Baghdad kill dozens
(BBC News)
Is the problem really religious freedom?
(Robert Joustra, Arc of the Universe: Ethics and Global Justice)
Jehovah's Witnesses devise way to visit banned website
(Russia Religion News)
Argument: What ISIS women want--Western women who join the Islamic State aren’t victims who've been groomed or seduced by men. They’re committed jihadis in their own right.
(Simon Cottee, Foreign Policy)
Are reporters missing a surprising religion ghost when covering news about North Korea?
(Ira Rifkin, Get Religion (blog))
Human rights and Christian Ministries
(Barry W. Bussey: Intersection, Canadian Council of Christian Charities)
Why Australia legalising same-sex marriage makes good business sense
(Mark Humphery-Jenner, The Conversation)
Religion in U.S. Foreign Policy: Implications for Asia. Insights from Robert W. Hefner
(Mercy A. Kuo, The Diplomat)
In French interview, pope talks about religious freedom, abuse crisis
(Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service)
Pope Francis: States should be secular, but protect religious freedom
(Mark Woods, Christian Today)
Cuban political prisoner honored for upholding religious freedom
(Suzette Gutierrez Cachila, The Christian Times)
Phones – crucial to survival for refugees on the perilous route to Europe
(Marie Gillespie, The Conversation)
600,000 refugees will go where? Kenya plans to shut down camps, including world's largest
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)
Boko Haram may be sending fighters to Islamic State in Libya: U.S. officials
(Ulf Laessing, Reuters)
Iran arrests eight for 'un-Islamic' Instagram modelling
(BBC News)
Elderly Buddhist monk hacked to death in Bangladesh
(Al Jazeera)
Monday, 16 May 2016
ADL leader: massacre of Armenians was ‘unequivocally genocide’
(Travis Andersen, Boston Globe)
China’s ancient Buddhist grottoes face a new threat — tourists
(Simon Denyer, The Washington Post)
Dreaming of Independence, Iraqi Kurds Reach out to Jews and Israel for support
(Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz)
Egypt's next national security threat: all the single ladies?
(Rami Galal, trans. Mike Nahum, Al-Monitor: Egypt Pulse)
China nursery schools ban religion after video of girl reciting Quran surfaces
(Lorraine Caballero, Christian Daily)
Should Christians be opposed to Human Rights?
(Mark Fowler, Religion and Ethics (ABC Australia))
Allowing religion based politics leads to minority repression
(The Daily Star)
Predicting how US and African Methodists will square off over homosexuality
(Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, Gleanings)
Don’t blame Sykes-Picot for the Middle East’s mess
(Steven A. Cook, Amr T. Leheta, Foreign Policy)
Myanmar religious tolerance activists face police action
(AFP, Bangkok Post)
Hostile homecoming for Mexican Protestant after exile
(Jose Antonio Pastor, World Watch Monitor)
Greens promise to end religious exemptions to Sex Discrimination Act
(Paul Karp, The Guardian)
Time to get tough on Tajikistan’s human rights crisis
(Steve Swerdlow and Philippe Dam, Human Rights Watch)
Sudan rejects Iran's 'politicization' of Hajj
(Kuwait News Agency (KUNA))
Hindu teacher punished for 'anti-religion' remarks
(The Daily Star)
Kumbh linked to Shankaracharya's efforts to revive Hindu religion
(The Times of India)
Bangladesh: Extremism and shrinking space for dissent
(Saif Khalid, Al Jazeera)
Tajikistan Islamist leaders face life in prison
(Hashmat Moslih, Al Jazeera)
Iran, Azerbaijan 'Interfaith Dialogue' planned in Baku
(AhlulBayt News Agency)
Iran arrests female models for posing without hijabs
(Al Jazeera)
Rangoon ‘Peace Walk’ leaders charged for illegal assembly
(Su Myat Moon, The Irrawaddy)
Cuban artist who spent 22 years in prison for defying Castro regime receives Religious Freedom Award
(Leonardo Blair, Christian Post)
Against all hope: My 22 years In Castro’s Gulags
(Armando Valladares, Huffpost Religion)
Rampant religious persecution against atheists: Robert P. George
(Robert P. George and Hannah Rosenthal, USA Today)
World Vision president: Treat refugees as guests
(Timothy C. Morgan, Religion News Service)
Kazakhstan: Religious musical banned
(Forum 18 News Service)
Kazakhstan: Punished for worship meetings; UN appeals
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
Egypt's anti-blasphemy law: Defence of religion or tool of persecution?
(Marina Barsoum, Ahram Online)
Paper reviews recent use of Egypt's blasphemy law
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Sunday, 15 May 2016
Algeria builds mega-mosque to 'shield against extremism'
(Middle East Eye)
Saturday, 14 May 2016
First stage of planned massive Tasmanian Buddhist temple unveiled
(Richard Baines, ABC News Australia)
US set to arm Christian anti-extremist militias in Iraq
(Mark Woods, Christian Today)
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