Afghan women prosecutors once seen as symbols of democracy find asylum in Spain
Madrid, SpainReuters Pushing her son on a swing at a playground on a sunny winter’s day in Madrid, former Afghan prosecutor Obaida Sharar expresses relief that she found asylum in Spain after fleeing Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban took over. Sharar, who arrived in Madrid with her family, is one of 19 female prosecutors to […]
Families of victims of Franco regime welcome new Spanish law
Madrid, SpainReuters Flor Baena has spent decades trying to clear the name of her brother Jose Humberto, who was one of the last five people executed under General Francisco Franco’s fascist regime just two months before the dictator’s death in 1975. But on Thursday, the leftist government’s Democratic Memory law tackling the legacy of the […]
Pope responds to Israeli criticism over comments on Jewish law
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis has moved to allay Jewish concerns over comments he made about their books of sacred law, following a demand for clarification from Israel’s top rabbis, Vatican and Jewish community sources said on Monday. Last month Reuters reported exclusively that Rabbi Rasson Arousi, chair of the Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of […]
PM Draghi defends Italy from Vatican objections to LGBT law
Milan, ItalyAP Premier Mario Draghi defended the independence of Italy’s parliament on Wednesday in the face of formal objections by the Vatican to a proposed law that would extend additional discrimination protections to the LGBT community. “Ours is a secular country,” Draghi said in an address to the Senate. “Therefore, it is not a religious […]
US state of Ohio passes new law banning officials from closing places of worship
Columbus, OhioAP Houses of worship can’t be shut down by local or state officials, and elections can’t be moved from their prescribed dates, under a bill signed into law Wednesday by Governor Mike DeWine and pushed by fellow Republican lawmakers angered over orders meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. DeWine expressly did not […]
JUSTICE
Notions of finding justice have changed over the centuries. A figure of justice atop London’s Central Criminal Court, also known as the Old Bailey. PICTURE: Dun.can (licensed under CC BY 2.0) You would have heard of duels – where men in dispute about the truth, would challenge another to a duel. Likewise judges would sentence people […]
Malaysia working to tighten laws on forest protection, says minister
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Malaysia is working on reforms to its decades-old forestry laws, and will consider suggestions from green activists on how to better protect its rainforests, a minister said on Wednesday. Earlier this month, hundreds of environmentalists marched on Malaysia’s parliament demanding changes to the constitution and laws to step up punishments […]
OPEN BOOK – PAUL’S GALATIAN LETTER: A COVENANT TO ENSLAVE? NOT AT ALL, PART I
BRUCE C WEARNE grapples with Paul’s response to those Galatian Christians who wish to continue to live under law…
UN urges legal reform to protect women from rape at home
United Nations, New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation The home is one of the most dangerous places for women, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as research showed only four in 10 countries criminalise marital rape. A dozen countries allow rapists to avoid prosecution by marrying their victims, UN Women said in its flagship annual […]
Church construction slows under Egypt’s new church-building law
World Watch Monitor A 2016 law designed to make it easier to establish and build churches in Egypt has not eased the bottleneck, according to a new report. The 12th December report, issued by the Project on Middle East Democracy, said approval of church building projects actually has slowed under the new law. The government […]