Tag Archives: Religion

  Montreal, Canada | AFP |  Canada’s Quebec province Wednesday prohibited government workers and anyone receiving government services from covering their face, in a move critics say unfairly targets Muslim women who wear a niqab veil. The legislation applies to bureaucrats, police officers, teachers, and bus drivers, as well as …

Rome, Italy | AFP | An Italian priest has been kidnapped by gunmen in southern Nigeria, church officials in both countries have said. Maurizio Pallu was snatched on Thursday in broad daylight by armed men just outside of Benin City, Italian media reports said. “Pope Francis has been informed about …

Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Pope Francis will push for peace during his visit to mainly-Buddhist Myanmar, a church official said Thursday, a trip that plunges the pontiff into the centre of a simmering religious conflict which has sparked an exodus of Muslim Rohingya. Myanmar’s western Rakhine state has been torn …

Rome, Italy | AFP | Two prisoners who were invited to meet Pope Francis for lunch on his recent visit to Bologna took advantage of the occasion to escape, local media reports said Wednesday. The two men, who were being held in a rehabilitation facility for drug addicts and prisoners, were …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis on Wednesday urged people across the world to open their arms to migrants, as Catholic charity Caritas launched its “Share the Journey” campaign on migration. “With open arms … that is exactly how to welcome (migrants), with arms wide open,” Francis …

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | AFP | A Malaysian man has been reprimanded by Islamic authorities for “indecent dressing” after he was caught wearing shorts in public on the way to a football match, officials and reports said Wednesday. The case in Kelantan, a state ruled by an influential Islamist party, sparked …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwean activist pastor Evan Mawarire was on Sunday arrested during a church service after he posted a video bemoaning the country’s worsening economic troubles, his lawyer said. The charismatic pastor who has been arrested several times for his dissenting views informed the congregation about his …

  Kampala, Uganda | THIS WEEK |  Sheikh Adbdul Busulwa, the chairperson Federation of Hajj Affairs in Uganda on Sept.04 confirmed the death of an 83 year old pilgrim who died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Hajji Dauda Musoke a resident of Namagoma Wakiso district was found dead in his room. The deceased is …

Besançon, France | AFP | Tourists visiting a church in the picturesque French town of Chateau-Chalon were surprised to discover that local pranksters had replaced the fonts’ holy water with alcohol, the local tourism office said Friday. A dozen tourists sniffed out the telltale signs of eau-de-vie, a clear fruit brandy, …

  Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  Poverty, marginalisation and bad governance are more important factors in the radicalisation of young Africans than religion, according to a new study published on Thursday. The UN came to the conclusion after interviewing 495 former members of organisations such as Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the …