Religion

Judge Urges Obama to Halt “Degrading” Guantanamo Force-Feeding

By Carey L. Biron
A federal judge here has taken the unusual step of formally calling on President Barack Obama to halt the forcible feeding of dozens of hunger-striking detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, warning that the practice appears to contravene international law.

OP-ED: Islam Is Not the Solution to What Ails the Middle East

By Barbara Slavin
During the decades when Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood was a barely tolerated opposition party, it campaigned against the reigning secular autocrats under the banner “Islam is the solution.”

Israel May Even Miss Morsi

By Pierre Klochendler
For Israel, what must be exercised in the volatile struggle for power and democracy in Egypt are, above everything else, three follow-on principles: stability within its institutions, particularly the armed forces; security in the Sinai Peninsula and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which both border Israel; and peace with Israel itself.

Civil Society Fears Taliban Return

By Giuliano Battiston
While United States President Barack Obama and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai scramble to solidify a peace process ahead of the 2014 withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan, fears that the Taliban will use the drawdown to seize power hang like a dark cloud over civil society.

Could Georgia’s Orthodox Church Become a Font of Intolerance?

By Molly Corso
In the two-plus decades since the Soviet collapse, the Georgian Orthodox Church has emerged as one of the South Caucasus country’s most respected and influential institutions. But some observers and theologians now worry that ultra-conservative clerics within the Church are gaining too much power.

Obama Calls for Compromise in Egyptian Crisis

By Jim Lobe
U.S. President Barack Obama Monday called for both the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and opposition forces to compromise in the fast-developing political crisis.

Return of Old Guard Marks a New Stage in Iran’s Politics

By Yasaman Baji
The victory of Hassan Rouhani in Iran’s Jun. 14 election marked a significant shift in Iranian politics, occasioned by the forceful return of the two most important political factions of the Islamic Republic – traditional conservatives and reformists.

Tunisia Tiring of Transition

By Louise Sherwood
In the third year after the revolution that toppled former dictator Ben Ali, true democracy is still work in progress in Tunisia.

Spring Brings Differing Fruits for Tunisian Women

By Louise Sherwood
The revolution that ousted dictator Ben Ali in January 2011 brought new, hard-won freedom to the Tunisian people. However as the country discovers whether secularism and growing political Islam can co-exist, some women are enjoying greater liberty to practise their religion while others are concerned that their rights may be eroded.

A President Fights His People

By Hisham Allam
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi faces massive demonstrations, but he faces also his own government on many fronts.

Tunisia Now Searches an Economic Spring

By Justin Hyatt
Nearly two-and-a-half years since the toppling of the autocratic regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in the first regime change of the now famous Arab Spring, the high expectations of change to come with the revolution have hardly been met.

Abandoned Egypt Suffers

By Hisham Allam
As supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi prepare for a face-off on Sunday, a mushrooming problem for Egypt arises from the people not there – the tourists.

Confrontation Builds Up in Cairo

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's first turbulent year in office will end with two massive rallies in Cairo, both expected to draw hundreds of thousands: one by his mostly Islamist supporters and another by secular opposition forces who demand he step down.

Egypt Split ‘Between Egyptians and Islamists’

By Hisham Allam
The Muslim Brotherhood realised a long cherished dream when it came to power last year. The Muslim Brotherhood had faced continuing discrimination since former president Gamal Abdel Nasser came to power in 1956 until the end of Hosni Mubarak’s days.

Q&A: “Pope Francis Will Have to Open Up Church Debate on Burning Issues”

By Fabíola Ortiz
The Catholic Church has become sclerotic and is afraid of facing the issues of post-modernity, Brazilian theologian Frei Betto says, although he hopes that Francis, the first Latin American pope, will inspire it to renew its emphasis on social issues and the defence of the poor.

Q&A: How One Woman Demands Answers and an End to FGM

By Lucy Westcott
Bogaletch Gebre knows exactly what women in her Ethiopian community are going through. Along with her sisters, the women's rights activist was a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) when she was a child in a part of Ethiopia where the practise was carried out on every girl.

Creating Their Own Spring

By Karlos Zurutuza
The soldiers of former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi had left just a few days before, but a group of about 50 children were already singing in the Amazigh language in the village of Yefren, 110 kilometres south of Tripoli. This month will mark two years since the establishment of the first Amazigh school in Libya.

Young Yemen Multiplies Without Growth

By Rebecca Murray
Yemen’s population is increasing at a rapid rate, straining the country’s dwindling natural resources and setting up its youth for a grim future, with few jobs and scant means to get by.

Egypt Sees a Dam Confrontation

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
Ethiopia's diversion of part of the Blue Nile late last month has both rocked Cairo's relations with Addis Ababa and provided fodder for Egypt's ongoing war of attrition between its Islamist government and secular opposition.

Trapped Between Political Persecution in Eritrea and Misery of Refugee Camps

By Saikou Jammeh
In February 2013, 20-year-old Mohamed*, like hundreds of thousands of other Eritreans, fled the brutal dictatorship in that East African nation in search of a better life in neighbouring Sudan.

Egypt Marks a Spring for Islamists

By Cam McGrath
Egyptians are deeply divided and the majority are dissatisfied with the performance of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, but also have little confidence in the main opposition figures or their future, a new poll has found.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*