India’s Modi opens controversial Hindu temple in Ayodhya | Religion News
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened a controversial Hindu temple, delivering on a crucial Hindu nationalist pledge that he hopes will catapult the governing…
Babri mosque to Ram temple: A timeline from 1528 to 2024 | Politics News
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a grand temple to the Hindu God Ram in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, culminating a…
Why is India’s Ram temple in Ayodhya controversial? | Politics News
India’s stock market is shut for the day. Central government offices are only open for half the day. Neighbourhood watch parties have been organised across…
‘Might get worse’: As Modi unveils Ram temple, Indian Muslims fear future | Politics
Ayodhya/Lucknow, India – Wearing her hijab, Yusra Hussain stood in the queue to enter a makeshift temple to the Hindu god Ram in Ayodhya, the…
In India’s Ayodhya, the Ram temple means ‘land is costlier than gold’ | Business and Economy
Ayodhya, India: Ram Surat Verma regrets his decision to sell his land in 2019. A farmer in Takpura village in the Ayodhya district of the…
Popcorn and curfew: India gets ready for Ram temple with frenzy and fear | Politics
Yavatmal/Mumbai, India – For a month now, mini-trucks have been snaking their way on labyrinth roads cutting across villages in Yavatmal district in central India.…
‘Better future’: India’s Ayodhya sees business boom with Ram temple launch | Business and Economy News
Ayodhya, India – A 13-kilometre stretch around the controversial Ram temple in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya is lit up with sparkling lights, the walls…
Kenya cult leader charged with ‘terrorism’ over starvation deaths | Crime News
Paul Mackenzie and 94 others charged over deaths of followers whose bodies have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest. A Kenyan court has charged cult…
Muslims’ struggle between spirituality and rationality
“Do you know better than God?” was a provocative statement by a friend of mine when I voiced unease about the distribution of my father’s…
Death threats for a Stalin vandal prompt soul-searching in Orthodox Georgia | Politics News
Tbilisi, Georgia – When Nata Peradze heard that an icon featuring Joseph Stalin was on display inside Georgia’s largest cathedral, she decided to take action.…
Malaysia charges two with ‘wounding religious feelings’ in now-banned film | Censorship News
Mentega Terbang, about a teenager exploring religion in the face of her mother’s terminal illness, was banned in September after criticism from conservative Muslim groups.…
With controversial temple launch, Modi to start 2024 India re-election bid | Politics
Ayodhya, India – For hundreds of years, a journey to Ayodhya for many Hindu pilgrims meant a walk down narrow lanes to the Hanuman Garhi…
Pope laments ‘indiscriminate striking’ of civilians in Gaza and Ukraine wars – POLITICO
Pope Francis on Monday denounced the killing of civilians amid ongoing conflicts around the world, including in Gaza and Ukraine. In an address to diplomats…
Orthodox Christians attend midnight Christmas mass in Bethlehem | Occupied West Bank
NewsFeedPalestinian Christians and church leaders held a solemn midnight mass to mark Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, in the occupied West Bank.…
‘Outraged’: Brazilian Muslims face growing Islamophobia over Gaza war | Islamophobia News
Sao Paulo, Brazil – It wasn’t unusual for patients to arrive in a foul temper at the hospital emergency room in São Paulo, Brazil, where…
When death metal becomes one of 84,000 ways to practise Buddhism | Music
Taipei, Taiwan – In the past few years, many of Taiwan’s largest music festivals have seen the unlikely ensemble of a shaven Buddhist nun introducing…
Why do evangelical Christians support Israel? | Israel-Palestine conflict
Palestinian human rights activist Jonathan Kuttab explains how Christian Zionism affects US policy in the Middle East. In the evangelical Christian worldview, the 1948 creation…
Ukraine officially celebrates Christmas on December 25 for the first time | Russia-Ukraine war News
The change reflects Ukrainians’ dismay at the 22-month-old Russian invasion and their assertion of a national identity. Ukrainians have celebrated Christmas on December 25 for…
Ukraine picks new Christmas date in break with Russian tradition | Religion News
For the first time in a century, Ukraine will celebrate the holiday on December 25 rather than January 7. Ukraine will formally mark Christmas Day…
What are Palestine’s unique Christmas rituals, disrupted by Israel’s war? | Israel-Palestine conflict News
Through carols, cookies and Christmas lights, December 25 is marked by jubilation and celebration of the birth of Jesus for more than 2 billion Christians…