India scraps special status for Kashmir in step Pakistan calls illegal
New Delhi, IndiaReuters India on Monday revoked the special status of Kashmir, the Himalayan region that has long been a flashpoint in ties with neighbouring Pakistan, moving to grasp its only Muslim-majority region more tightly. In the most far-reaching political move in one of the world’s most militarised regions in nearly seven decades, India said […]
UN urges sanctions on Myanmar army businesses, says foreign partners could be complicit
Jakarta, IndonesiaReuters United Nations investigators urged world leaders on Monday to impose targeted financial sanctions on companies linked to the military in Myanmar, and said foreign firms doing business with them could be complicit in international crimes. A panel of human rights experts identified scores of companies tied to the army, which controls vast swathes […]
Visitors to US under visa program at risk of trafficking, research says
New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation Dozens of young adults visiting the United States in recent years under a cultural exchange visa program have become victims of human trafficking, according to research released last week that said the program was riddled with abuses and exploitation. Visitors under the government program often take on debt to […]
New Zealand to decriminalise abortion laws
Wellington, New ZealandReuters New Zealand plans to decriminalise abortion and treat it is as a health issue, the government said on Monday in the first major reform to abortion laws in more than four decades that some activists said fell short of expectations. The legislation aims to modernise abortion laws in place since 1977 and […]
Want to add trillions to the global economy? Back female founders
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Increasing support for female entrepreneurs could boost the global economy by trillions of dollars, according to research released last week that found women who start businesses face more challenges than men. Helping women start their own businesses could immediately increase global economic output by as much as $US5 trillion, about the size […]
US SLAVERY ANNIVERSARY: MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, CHURCHES PART OF CITY’S 200 YEAR HISTORY OF SLAVERY, CIVIL RIGHTS
As the US marks 400 years since the arrival of the first African slaves in Jamestown, Virginia, ADELLE M BANKS reports from Alabama’s capital on the city’s historic connections with slavery – and the modern civil rights movement…
Hong Kong government: protests are pushing city to “extremely dangerous edge”
Hong KongReuters Hong Kong’s government said violence and illegal protests were pushing the city to an “extremely dangerous edge”, as police fired multiple rounds of tear gas to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters on Sunday and Beijing said it would not let the situation persist. The Chinese-controlled city, an Asian financial hub, has been rocked […]
ESSAY: IN CAMEROON, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CAN’T BE SEPARATED FROM POLITICS
US political scientist and Baptist minister R DREW SMITH, in an article first published on Religion News Service, calls for a re-evaluation of the criteria used within international religious freedom circles for assessing and advancing freedom around the world…
SIGHT-SEEING: FOCUS ON OUR OWN FREEDOMS PUTS US ON A VERY DANGEROUS PATH
NILS VON KALM reflects on the ‘alternative kingdom’ of Jesus Christ…