Category Archives: Global

4-traders.com: Current legal issues in Latin America, election crime and punishment, and same-sex marriage are among the topics that will be discussed at the American Bar AssociationSection of International Law’s Fall Meeting. The Oct. 16 – 20 meeting will bring together legal practitioners from government, academia and private practice to Miami. Some 1,000 lawyers from 47 countries, including the United States, are expected at the meeting.

LifeSiteNews: n an interview with Canadian Catholic News reporter Deborah Gyapong, the head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, “warned against Catholic development agencies getting involved in the push for abortion or contraception through the guise of improving women’s lives in the development world.”

LifeSiteNews: The recently re-appointed UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, has issued a document calling for governments to criminalise organised opposition to abortion by non-governmental groups such as pro-life lobbyists or even family members.

LifeSiteNews: The Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (ACMPN) condemned a recent USAID initiative to provide more than $8 million to the country for the establishment of abortion clinics and human egg-harvesting centers in Nigeria.

LifeSiteNews: Moroccan authorities have taken action against the floating abortion mill commandeered by the Dutch abortion group Women on Waves. In a press release today, the abortion activist group notes that their ship was due to arrive in the harbor of Smir at 1pm local time but was blocked by warships.

LifeNews: In article written by Rochelle Baker and published in the Abbotsford Times entitled: “Abbotsford man convicted of manslaughter now accused of steering woman to suicide,” reports that Kenneth William Carr (53) has been charged with counselling a person to commit suicide.

NY Times: The first outbreak of public anger over Iran’s collapsing currency and other economic maladies jolted the heart of the capital on Wednesday, with the riot police violently clamping down on black-market money changers, hundreds of citizens marching to demand relief and merchants in the sprawling bazaar closing their shops in protest.

Volokh Conspiracy: So report RIA Novosti, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Kyiv Post, and Lenta.ru (in Russian). From the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty story: The draft, approved by lawmakers on October 2, would make what it calls “promotion of homosexuality” — defined as taking action to create a positive portrayal of gays — a crime.

LifeSiteNews: Canada’s pro-abortion activists and Opposition parties are lining up against a new motion put forward by a Tory MP to condemn sex-selective abortions, which evidence has shown to be a grave concern in certain sections of the country.

Baptist Press: A cloud has been cast on the Turkish courtroom where proceedings began Sept. 3 against 19 suspects in the murder of three Christians in 2007.

B92.net: Russia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday declared legal the prohibition of propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia among minors.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: The international youth organization World Youth Alliance has released a report containing allegations that the European Union finances forced abortions, including in China, through its development aid programs.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: It sounds incredible, but it is true. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Anand Grover, is calling for a “treaty-based global pooling mechanism, comprising compulsory progressive contributions from States allocated based upon need and driven by transparent, participatory processes…”

Christian Concern: The High Court has refused to permit the case of Tony Nicklinson, who died after losing his legal battle to end his life, to go to the Court of Appeal.

The Christian Institute: Dozens of psychiatric and dementia patients had their lives ended under the Netherlands’ controversial euthanasia laws last year.

Christian Post: Multiple sources have confirmed that about 25 to 30 Christian college students were massacred at a university in northeastern Nigeria late Monday night, causing Christians to pray for a “change of heart” among the extremist Islamist group Boko Haram to put a stop to the continued violence.

ABC.net.au: The Premier Colin Barnett says the right wing Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, is not welcome in Western Australia.

Business Week: Two Coptic Christian boys were arrested and detained by Egyptian authorities for insulting Islam after accusations they had torn up pages of the Koran.

NY Daily News: The Delhi High Court Wednesday reserved its order on a plea seeking direction to the central government for acting against Google India for not removing videos of controversial anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” from YouTube.

The Globe and Mail: Prime Minister Stephen Harper has strengthened his imprint on the Supreme Court of Canada bench, naming a centrist judge from Quebec – Mr. Justice Richard Wagner – as his fifth appointment to the nine-judge bench since the Tories came to power in 2006.

Religion Clause Blog: Egypt’s Constitution Party which was formed last August to provide a liberal alternative to Islamist parties last week filed a complaint with prosecutors over a religious fatwa issued against it

AP: Bangladesh’s High Court asked the government on Wednesday to explain why local officials failed to provide security to minority Buddhists whose homes, temples and businesses were attacked over a picture of a burned Quran posted on Facebook.

AP: Saudi authorities instructed the religious police, run by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, to draw up guidelines to keep individual officers from imposing their personal interpretations of Islamic rules

AP: Serbia’s police on Wednesday banned a gay pride march in Belgrade, citing security concerns but also complying with a request from Serbia’s Christian Orthodox church.

AP: Doctors in Kenya’s public hospitals on Wednesday spent their 17th day on strike to protest the dilapidated state of public health care.

HSLDA: Arguing that homeschooling damages children and is an abuse of parental authority, a German district court in Darmstadt transferred the custody rights of Dirk and Petra Wunderlich’s four children to the Jugendamt, Germany’s child protective agency.

The Parliament: Another panel speaker, Daniel Lipsic, a former justice minister in Slovakia, said, “This is not just about arguing the case for Christians, but for freedom of speech.”

ABC.net.au (includes video): Two evangelists have become the unlikely standard bearers for free speech in Australia as they fight a council ban on their preaching.

Fox News: Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the perpetrators defaced a wall leading to the Church of the Dormition. The century-old structure is built on the site where tradition says the Virgin Mary died. The graffiti, which read “Jesus, son of a whore, price tag,” had already been removed by midmorning, said Rosenfeld.

British Pakistani Christian Association: We have recently have had our attention drawn to an excellent article by Barnabas Fund on why calls for blasphemy laws should be resisted. Of course, readers of this blog should already have a very good idea why! However, for the bigger picture, you might find this useful.

Christian Institute: Canada, which has allowed same-sex marriage, is now embroiled in a row over a poster which promotes polygamy in schools. The poster declares: “Love has no gender” and shows a variety of relationships including an image of one man and two women, and two men and one woman. Toronto District School Board has tried to defend the poster, but has come under fire for being “blind” to its effect.

The Hindu: The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre and Chief Secretaries of all States on a petition from the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), asking for a direction to include the category of transgender people as a third category in providing various opportunities and facilities such as the voter ID card, passport, driving licence, ration card and admission to educational institutions.

Australian: FAR-RIGHT Dutch politician Geert Wilders has postponed a speaking tour of Australia until early next year after Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said he would not block his visa, sparking concerns his “hatred” would lead to more protests and violence.

Fox News: Dozens of Iranians angered over an anti-Islam film made in the U.S. and caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad published in a weekly in France have attacked the French Embassy in Tehran.

Volokh Conspiracy: So reports the AP: Ihsanoglu, whose organization represents 57 Muslim-majority countries, said they respect the right of freedom of expression, but believed a line had to be drawn at incitement. “We are not saying stop free speech. We are staying stop hate speech,” Ihsanoglu said.

Volokh Conspiracy: A generally very good discussion, I think, from a State Department online press conference on Sept. 27. One can debate whether or not some of the condemnation of certain kinds of speech might go a bit far (though it doesn’t go as far, I think, as the general condemnation of “denigration of religion” that I had earlier criticized). But that’s much less significant in this context, I think, than the detailed, repeated, and unembarrassed reaffirmation of free speech protection . . .

AP: Military action will be needed to push radical Islamists out of northern Mali where they have carried out amputations and public whippings since seizing control of the region earlier this year, a top U.S. official said.

Telegraph: The world needs to take urgent action to cope with the impact of a rapidly ageing population, according to a new report, which forecast that the number of people older than 60 would surpass one billion within a decade.

France24.com: France on Monday unveiled a package of reforms designed to increase access to abortion, including 100 percent reimbursement of medical costs by the state social security system.

LifeSiteNews: When it comes to major life decisions, who in his right mind wouldn’t choose what sounded like more fun and less work? This, according to one observer, is the rationale behind a new trend in Canada: childlessness.

Australian: For the first time, the Government’s paid parental leave for fathers will be extended to dads who whose partner is another dad. Two women who become mums are also eligible for the paid leave.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: Legislators in Uruguay’s Chamber of Deputies narrowly voted 50-49 to legalize abortion late Tuesday night, thus clearing the bill for a Senate vote. However, before arriving at this final count, lawmakers on both sides were forced to contend with conflicts between their party loyalties and their personal consciences.

Christian Institute: The Labour Party has been accused of being “brutal” and “illiberal” amid reports that it is “highly likely” to force its MPs to vote for gay marriage whether they like it or not.

Christian Institute: A poll of MPs shows that most voters who write to them about the plans to redefine marriage are opposed to the measure.

Christian Institute: A motion to support redefining marriage has today been defeated in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

ABC: Seven days before the 12th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the war reached a deadly and tragic milestone this weekend as the 2,000th American soldier died in combat.

Wall Street Journal (via Google): Thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims angry over an alleged derogatory photo of the Islamic holy book Quran on Facebook set fires in at least 10 Buddhist temples and 40 homes near the southern border with Myanmar, authorities said Sunday.

Religion Clause Blog: Russia’s Duma is considering amendments to the country’s criminal code to specifically outlaw causing of religious offense.

AP: Pakistan’s blasphemy laws may be used to punish Muslims suspected of ransacking a Hindu temple, an intriguing twist for a country where harsh laws governing religious insults are primarily used against supposed offenses to Islam, not minority faiths.

AP: Japan is the only country with 30 percent of its population over 60, but by 2050 more than 60 other countries, from China to Canada to Albania, will be in the same boat.

Fides: The campaign of repression of the Laotian authorities towards the Christian communities is getting more and more intense: in past days, the police arrested three Protestant pastors, who led the community in the villages of the district of Phin, in the province of Savannakhet.

AP: A court in Moscow ruled Monday that an anti-Islam film that has sparked violent demonstrations around the world can no longer be shown in Russia.

SMH.com.au: Gay marriage advocates have vowed to keep campaigning as numbers mount against them in the first attempt at pioneering state-based same sex marriage.

Washington Post: Some are al-Qaeda operatives who saw fit to rebrand in the wake of last year’s Arab uprisings. Others are radical Islamists whose goal is to impose strict religious rule on a region in political transition. All are calling themselves Ansar al-Sharia — Partisans of Islamic Law.

Washington Post: A Coptic Christian priest in Egypt says Christians have fled their homes in a northern Sinai town after receiving threats from suspected Islamic militants. Father Youssef Sobhi says Islamic militants have verbally threatened seven Christian families in the town of Rafah on the Egypt-Gaza-Israel border.

Christian Concern: More than 7 out of 10 MPs refuse to put their weight behind calls to legalise assisted suicide, a new ComRes poll has revealed.

Christian Institute: A Scottish politician has gathered enough signatures from a handful of MSPs to have a second attempt at legalising assisted suicide.

C-FAM: A new study critiquing a drug’s effectiveness in childbirth sparked a vicious backlash from the abortion lobby this week, deepening concerns over the politicization of international maternal health research. A study published in the prestigious journal of the Royal Society of Medicine investigated how well the drug misoprostol prevents life-threatening bleeding in women who have just delivered a baby. It found that existing research is insufficient to justify the inclusion of misoprostol on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of essential medicines.

C-FAM: A surprise attempt to pass the UN Disability treaty in the U.S. Senate last Thursday was thwarted when Senator Mike Lee announced he and 36 other senators object to passing any treaty at this time. The 37 senators are enough to block treaties.

Voice of America: Islamic demonstrators clashed with police outside the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thursday, during a rally against the video of a film made in the United States that disrespects the Prophet Muhammad.

ABC: Chancellor Angela Merkel says Islam has become a part of Germany and she is urging her fellow citizens to show tolerance for Muslims.

Pottsmer.com: A federal judge has denied a civil rights group’s bid to join the government’s defense against a western Pennsylvania Christian college’s challenge to regulations requiring employers to offer birth control coverage

AP: A woman killed her five infants shortly after giving birth in secret at home and in the woods because each time she got pregnant she worried her husband would leave . . .

Chicago Tribune: Switzerland’s parliament voted against a bid to toughen controls on assisted suicide on Wednesday, rejecting concerns about foreigners travelling to the country to die.

Baptist Press: An isolated incident? A misunderstanding? Analysts watching the current climate in the former Cold War country don’t think so: “This destruction of the church is about as concrete of evidence as you can get that something very bad and very troubling is taking place,” said Katrina Lantos Swett, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. “This could not have happened without the backing, support, and implicit blessing of the police.”

Turtle Bay and Beyond: USAID used the occasion of World Contraception Day to announce a new commitment to provide the longterm contraceptive implant – known as Jadelle, to women in the poorest countries of the world.

Christian Institute: The Christian owners of a bed and breakfast have spoken of the hate-filled messages they received in the wake of refusing to give a homosexual couple a double room.

Belfast Telegraph: A sexual health charity has challenged the Health Minister to issue guidance on abortion in Northern Ireland to health professionals immediately after the latest round in a legal battle. The Family Planning Association has won High Court permission to challenge the failure to issue new Government guidelines on abortion here.

The Province: A group of Conservative MPs, including at least one cabinet minister, will get the chance to do something Wednesday that’s usually taboo: Vote against Stephen Harper. The prime minister and the Conservative party whip, Gordon O’Connor, have both come out unequivocally against backbench MP Stephen Woodworth’s pro-life motion. They view it as a potential reopening of the abortion debate, something the Conservatives promised not to do during the last election.

Seattle Post Intelligencer: The head of the Arab League is calling for the international community to criminalize blasphemy, warning that insults to religion pose a serious threat to global peace and security

Sacramento Bee (AP): A Turkish court issued an order on Wednesday allowing authorities in the country to block Internet access to the anti-Islam movie that has sparked violent protests across the Muslim world, an official said.

FoxNews (includes video): The anti-Islam film trailer that the White House has repeatedly blamed for sparking unrest in the Middle East had nothing to do with the attack that led to the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, that nation’s president said in a television interview.

National Post: The English language needs a moratorium on the word Islamophobia, a term often used to describe bigotry against Muslims. Unfortunately, it is also used reflexively to denounce critics of Islam, who contribute to a valuable and ongoing debate concerning the relationship between the West and the worldwide Islamic community.

ACLU: Today, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that will give better protections to vulnerable workers employed by government contractors. The order, announced on the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, lays out new requirements for U.S. government contractors and their subcontractors operating overseas to prevent human trafficking and forced labor.

The Church Report: Egyptian prosecutors referred to trial Tuesday a well-known radical Islamist who tore up an English copy of the Bible during a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo against an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.