Essay: Turkey earthquakes one year on – the devastation has exposed deep societal scars and women are bearing the brunt
In an article first published on The Conversation, UFUK GUNES BEBEK, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Birmingham in the UK, looks at how Turkey’s south-eastern region has fared a year after a devastating earthquake…
Kirk Franklin, Lecrae, Blind Boys of Alabama add new Grammy wins; Taylor Swift makes Grammy history
RNS Grammy favourites added to their previous wins in the ‘gospel & contemporary Christian music’ category at the annual awards on Sunday, with top honours going to Kirk Franklin, Lecrae, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Tye Tribbett and Blind Boys of Alabama. Gospel singer Franklin won his 20th Grammy for his performance and songwriting on All Things in the ‘best gospel performance/song’ […]
Rohingya death toll at sea in 2023 worst for almost a decade – UN
Dhaka, Bangladesh Reuters At least 569 Rohingya were reported to have died or gone missing while trying to flee Myanmar or Bangladesh in 2023, the highest toll since 2014, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday, calling for urgent action to protect the ethnic minority group. The deaths or disappearances occurred during attempted crossings of […]
Catholic Church: The most important stories from the Vatican in 2023
CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, takes a look at a year in which Pope Francis has continued to push for changes in the church, braving daunting opposition and several medical scares…
Men and women
The male treatment of women has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately, and sometimes the church has been complicit in that. PICTURE: Tim Mossholder/Unsplash The Bible starts and finishes it’s discussion of males and females like this… “So God created humanity in his own image, in the image of God he created […]
Most online hate targets women, says EU report
Gdansk, PolandReuters Women are the main targets of online hate, including abusive language, harassment and incitement to sexual violence, a European Union report said this week. This should encourage the EU and social media platforms to pay close attention to protected characteristics such as gender and ethnicity when moderating content, the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) said in […]
Taliban defends record on women as UN looks at path forward
United NationsReuters Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration is “obligated” to consider religious values and will not allow interference in internal affairs, it has told the United Nations in response to an assessment on how the world could deal with the Islamists. The UN Security Council asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the independent assessment, which was submitted this […]
Student’s murder highlights violence against women in Italy
Rome, ItalyReuters The killing of a university student and the arrest of her ex-boyfriend have highlighted the issue of violence against women in Italy, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowing to step up protections and raise public awareness. The body of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old from a small town near Venice, was found on Saturday […]
Essay: Women’s activism in Iran continues, despite street protests dying down in face of state repression
MONA TAJALI, a scholar of women’s rights in Muslim cultures, looks – in an article first published on The Conversation – at the ongoing struggle for women’s rights in Iran…
Orthodox Church: US symposium on women deacons proposes a way forward
MEAGAN SALIASHVILI, of Religion News Service, reports on how a consortium of Orthodox Christian scholars, clergy and lay supporters meeting this week outside Boston proposed guidelines for the church to revive the ancient practice of allowing women to be deacons…