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Friday, September 18, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Religion
RIGHTS: Pakistani Christians Under Increasing Threat
Forty-seven-year-old Gulsher Masih has been living in constant fear since fleeing his native village of Chuk Jhumra, near Faisalabad, a year ago.MALAYSIA: Muslim Gay Faces Govt Wrath
Muslim engineer Azman Ismail has sparked a huge storm of criticism, invited official censure and even death threats by going on YouTube.com and confessing that he is a gay.UZBEKISTAN: Muslims Face Horrific Torture in Jails
Muslims are facing a dark future of repression and torture in Uzbekistan for years to come as the government’s relentless campaign of religious suppression continues.
AFPAK: People Turning Against Taliban
The Taliban once regarded as true jihadists here are rapidly losing popularity in response to their ongoing targeting of mosques, schools and innocent people.
MIDEAST: It’s Christmas Again, and Still No Way to Bethlehem
"We try to be happy and celebrate with our families during Christmas, but the atmosphere is not cheery as in other parts of the world," says Hossam Tawwil. And as around Christmas on Dec. 25, so for Orthodox Christians preparing to celebrate Christmas Jan. 7.
PAKISTAN: Blasphemy Law Carries Over Into New Year
In the face of protests and a nationwide strike called by hardline religious parties against any changes to the blasphemy law, Pakistani Christians have had little to cheer about over the Christmas and New Year season.MIDEAST: Racist Jews to the Fore
Emotions are running high in this working class town on the Mediterranean adjacent to Tel Aviv, the Israeli metropolis that has long been the symbol of liberal laissez-faire Israel. Principally, anti-Arab emotions: Racism is on the march.Anonymous Afro-Cubans Heroes Remembered for Posterity
Under the spreading shade of a wild fig tree in Old Havana, a small plaque now recalls the sacrifice made by five Afro-Cubans, "anonymous Abakuá who died trying to save medical students" shot by firing squad, when this island was still a Spanish colony.BOOKS-IRAQ: Division Accomplished
Few in Washington want to talk much about Iraq these days.COSTA RICA: Infertile Controversy over Right to Form a Family
Costa Rica is one of the few countries in the world where in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is illegal. And the Vatican wants it to stay that way: Pope Benedict XVI himself recently urged the government not to pass a law that would make it legal.
RELIGION-CHINA: Buddhism Enjoys A Revival
Quan Zhenyuan discovered Buddhism by accident. After the owner of a vegetarian restaurant here in the Chinese capital gave her a book about the religion, she became hooked. Today, Quan is one of a growing number of urban Chinese who turn to Buddhism for spiritual fulfillment.Egypt Rejects “Interference” in Elections
Egypt's authoritarian government ramped up its crackdown on journalists and opposition politicians ahead of the Nov. 28 parliamentary elections and rebuffed a U.S. call for international observers to monitor "free and fair" balloting.Muslim Americans Foil Terror Threats
A new report on violent extremists in the United States finds that terrorism plots by non-Muslims greatly outnumber those attempted by Muslims, and that Muslim-American communities helped foil close to a third of al Qaeda-related terror plots threatening the country since Sep. 11, 2001.INDONESIA: Minority Religions Pray For End to Discrimination
Clutching bibles and song leaflets, members of a Protestant church flocked into a one-storey building here, situated next to a new shopping mall on one of the busiest streets in this municipality in Indonesia’s West Java province.
INDIA: Dalits Turn to the Goddess of English
India's Dalits are turning to the ''Goddess of English'' for deliverance from centuries of religiously-sanctioned caste oppression.Torture Orders Were Part of U.S. Sectarian War Strategy
The revelation by Wikileaks of a U.S. military order directing U.S. forces not to investigate cases of torture of detainees by Iraqis has been treated in news reports as yet another case of lack of concern by the U.S. military about detainee abuse.
Q&A: Cuba’s Catholic Media Multiply, But Change Is Slow
In the context of ongoing conciliation between the Cuban government and the Roman Catholic Church, the communications media of the latter are growing quickly on this Caribbean island where the press remains under strict state control.Homophobia-Free Churches in Mexico
Alejandro González left the Catholic Church to join the gay-supportive Metropolitan Community Churches in Mexico, in search of a more open and tolerant place of worship./CORRECTED REPEAT*/: U.S. Jews Increasingly Hawkish on Iran, Sceptical of Obama
U.S. Jews, who, next to African Americans, have constituted the minority most supportive of Barack Obama, are growing more sceptical of his performance and increasingly hawkish on Iran, according to a new poll released Tuesday by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).DEATH PENALTY: Arab Abolitionist Movements Seek Unity
Rights activists have called for nascent abolitionist movements of the Middle East and North Africa to coordinate their efforts to press Arab regimes to end capital punishment.Ashcroft’s Post-9/11 Roundups Spark Lawsuit
Hundreds of people who believe they were falsely detained and imprisoned by the Department of Justice in the wake of the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks are now seeking redress through the U.S. courts.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Religion plays a big and in some cases growing role in the socio-political dynamics within countries and often is a factor in civil and cross-border conflict, conflict resolution and peace building. From Burmese monks' marches to the role of religious fundamentalism, this dedicated site gathers IPS stories about how religion affects our world, from daily life to geo-politics.
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