Search Results for: Faith

Recent Afrobarometer survey data (Round 8, 2019-2021) paints a stark picture with 86% of Kenyans and 93% of Ghanaians expressing intolerance towards the LGBT community. This high level of intolerance exists despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteeing non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. Furthermore, across Africa, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual activity remain commonplace. [...]

The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered on Thursday the dismissal of charges against James Holkeboer, who had been charged with election fraud for actions he undertook working as an election inspector in the August 2022 primary election in the Gaines Township part of Kent County, Michigan. Holkeboer was charged with using a personal USB drive [...]

The US vetoed Palestine’s application for full membership in the UN on Thursday. The veto came as the UN Security Council considered a resolution put forward by Algeria that would have granted Palestine full UN membership. The resolution received 12 votes in favor, more than the required 9, but the US used its veto to [...]

Smartmatic, a voting technology company, reached a confidential settlement in a Washington DC court on Tuesday in its defamation lawsuit against the far-right One America News Network (OAN). The lawsuit was related to OAN’s dissemination of false claims about the 2020 US presidential election. Appearing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, [...]

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) published a joint statement with the Royal Malaysian Police on Tuesday stating that the government has required online media platforms such as TikTok and Meta to tighten their harmful content policy. In the statement, the MCMC stressed that they are working with other government departments and enforcement agencies [...]

Between 2022 and 2024, Pakistan’s political landscape was dominated by dramatic events and shifting power balances. Following Imran Khan’s resignation as Prime Minister in April 2022 due to a vote of no confidence, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party faced tremendous hurdles and internal divides. Despite his ouster, Khan maintained widespread support and a loyal following, [...]

On Thursday, the Indiana Court of Appeals largely affirmed an injunction the trial court had placed on the state’s near-total abortion ban. The vote was unanimous. The Court of Appeals ruling will send the lawsuit back to the trial court to narrow the effect of the trial court injunction. The Court of Appeals stated that [...]

The US State Department expressed concern regarding the recent convictions of ethnic minority and religious freedom advocates in Vietnam on Monday. The statement highlighted the convictions of five individuals since January 2024 and called on the Vietnamese government to uphold freedoms of expression, association, and religion or belief. One of the cases mentioned in the statement [...]

What makes someone qualified to rule? One way to answer this question might be to approach it from the Islamic perspective, that is, by considering the criteria required for someone to become a mujāthid, a person accepted as an authority in Islamic law. The criteria include knowledge of the Shārīe‘ā essential objectives – ‘religion, life, [...]

The path toward gender equality is rife with hurdles at every turn, and despite significant progress over the years, setbacks often accompany our victories. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act of 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘SRA’) permits married couples and divorced or widowed women aged 35 to 45 years to utilize surrogacy for having children. [...]