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Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Religion
MIDEAST: Darkness Dawns at Ramadan
"It's been days without electricity and water. We can't do anything, and it's unbearably hot now." Abu Fouad, 83, speaks of the power cuts plaguing all of the Gaza Strip.MIDEAST: Barriers Rise Between Ramadan Gatherings
For seven years Majda Abdul Qader Sheikh, 38, has not been allowed to visit the home of her parents, just a few hundred metres from her house.MIDEAST: God Grant Us a Permit to Pray
For Muhammad el-Baradiyeh, 38, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is always a blessing.
Food Cartels Feast on Ramadan Profits
Opportunistic food traders have been blamed for soaring food prices across the Middle East that have added a financial burden on families observing the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.BALKANS: The Turks Return
It's not often that the leading Belgrade daily Politika devotes two of its four foreign pages to the praise of one nation, but it did so for the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month.
COSTA RICA: Gays Unite Against Referendum on Civil Unions
Human rights organisations and the gay community in Costa Rica have joined forces to try to block a referendum on a law for civil unions between partners of the same sex.MALAWI: Vaccination Foiled by Divine Intervention
Dowa, central Malawi: medical staff struggle to vaccinate frightened children clinging to their parents, as an armed policeman stands guard.Muslim Centre Prevails in Battle over Site Near ‘Ground Zero’
In a case viewed by many as a test of religious tolerance in the post-9/11 era, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted unanimously Tuesday morning against designating the future location of a Muslim-led community centre as a historic landmark.ISRAEL: Women Take On the Orthodox
Jerusalem is a city blessed but also cursed by its own holiness. No more so than here at 'Ground Zero', the religious epicentre within the walled Old City, beneath the most disputed holy site -- the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary as known to Muslims, Har Habayit or the Temple Mount for Jews.Dutch Christian Group Backs Settlements
Sandwiched between giant car and furniture stores on a motorway stop-off, a blue-and-white Star of David flag droops nonchalantly on a stifling summer's day. The factory-like building beside it could easily be missed by a traveller who blinks too soon, yet the work undertaken here in the Israel Centre is far from commonplace.Trinidad Seeks to Close the Book on 1990 Coup Attempt
For the past 19 years, Wendell Eversley has been staging a one-man protest calling for a public inquiry into the failed coup by a group of radical Muslims against the then Trinidad and Tobago government headed by Prime Minister Arthur N.R. Robinson.US-CUBA: Clinton “Encouraged” by Prisoner Accord
In the most positive U.S. statement on developments in Cuba in recent memory, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday said the reported agreement between President Raul Castro and the Cuban Catholic Church regarding the release of 52 political prisoners was "very welcome".‘This Is Worse Than Guantanamo’
A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner at a refugee detention centre in Slovakia has said he is prepared to die in hunger strike after living five months in conditions he says are worse than in the infamous U.S. prison.CUBA: Church-State Dialogue Sends “Signals” to the World
The talks between the Catholic Church and the Cuban government are unprecedented in several respects in this socialist island nation, and this should be taken into account by the international community, experts say.
Arab-Israeli Parliamentarian Fights Death Threats
"I stopped counting after I had received 50 death threats. I told my secretary not to tell me about them any more," Arab-Israeli Knesset (parliament) member, Haneen Zoabi told IPS.Israel Navigates Between Inquiries
Israel's easing of its land blockade of Gaza is unlikely to lessen international pressure for a change in its policies towards the Palestinians. Nor can Israel be expected to give up its battle to undermine Hamas' control of the Gaza Strip.
RIGHTS-MIDEAST: ‘Gaza Blockade Must Go’
Under intense international pressure Israel declared last week that it would ease its crippling blockade on Gaza by permitting an additional but limited number of daily items, including food, into the coastal enclave.
Q&A: Laying to Rest the Ghosts of the Past – With Truth
This year marks 15 years since the bloody war in Bosnia - Herzegovina (BH) ended. Apart from the 44-month siege of the capital of Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb forces there was the massacre of some 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys after the United Nations-protected enclave of Srebrenica fell into their hands./UPDATE/CUBA: Variety of Viewpoints Expected at Church Conference
Cuban intellectuals, religious and non-religious, including three who live and teach in the United States, will take part in a four-day conference organised by the Catholic Church next week in the midst of a relaxed climate of dialogue between the Church leadership and the government of Raúl Castro.MIDEAST: Advantage Hamas After Flotilla Fiasco
Israel may allow soft drinks, juice, canned fruit, salads, biscuits and potato chips into the Gaza Strip from next week. What should be an unremarkable event is making news headlines and portends unseen consequences.
Q&A: ‘We’ll be Back – With Bigger Flotillas’
In an exclusive interview with IPS Huwaida Arraf, the chairwoman of the Free Gaza (FG) movement, which tried to break Israel’s crippling blockade on Gaza, explains what happened on the night of May 31 when Israeli commandos raided the FG humanitarian flotilla, shooting nine people dead and injuring dozens more.« 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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