Israelis protest against planned judicial overhaul for 11th week
Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters Israelis packed city streets on Saturday in nationwide demonstrations now in their 11th week against plans by the hard-right government to curb the Supreme Court’s powers, which critics see as a threat to judicial independence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says his aim is to balance out branches of government, wields […]
Thousands march in Belgrade against planned gay pride parade
Belgrade, Serbia Reuters Thousands of religious and right-wing activists marched through Serbia’s capital on Sunday calling for authorities to ban a gay pride march planned for next weekend. The protesters – who carried a massive Serbian flag – included groups who also shouted slogans backing Serbia’s long-term ally Russia, as well as nationalistic and far-right […]
UN to set up inquiry into possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Thursday to set up an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian troops in the Kyiv area and beyond, a move that Russia said amounted to political score-settling. Members passed by an overwhelming majority (33 for, two against) a resolution to order a Commission […]
Syrians in Berlin seek release of loved ones after presidential amnesty
Berlin, Germany/Damascus, SyriaReuters For 10 years, Rojin Derki hoped her brother Mohammad was still alive and would one day be released from a Syrian government prison after his arrest in 2012. Yet when a presidential decree last week gave a general amnesty for prisoners, she had mixed feelings. “It’s an ugly feeling because you don’t […]
Indian farmers aim for nationwide protests against reforms on Monday
New Delhi, IndiaReuters Indian farmers opposed to reforms they say threaten their livelihoods aim to renew their push against the changes with nationwide protests on Monday, a year after laws on the liberalisation of the sector were introduced. For 10 months, tens of thousands of farmers have camped out on major highways around the capital, […]
Taliban name new Afghan government, interior minister on US sanctions list
Reuters The Taliban drew from its inner high echelons to fill top posts in Afghanistan’s new government on Tuesday, including an associate of the Islamist militant movement’s founder as premier and a wanted man on a US terrorism list as interior minister. World powers have told the Taliban the key to peace and development is […]
Eritrean refugees in Ethiopian capital protest insecurity at Tigray camps
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaReuters Hundreds of Eritrean refugees protested in the Ethiopian capital on Thursday, calling on the United Nations refugee agency to relocate friends and family who they say are trapped in two refugee camps by fighting in the Tigray region. Clashes between armed groups have escalated in and around the camps – Mai Aini […]
Catholic officials halt activity in Haiti for nine kidnapped
Port-au-Prince, HaitiAP Roman Catholic institutions including schools and universities closed Wednesday across Haiti in a three-day protest to demand the release of five priests, two nuns and two other people kidnapped more than a week ago amid a spike in violence that the government is struggling to control. Catholic officials also organised Masses to pray […]
Eternity and “a human face”: At Amanda Gorman’s Black Catholic LA parish, “it’s like everybody here is a freedom fighter”
ALEJANDRA MOLINA, of Religion News Service, reports on the Afrocentric Catholic church in South Central Los Angeles where Inguration Poet Amanda Gorman sang in the youth choir, did her sacraments and recited her poetry…
How the shofar emerged as a weapon of spiritual warfare for some evangelicals
RNS The scene around the Capitol on Wednesday may look like a set piece from the Ten Commandments movie, as scores of Jericho March participants lift shofars to their lips. Shofar blowing, an ancient Jewish ritual, is usually reserved for synagogue sanctuaries. On Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Jews rise to hear a member of […]