News

China: Student activists disappear after police raid
August 24, 2018 By Faith Matters

China: Student activists disappear after police raid

Police in riot gear stormed an apartment in southern China on Friday where about 40 student activists and others supporting factory workers seeking to form a labour union were staying, according to activists who said they received a video of the raid as it was taking place. The video footage, which was shared with Reuters, […]

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Iraq: U.N. team starts work on Islamic State crimes
August 24, 2018 By Faith Matters

Iraq: U.N. team starts work on Islamic State crimes

A U.N. investigative team that will collect and preserve evidence of acts by Islamic State in Iraq that may be war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide started work this week, nearly a year after the Security Council created it. At last September’s annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, the council unanimously adopted a British-drafted […]

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Uganda: Lawmaker remanded in custody on treason charges
August 24, 2018 By Faith Matters

Uganda: Lawmaker remanded in custody on treason charges

An opposition Ugandan lawmaker was charged with treason on Thursday over his alleged role in the stoning of President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy this month. A civilian magistrate ordered Robert Kyagulanyi remanded in custody until Aug. 30 and granted him access to private doctors, citing the “health of the accused”, according to footage broadcast on private […]

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Vietnam: Two Vietnamese-Americans jailed for bomb attacks
August 23, 2018 By Faith Matters

Vietnam: Two Vietnamese-Americans jailed for bomb attacks

A Vietnamese court found two Vietnamese-Americans guilty of terrorism on Wednesday and sentenced them to 14 years in prison for masterminding a series of bomb plots earlier this year, a court official told Reuters. James Nguyen and Angel Phan were convicted, along with 10 accomplices who received short jail terms, after a two day trial. […]

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Europe: New data law upends global online advertising
August 23, 2018 By Faith Matters

Europe: New data law upends global online advertising

Europe’s new data privacy law has put a small army of tech firms that track people online in jeopardy and is strengthening the hand of giants such as Google and Facebook in the $200 billion global digital advertising industry. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-eu-data-protection-rules_en) brought in by the European Union in May is […]

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Spain: More than 100 migrants storm North African border
August 23, 2018 By Faith Matters

Spain: More than 100 migrants storm North African border

More than 100 African migrants managed to force their way into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Wednesday when hundreds tried to storm the highly fortified border, a Spanish police spokesman said. Television images showed some of the migrants with bloodied arms and legs, apparently caused by the razor wire that tops the […]

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Bosnia: Leader accuses U.S. of meddling in elections
August 23, 2018 By Faith Matters

Bosnia: Leader accuses U.S. of meddling in elections

The president of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic has accused the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo of using its development agency to interfere in the Balkan country’s election process, a charge dismissed by the embassy as a “wild” conspiracy theory. Milorad Dodik said the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was implementing its aid programme through non-government […]

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US: Social media platforms dismantle disinformation campaigns
August 22, 2018 By Faith Matters

US: Social media platforms dismantle disinformation campaigns

Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc. collectively removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation on Tuesday, while Facebook took down a second campaign it said was linked to Russia. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the accounts identified on his company’s platform were part of two separate campaigns, the first from […]

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Indonesia: Buddhist woman imprisoned for blasphemy
August 22, 2018 By Faith Matters

Indonesia: Buddhist woman imprisoned for blasphemy

An Indonesian court sentenced a Buddhist woman to 18 months in prison for blasphemy on Tuesday, after she was accused of insulting Islam for complaining that neighbourhood mosque was too loud. Meiliana, a 44-year old ethnic Chinese Buddhist had complained the Muslim call to prayer, repeated five times a day, was being played too loudly […]

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Saudi Arabia: Public prosecutor seeks death penalty for rights activists
August 22, 2018 By Faith Matters

Saudi Arabia: Public prosecutor seeks death penalty for rights activists

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against five human rights activists from the kingdom’s Eastern Province currently on trial in a secretive terrorism court, groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Among the detainees is Israa al-Ghomgham, whom Saudi activists said was the first woman to possibly face the death penalty for […]

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