(ANALYSIS) Syria’s sudden shift in leadership has introduced the Islamist world’s rising star: Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, the leader of HTS. Despite Jawlani’s soft-spoken promises of peace and prosperity, his history is both alarming and ominous.
Read MoreThe instant collapse of Assad’s rule will reshape the geopolitics of the Mideast for years to come. Within Syria itself, the challenge is how to replace the bloodthirsty past and current revolutionary turbulence with effective government capable of restoring and unifying a nation that currently copes with regional occupations by Turkey, Israel and others.
Read MoreJust two days before Christmas, President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he had commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row — converting their punishments to life imprisonment.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Anyone who is interested in the roots of Christian history is familiar with the following, drawn from the 11th chapter of Acts. Where is Antioch today? That biblical city now known as Antakya, located on the Orontes River about 12 miles from the Syrian border. The history of the church in Antioch was at the heart of the news in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast.
Read MoreWhile the global median score on the Government Restrictions Index (based on several factors) held steady in 2022 at 3.0 out of 10, the number of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of government religious restrictions rose to 59, which accounts for 30% of the 198 countries and territories Pew Research Center studied.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Nov. 28, 2024, six state parties referred the “Situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” to the International Criminal Court, expressing concern about the severe deterioration of the human rights situation in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Earlier this month, 45 Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders were sentenced to years in jail for “subversion” following a controversial National Security Law trial. The group of human rights defenders, scholars and lawmakers were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion for taking part in an unofficial primary to select opposition candidates in July 2020.
Read MoreThe nonpartisan groups reported the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers the U.S. has accepted in recent decades, including Christians and others fleeing religious persecution, and explored how U.S. presidential platform policies will impact the ability of those persecuted for their faith to find refuge here after the November elections.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Afghanistan’s new “vice and viture” law seeks to completely silence women in public. They are prohibited from speaking, singing or praying aloud. The law also attempts to literally erase them from view, ordering women to cover every part of their body and face in public.
Read MoreZimbabwe’s Mutemwa Leprosy Care Centre is home to 34 patients living with deadly diseases, such as AIDS, as well as mental and physical disabilities. The center is supported by the John Bradburne Memorial Society, founded in memory of the British-born missionary. Bradburne's legacy lives on in this embattled community to this day.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On Sept. 23, 2024, when speaking at a side event on “The Inclusion of Women in the Future of Afghanistan” at the U.N. General Assembly, Oscar-winning actress and activist Meryl Streep addressed the dire situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. As she noted, “Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedom than a woman.”
Read MoreVice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris told an interviewer Tuesday (Sept. 24) that she would be in favor of eliminating the filibuster for votes on abortion-related legislation in the Senate. Harris has made abortion a centerpiece of her campaign, pledging to sign any bill that “restore[s] reproductive freedom nationwide,” according to her website.
Read More(REVIEW) Most people working in recent decades in America’s growing movement for international religious freedom are little-known except by those personally involved activists and academics. One whose name and work has generally not been recognized outside these circles is Knox Thames. This is principally because he has worked close to the heart of things, usually in government circles.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, women and girls have been banned from playing sports or participating in any form of physical activity. However, Afghan women have been defying the Taliban and competed at the 2024 Olympics and 2024 Paralympic, while flying the flag of the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Read MoreA new Taliban law restricting the rights of women even further has led to calls for prayer from Arabic church leaders as well as Afghans who have fled in recent years.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The legacy of the Taliban regime — which meant to be a new Taliban 2.0 but failed on all fronts — is gender apartheid, genocide and gross human rights violations. The three years of their reign, since the fall of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, have been filled with report after report documenting the litany of atrocities perpetrated in the country.
Read MoreLocal residents and the Catholic order have engaged in a years-long court battle after the church tried to evict them from their ancestral land on the outskirts of the capital Harare. The more than 1,000 families, however, were relieved when a court agreed to halt, for now, a move by the Jesuits to evict them from their land that the church wants to turn into an urban residential area.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On July 25, a Hong Kong court dismissed Jimmy Lai’s defense’s mid-trial submission of “no case to answer” and adjourned the trial for four months until the end of November 2024, when Lai is expected to give evidence.
Read MoreEquatorial Guinea has a history of infringing on religious freedom dating back to the 1950s. The country is at it again using legislation to forcefully close numerous churches and deny thousands the freedom to worship. Six Pentecostal and evangelical churches were shut down by the government last year alone due to their failure to abide by registration regulations.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On July 11, 2024, the Argentine Federal Court of Criminal Cassation handed down its decision in a case concerning the issue of Uyghur genocide ordering the prosecutor to open an investigation. The decision follows a criminal complaint setting out the international crimes committed against the Uyghur and other Turkic people in Xinjiang, China, and the identity of those most responsible for these crimes.
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