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Wednesday, September 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Religion
MIDEAST: ‘Prince of Peace’ – Obama or Netanyahu?
United States President Barack Obama’s intended broad Mideast policies are running into the complexities of peacemaking - especially after the ‘Prince of Peace’ began insisting on the necessity of, sometimes, fighting for peace.
Q&A: ”Israeli Settlements Killing Two-Nation Solution”
In the absence of any progress towards peace between Israelis and Palestinians, leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) are adopting a reasonable approach as a way of building up international pressure on Israel to get it back to the negotiating table.
Q&A: ”U.S. ‘Grand Bargain’ Can Save Israel From Itself”
Resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict along the two-state parameters seems less likely with Israel torn between accepting a Palestinian state and the settler ideology which calls for Israel's exclusive rule over the whole of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Q&A: Law and Order May Not Improve in 2010
For women in Pakistan's North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), 2009 has been particularly hard.MIDEAST: ‘’What About the Mailboxes?’’
The sun is about to set over Jabel Mukaber. The call of the muezzin envelops the valley beneath Naim Aweisat’s balcony and, rolling from the mosques of Abu Dis across the wall in the West Bank, rebounds from the stark concrete Israeli security wall to answer the minarets that peer over the walled Old City.RELIGION: Few States Enjoy Freedom of Faith, Report Says
About one-third of the countries in the world have high or very high restrictions on religion, and nearly 70 percent of the world's population lives in countries with heavy restrictions on freedom of religion, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life.MIDEAST: Occupation Eats Away Israel’s Heart and Soul
After Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank torched a mosque and desecrated copies of the Quran in the Palestinian village of Yasuf, last Friday morning, they ran into a wall of condemnation.RIGHTS: Dispute Over Veil Spreads Across Egypt
A decision by the government to ban the veil in some academic institutions has reignited debate about personal rights.
Q&A: India’s Anti-Women Laws Dropping from the Books
The 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) this month has brought women's rights champions from around the world to the United Nations to share their success stories. One is Sujata Manohar, who helped create a national law in India that bars sexual harassment in the workplace.POLITICS: Tajik Grip on Afghan Army Signals New Ethnic War
Contrary to the official portrayal of the Afghan National Army (ANA) as ethnically balanced, the latest data from U.S. sources reveal that the Tajik minority now accounts for far more of its troops than the Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic group.EL SALVADOR: Declassified Docs Shed Light on Jesuits’ Murders
Thousands of pages of declassified U.S. documents shedding light on the 1989 murders of six prominent Jesuit clerics, their housekeeper and her 16-year-old daughter in El Salvador could give a new twist to the case that opened in the Spanish courts in January.RELIGION-US: Will ‘The Road’ Be a Tool for Evangelism?
Two movies with doomsday scenarios highlight this year's pre-holiday releases - "2012", a special effects spectacular, is based on the Mayan calendar, whose end date - not to be confused with the end of the world, most scholars agree - is Dec. 21, 2012.
INDIA: Women As Hindu Priests Have An Edge
Defying Hindu orthodoxy and intolerant male priests, women in Maharashtra state, western India, have revived a Vedic tradition and become priests.POLITICS-US: Right Seizes on Ft. Hood Killings as “Islamic Terror”
Senior military and Barack Obama administration officials have been on a full-court press to preempt an anti-Muslim backlash since the shooting spree by a Muslim soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, but right-wing pundits have wasted no time in characterising Major Nidal Malik Hasan's actions as an act of terrorism by a radical Islamic extremist.
SWAZILAND: Help Sex Workers – Senator
It is one of the world's oldest professions, dating so far back that it is even mentioned in the Bible. But in the deeply cultural and religious country of Swaziland, Senator Thuli Msane stirred a hornet's nest when she publicly challenged a new strict bill opposing prostitution.RIGHTS: Iraqi Minorities Dying Over Turf War
Iraqi minority groups are caught up in a power struggle between the country's Arab-dominated central government and the Kurdish-controlled regional government over the oil-rich Nineveh province - and they are paying with their lives, according Human Rights Watch.
Q&A: Geert Wilders Gets a Big Email Hug
Since the terror attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, persistent misconceptions about Islam have contributed to a dangerous climate of mistrust and disharmony between the Muslim world and the West.POLITICS-US: New Moons Rising
Earlier this month, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon went to Washington to introduce "As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen", his autobiography that, according to the Moon-owned Washington Times, "recounts the joys and challenges, the teachable moments and the monumental experiences of his life - much of it spent as a spiritual leader."SWITZERLAND: Muslims Targeted in the Name of Minarets
Switzerland's Muslim community is witnessing a xenophobic campaign by the political right-wing ahead of a vote next month on the banning of Islamic minarets.DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Protests Surround New Constitution
The Dominican Republic passed the 38th version of its constitution Thursday evening, amending more than 40 articles that drew public protests and opposition from civil society groups and many average Dominicans.
Q&A: “Women Will Benefit From Secularism”
Controversy stalks dissident writer Nawal El-Saadawi, whose views on women and religion have put her at odds with Egyptian conservatives.« 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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