Religion News on the Web
Selected religion-related news from around the Web
September 26, 2011
- The Associated Press
AP: South Africa accused of kowtowing to China over Dalai Lama visit
South African officials may block the Dalai Lama from celebrating the 80th birthday of his friend and fellow Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, amid fears that Chinese pressure is trumping the country’s much-vaunted policies on freedom of speech and human rights.
September 15, 2011
- Reuters
Reuters: African Islamist groups seen as US threat: general
Three African Islamist groups threatening to target Westerners have begun to cooperate among themselves, a "very worrying" trend that raises concern of a network stretching from Algeria to Nigeria, the top U.S. general for Africa said.
September 15, 2011
- The Christian Science Monitor
CS Monitor: Ghana aims to abolish witches' camps
Ghanaian leaders and civil society groups met in the nation’s capital, Accra earlier this week to develop a plan to abolish the witches’ camps in the northern region, where over a thousand women and children who have been accused of sorcery are currently living in exile.
September 08, 2011
- The Wall Street Journal
WSJ: Nigeria's upsurge of violence casts doubt on growth push
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan is battling to limit political
fallout from last month's suicide bombing of a United Nations building
in his nation's capital, as fears about security threaten to overshadow
new policies aimed at spurring growth in Africa's second-largest
economy.
August 31, 2011
- The Wall Street Journal
WSJ: Al Qaeda ties seen for Nigeria group
Members of Boko Haram, the group believed responsible for last
week's suicide bombing of a United Nations building in Nigeria, have
received training from al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Afghanistan and
Algeria, according to a recent internal Nigerian intelligence report.
August 17, 2011
- The New York Times
NYT: Islamist threat with Qaeda link grows in Nigeria
A shadowy Islamist insurgency that has haunted
northern Nigeria — surviving repeated, bloody efforts to eliminate it —
appears to be branching out and collaborating with Al Qaeda’s
affiliates, alarming Western officials and analysts who had previously
viewed the militants here as a largely isolated, if deadly, menace.
July 22, 2011
- Pretoria News
Pretoria News: Ghana MP: Round up all gays
In a new burst of African homophobia, a
government minister in Ghana has drawn support after calling on the
country's intelligence services to track down and arrest all gays and
lesbians.
June 21, 2011
- The New York Times
NYT: In African women’s soccer, homophobia remains an obstacle
Shortly before she was hired in 2009 as the first female coach of
Nigeria’s powerful women’s national soccer team, Eucharia Uche said at a
seminar that she was troubled by the presence of lesbians on the squad,
calling it a “worrisome experience.”
June 06, 2011
- Los Angeles Times
LA Times: Gay rights are human rights
When it comes to gay rights, South Africa
is something of a paradox. Legally progressive, the country allows gay
marriage and, in its Constitution, prohibits discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation.
April 28, 2011
- The Associated Press
AP: Voting goes on amid ruins after Nigeria rioting
Among the debris of burned homes, destroyed businesses
and lives lost on one dirt road in this city on a fault line between
Nigeria's two major faiths, the bright green ballot boxes stood out
Thursday against the misery inflicted here.