Long delayed, Deborah Lipstadt nomination for US anti-Semitism envoy passes committee
RNS Following an eight-month-long delay, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday approved the nomination of noted anti-Semitism scholar Deborah Lipstadt to be the State Department’s envoy to combat and monitor anti-Semitism. The nomination now heads to the full Senate. Deborah E Lipstadt, nominated to be Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, with […]
US says Taliban talks in Doha were “candid and professional”
Washington DC, USReuters The United States said on Sunday the first face-to-face meeting between senior US and Taliban officials since the hardline group retook power in Afghanistan was “candid and professional” and that the US side reiterated that the Taliban would be judged on their actions, not just their words. State Department spokesman Ned Price […]
ESSAY: TRUMP’S REFUGEE CAP COMPROMISES THE US ECONOMY AND AMERICAN IDENTITY
In an article first published on Religion News Service, SCOTT ARBEITER, president of World Relief, explains why dramatic reductions in refugee admittances hurts rather than helps the US…
PERSECUTION: TRUMP AIMS TO PROTECT CHRISTIANS BUT SOME AREN’T SURE HE’S HELPING
With the plight of religious minorities around the world in the spotlight following last week’s US State Department summit on the issue, JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, reports on claims by some advocates and experts that the Trump administration’s policies have, for some, made their situation worse…
Andrew Brunson at religious freedom summit: “It’s wonderful that I can be here in person”
Washington, DCRNS Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was detained in Turkey for two years on terrorism and spying charges before being released in October, said he is enjoying the simple things in life. “For me to be back with my wife and my children, this is what I wanted,” said the Evangelical Presbyterian minister in an […]
Religious freedom summit opens with stories of religious violence and resilience
Washington, DCRNS The rabbi of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, site of an October mass shooting, tries to avoid using the word “hate” and wishes others would do the same. A Muslim man who lost his wife in the March attack on his New Zealand mosque urges love for every human being. A Christian woman […]
China, two dozen other countries top USCIRF religious freedom offenders list
Washington, DCRNS With its particular focus on China’s oppression of religious and human rights, an independent watchdog group has decried in its annual report the state of religious freedom across the globe. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan organisation created 20 years ago, concludes in its Monday report that “innumerable believers and nonbelievers […]
Religious, civil rights groups ask US Secretary of State to request expert probe of American racism
RNS Scores of religious and civil rights organizations have asked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to request an evaluation by a UN expert of the scope of racism in the country. “While we appreciate the US’s stated commitment to fighting racism, we believe that commitment ought to manifest itself in tangible actions rather than […]
World Council of Churches says US decision to stop funding UN agency helping Palestinian refugees is “amoral and unjust”
The US Government decision to stop funding a UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees is “amoral and unjust”, according to the head of the World Council of Churches. The US State Department announced the decision to stop funding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees late last week, saying that it has previously made it […]
US VP Mike Pence threatens Turkey over detained US pastor at religious freedom summit
RNS Vice President Mike Pence used a State Department summit of foreign ministers and religious leaders to call on Turkey to release US pastor Andrew Brunson and threatened the country with sanctions if it did not. “If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to […]