Tag: USA

Brownback: Now is a ‘critical moment’ for religious minorities

March 29, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Mike Pompeo, Religious freedom, Rex Tillerson, Sam Brownback, USA

Sam Brownback was confirmed as Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom in January.

The US Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom has called for politicians to work more closely together towards greater religious freedom around the world, reports the Catholic News Agency. “We are at a critical moment for the future of religious minorities globally. It is more dangerous now than any time in . . . Read More

Saudi Arabia to ban ‘extremist ideologies’ from schools and universities

March 23, 2018 Saudi Arabia Education, Islamic extremism, King Salman, Mohammad bin Salman, Muslim Brotherhood, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, UK, USA

Sign portraying Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who wants to be known as a reformist, in the capital Riyad. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Saudi Arabia has pledged to ban the “extremist ideologies” espoused by the Muslim Brotherhood from school curricula and books, and to dismiss staff who support the group’s views. In a statement released on Tuesday (20 March), the Minister of Education, Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Isa, said the ministry is working to . . . Read More

Fresh move to prosecute IS for genocide

March 21, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country David Cameron, Europe, France, Genocide, International Criminal Court, Iraq, Islamic State, Kuwait, Lord Alton, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Syria, UK, UN, USA

Destroyed market in the town of Bartella, 15km east of Mosul, which was liberated from IS by Iraqi forces in October 2016. (Photo World Watch Monitor)

Campaigners have welcomed a bill designed to facilitate the prosecution of Islamic State jihadists for genocide against Christians, Yazidis and other minorities in Iraq and Syria. Complaining that efforts to encourage the British government to accuse IS of genocide had received “nothing but rebuttals and refusals”, Lord Alton, a Catholic, . . . Read More

Iraq’s young people must lead its rebuilding, says archbishop

March 21, 2018 Iraq Baghdad, Churches, Iraq, Islamic State, Kirkuk, Minorities, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Shia, Sunni, USA, Youth

Army truck with Iraqi flag on its way in the direction of Mosul. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The rebuilding of Iraq should be guided by its young people, says an archbishop who took in 700 students from Mosul University after the occupation of the city by Islamic State in June 2014. Bishop Yousif Thoma Mirkis of Kirkuk, 170km southeast of Mosul, recently visited the university and reunited . . . Read More

North Korean explains growing up under Kim dynasty, and how his perception of Christianity changed

March 20, 2018 North Korea Bibles, Children, China, Communism, Crosses, Education, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-Un, Missionaries, North Korea, Pyongyang, USA

Every year, for the birthdays of North Korea’s Kim dynasty founder, Kim Il-sung, and his son and successor, Kim Jong-il, John Choi* would receive a large pack of sweets from his parents. So would all his primary-school peers. However, before unpacking his present, John was told to follow the ritual . . . Read More

Turkey calls for life imprisonment of US pastor Andrew Brunson

March 14, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, PKK, Turkey, USA

A photo of the Rev. Andrew Brunson during his time in prison. Photo courtesy of World Witness

Turkish prosecutors demanded life imprisonment for jailed US pastor Andrew Brunson in an official indictment presented to Izmir’s 2nd Criminal Court yesterday, 13 March. Arrested without bail since October 2016, Brunson is accused of being “a member and executive” of the Islamic movement led by self-exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, . . . Read More

Jailed US pastor’s daughter addresses UN Human Rights Council

March 13, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Ankara, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, UN, USA

The daughter of jailed US pastor Andrew Brunson appealed to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva last week to help secure her father’s release from prison in Turkey, where he has been jailed for the past 17 months. Declaring that her father had been “falsely imprisoned for far . . . Read More

Pope and Patriarch ‘feared nuclear war could erupt over Syria’

February 27, 2018 Cuba, Dagestan, Greek Orthodox, Jordan, King Abdullah II, Moscow, Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis, Russia, Syria, Turkey, USA, Vladimir Putin

Flag of Syria is waving as sign of victory over the destroyed heavily damaged city of Aleppo. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The historic meeting between the heads of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches took place not only out of shared concern for Middle Eastern Christians, but to try to avert confrontation between nuclear powers in Syria, according to the Russian Orthodox Patriarch. When Patriarch Kirill met Pope Francis in 2016 it . . . Read More

US agency accuses Russia of abusing anti-extremism laws

February 14, 2018 Russia Churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Missionaries, Moscow, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet Union, Terrorism, USA, Yarovaya Law

Russia’s anti-extremism laws are being used to crack down on peaceful religious minorities such as Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hare Krishnas, the top US religious-freedom watchdog says. A report commissioned by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that “vague and problematic definitions of ‘extremism’ in Russian law . . . Read More

North Korean defectors share ordeals with Pence in Seoul

February 12, 2018 North Korea North Korea, Otto Warmbier, USA

US Vice President Mike Pence, who travelled to Pyeongchang last week for the start of the Winter Olympic Games, met with North Korean defectors in Seoul on Friday (9 February), as reported on the White House website. Mr. Pence has been accompanied during his visit by the father of the . . . Read More

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