Essay: Religious freedom is routinely curbed in Central Asia – but you won’t often see it making international news
ERIC FREEDMAN, in an article first published on The Conversation, says Central Asian nations pursue harsh policies and practices that “frequently curtail freedom of faith”…
Turkmenistan opens futuristic city dedicated to leader
Arkadag, Turkmenistan Reuters Turkmenistan opened a new, futuristic “smart” city on Thursday dedicated to its former President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. The city is named Arkadag, or protector, an unofficial title by which Turkmen media have long referred to Berdymukhamedov, who on Thursday marked his 66th birthday by travelling to the Muslim holy city of Mecca. People […]
Iran, 27 other countries critiqued by US watchdog for religious freedom violations
United States RNS A watchdog for global religious freedom has used its new annual report to call out the Iranian Government for targeting women’s rights protesters during demonstrations last year. The report also points out the country’s “decades-long campaign” against religious minorities. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom criticised Iran for repressing the religious […]
Essay: State Department blacklists are only one tool to foster international religious freedom
KNOX THAMES, US State Department special adviser on religious minorities in the Obama and Trump administrations, looks, in an article first published on Religion News Service, at whether such designations help…
Russia’s Putin to make first foreign trips since launching Ukraine war
London, UK Reuters Vladimir Putin will visit two small former Soviet states in central Asia this week, Russian state television reported on Sunday, in what would be the Russian leader’s first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s 24th February invasion has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and led to […]
List Afghanistan as religious liberty violator, report urges US State Department
United States RNS The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that Afghanistan be added to the State Department’s list of worst religious freedom violators, citing the changes that resulted when the Taliban took control of the country last year. The federal panel said in its annual report released on Monday that the regime change […]
Russia added to State Department list of worst religious liberty violators
RNS The US State Department has added Russia to its list of nations it considers among the world’s most egregious violators of religious freedom. Russia joins Myanmar (referred to as Burma on the list), China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on the list of “countries of particular concern.” Nigeria, which was […]
Snapshot: Darvaza gas crater, Turkmenistan
See YBRAYYM ESENOV’s image…
StrangeSights: A dog of a holiday; a walk in a bear suit; and, swimming in a “sky pool”…
DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
StrangeSights: A watch to stop face-touching; a presidential poet pays tribute to wheat; and, ‘Wild West’ town for sale…
DAVID ADAMS reports on the odder side of life…