Worldwide
Venezuela: public health emergency
20 May 2016
‘The death of a baby is our daily bread,’ said a Caracas surgeon, referring to Venezuela’s collapsing hospitals. The economic crisis has exploded into a public health emergency, claiming the lives of untold victims. The unravelling…
Pakistan: Muslim threats, and forced marriage
20 May 2016
In a Punjab village, 28-year-old Imran Masih has been accused of keeping a ‘blasphemous’ video clip on his cell phone. He is an illiterate man with no knowledge of the internet. Local Islamists have issued a…
Israel: IS planning attack from Sinai
13 May 2016
A German newspaper reports that IS is planning a massive attack against Israel from the Sinai peninsula. Such an attack could include tanks and artillery. The Sinai-based Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis terrorist organisation has pledged allegiance to…
The church in the Middle East
13 May 2016
Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter a month later than western Christians. One beautiful Orthodox tradition is the ceremony of lights in Jerusalem: Christians light their candles in the ancient city and take the fire back to their…
Japan: G7 summit
13 May 2016
Faith leaders and scientists have written to ask President Obama ‘to take nuclear risk-reduction steps’ during the G7 summit next week (26/27 May). ‘Heightened tensions between the United States and Russia, and the growing risk of…
Iran: British-Iranian detained without charge
13 May 2016
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker, was visiting her family in Iran. Her husband Richard has said: ‘She was at the airport returning to the UK on 3 April when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard arrested her, transferred…