Religion

U.S., EU Urged to Press Harder for Reform in Bahrain

By Jim Lobe
Human rights groups here are calling for the United States and the European Union (EU) to exert more pressure on Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, to seriously engage its opposition and end its repression of its majority Shi'a population.

Kurds Advance, Into the Unknown

By Karlos Zurutuza
A ban on political and even social gatherings, a bar on Kurdish language and culture; uprooting people, forced disappearances and a ‘caste’ of hundreds of thousands of local Kurds deprived of citizenship... life for Kurds in pre-war Syria was probably as dire as it is today for their kin in Iran.

Fatwas Heighten Sectarian Tensions in Syria Conflict

By Emad Mekay
Saudi Arabian religious scholars are leading an increasingly vocal chorus of Islamic preachers who are urging Muslims and Arabs to support Syrian rebels against what they say are atrocities at the hands of Iran-backed Shiite forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Coming Out in Droves Against Drones

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Though the constant hum of unmanned aerial vehicles flying overhead makes a strong case for staying indoors, residents of Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency are emerging in droves from their humble homes, some no bigger than huts constructed from mud and stones.

Scales Tip Towards Women in Jewish Religious Rights Struggle

By Pierre Klochendler
The struggle for gender equality and Jewish pluralism took a highly symbolic turn on Sunday at the Western Wall, Judaism's most revered site and emblem of unity, as a group of women known as "Women of the Wall" prayed legally and in a way they saw fit.

Q&A: “The U.N. Is Too Slow to Respond to Crisis”

By Sudeshna Chowdhury
As the situation in Myanmar deteriorates, thousands of Rohingyas have fled the country in search of a safe haven.

Egypt’s Presidency, Judiciary Brace for Showdown Over Draft Law

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
The post-revolution struggle between Egypt's judiciary and President Mohammed Morsi, the country's first Islamist head of state, finally seems to be coming to a head over controversial draft legislation regulating judicial authority.

46 Years on, Arab-Israeli War Still Leaving Its Mark

By Pierre Klochendler
Majda el-Batsch was eight years old in June 1967 when she heard about the war that year. "I didn't know what war meant," she recalled. More than four decades later, the Palestinian reporter is still grappling with the meaning of what is known as the Six-Day War.

Anti-LGBT Rampage in Georgia Exposes Frustrations with the West

By Molly Corso
Georgia may be touted as the most pro-Western country in the South Caucasus, but the recent backlash against LGBT activists in Tbilisi underscores how wide the cultural divide is when it comes to defining democratic values.

“I’ve Finally Got My Torah Back”

By Sudeshna Chowdhury
Growing up as a child, Trisha Arlin had never seen a woman rabbi. Back then, women were not allowed to read the Torah, nor were they allowed to serve in synagogues.

Religious Intolerance Taints Award for Indonesian President

By Sandra Siagian and Rebecca Lake
Standing in front of the two-metre concrete wall, barbed wire and corrugated iron fence that surrounds his mosque, Muhammad Iqbal says he feels like a second-class citizen in his own country.

Sex Educators Struggle to Break Taboos

By Stella Paul
Liberian journalist Mae Azango says she spent a year living “like a bat, going from tree to tree” with her daughter in order to escape religious fanatics who were threatening to kill her for exposing the practice of female genital mutilation in her home country last year.

Peace Gets a Chance in Pakistan

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Peshawar is breathing a little easier. Prime minister designate Nawaz Sharif’s offer of talks with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has rekindled hope for peace in this Pakistan border town.

Myanmar’s President Makes Historic, Divisive Visit to White House

By Carey L. Biron
Myanmar’s President Thein Sein on Monday became the first leader of that country in almost a half-century to pay a call on the White House, a visit that has simultaneously highlighted a series of monumental changes seen in Myanmar in recent years as well as a reforms process that many are warning may have stalled.

Living in Hell, Iraqi Christians Dream of Paradise

By Karlos Zurutuza
Luis Shabi nostalgically recalls his nine years of novitiate in Rome and a "fantastic road trip through Europe" before returning to Iraq in 1969. "Those were the good times," sighs the Chaldean Archbishop of Baghdad from a bunker in the heart of the Iraqi capital.

Afghan Women Harassed into Unemployment

By Shelly Kittleson
While global attention is fixed on the scheduled pullout of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan in 2014, women here have a much more immediate concern: how will they survive another day at work?

Rafsanjani’s Presidential Bid Elicits Hope, Scorn

By Yasaman Baji
The last-minute entry of former president and current chair of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani into the presidential polls set for Jun. 14 has inspired vastly different reactions in a conflicted Iran.

Unravelling the Civil War Propaganda

By Lal Aqa Sherin
Western fears of a civil war in Afghanistan are growing ahead of the scheduled pullout of international troops in 2014. However, experts here say the situation on the ground is not comparable to either 1988, when the Soviets withdrew from the country, or the mujahideen’s rise to power in 1992, which plunged the country into civil war.

At Political Rally, Serbian Church Crosses Sensitive Line

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
The influential Serbian Orthodox Church publicly crossed a line recently when two of its top clergymen took part in a Belgrade rally with messages amounting to direct threats against the lives of government officials.

Pakistan Marks Historic Election

By Zofeen Ebrahim, Irfan Ahmed, and Ashfaq Yusufzai
Flanked by loyalists, friends, journalists and excited family members, former Pakistani premier Mian Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), seemed relaxed on the night of the May 11 general elections.

Despite Peaceful Withdrawal, PKK-Turkey Peace Remains Uncertain

By Jacques N. Couvas
The peaceful withdrawal from Turkey of combatants from the Kurdistan's Workers Party (PKK) began last Wednesday but is already at risk of being compromised following a twin car bomb explosion on Saturday afternoon. The terrorist attack in Rayhanli in the Syrian border province of Hatay caused 46 civilian deaths and at least 155 injuries.
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