News

Danish police investigate officer who hugged niqab-wearing protester
September 26, 2018 By Faith Matters

Danish police investigate officer who hugged niqab-wearing protester

A Copenhagen policewoman is being investigated for embracing a niqab-wearing protestor during a demonstration against a ban on face veils, the force’s complaints body said on Wednesday. The incident, in which the protester appeared to be crying, was captured by a Reuters photographer on Aug. 1 when a countrywide ban on the wearing of face […]

Continue Reading
French minister likens Italy’s Salvini to Pontius Pilate over migrants
September 26, 2018 By Faith Matters

French minister likens Italy’s Salvini to Pontius Pilate over migrants

A French minister on Wednesday accused Italy’s anti-immigration interior minister, Matteo Salvini, of behaving “like Pontius Pilate”, the Roman official who washed his hands of the fate of Jesus Christ. Relations between Paris and Rome have soured since Italy’s new government took office in June and immediately moved to close its ports to charity ships […]

Continue Reading
Italy: ‘Brothers and sisters’ of the Mafia, repent, pope says in Sicily
September 19, 2018 By Faith Matters

Italy: ‘Brothers and sisters’ of the Mafia, repent, pope says in Sicily

Pope Francis appealed to Sicily’s Mafia on Saturday to abandon a life of crime and violence, saying the island needed “men and women of love, not men and women ‘of honour,'” using the term mobsters apply to themselves. Francis, in the Sicilian capital, said organised crime members – many of whom go to church and […]

Continue Reading
Steve Bannon drafting curriculum for right-wing Catholic institute in Italy
September 19, 2018 By Faith Matters

Steve Bannon drafting curriculum for right-wing Catholic institute in Italy

Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is helping to craft the curriculum for a leadership course at a right-wing Roman Catholic institute in Italy, stepping up his efforts to influence conservative thinking in the church. Benjamin Harnwell, director of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute based in a mountaintop monastery not far from Rome, told Reuters […]

Continue Reading
Afghanistan: Taliban says founder of militant Afghan Haqqani network dies
September 18, 2018 By Faith Matters

Afghanistan: Taliban says founder of militant Afghan Haqqani network dies

Jalaluddin Haqqani, founder of the militant Haqqani network, one of the most powerful and feared groups in the Afghan insurgency, has died after a long illness, the Taliban said on Tuesday. Haqqani, who founded the network in the 1970s, gave up operational leadership of the group some years ago to his son Sirajuddin, who is […]

Continue Reading
For families of some 9/11 victims, new DNA tools reopen old wounds
September 11, 2018 By Faith Matters

For families of some 9/11 victims, new DNA tools reopen old wounds

NEW YORK: A breakthrough in DNA analysis is helping identify more victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York, but the scientific advance is of little consolation for families of those whose remains may have been buried in a Staten Island landfill. The official death toll in the attacks on lower Manhattan’s World […]

Continue Reading
Opinion: Conspiracy Theories and the Pied Pipers of Hate
September 3, 2018 By Faith Matters

Opinion: Conspiracy Theories and the Pied Pipers of Hate

The slide into a bizarre world of believing conspiracy theories and voicing openly toxic and bigoted views took place slowly over the last decade whilst many of us were not able to fathom how quickly and extensively social media had taken charge of our lives. As the Founder and previous Director of Tell MAMA, which […]

Continue Reading
Kuwait: Emir announces visit to Washington for talks
September 3, 2018 By Faith Matters

Kuwait: Emir announces visit to Washington for talks

Kuwait’s ruler will travel to Washington on Monday for a working visit and hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, the state news agency KUNA announced on Sunday. The White House said in a statement the leaders would discuss trade, investment and security cooperation in their Sept. 5 meeting. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah has […]

Continue Reading
Iran: Khamenei says war unlikely but urges defence boost
September 3, 2018 By Faith Matters

Iran: Khamenei says war unlikely but urges defence boost

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday war was unlikely but called on Iran’s armed forces to boost their defence capacities, according to his official website, as the country faces increased tension with the United States. On Saturday, Iran announced plans to boost its ballistic and cruise missile capacity and acquire modern fighter […]

Continue Reading
Germany: Two policemen suspended over Nazi salute
September 3, 2018 By Faith Matters

Germany: Two policemen suspended over Nazi salute

Police in Germany’s southern state of Bavaria are investigating two officers suspected of performing the illegal Hitler salute. The German constitution makes it a crime to exhibit Nazi symbols and the incident is likely to feed into a heated debate about racism and the rise of the far right after a record influx of mainly […]

Continue Reading