In the News, October 24, 2014

October 24, 2014

Today's religion and world affairs news from around the world from the United States and around the globe: ISIS, Boko Haram, Tibet, Middle East, and the Vatican synod on the family.


AROUND THE WORLD

In West, ISIS Finds Women Eager to Enlist
by Steven Erlanger
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/world/europe/as-islamists-seek-to-fill-ranks-more-western-women-an...
The young Western Muslims trying to join radical Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq now include increasing numbers of young women who are seeking to fight or to become the wives of fighters. It is a new twist on a recruitment effort that has led several thousand men from Europe and beyond to flock to the battlefield.

Boko Haram Said to Abduct More Women in Nigeria
by Adam Nossiter
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/world/africa/boko-harm-abducts-more-women-despite-claims-of-nigeri...
Scores of young women have been kidnapped in new abductions by Islamist militants in Nigeria, according to local journalists, a Roman Catholic bishop and news reports, indicating that Boko Haram’s campaign of violence is continuing despite official reports of a cease-fire with the group.

Khenpo Kartse, Tibetan Religious Leader, Is Said to Be Sentenced in China
by Edward Wong
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/world/asia/khenpo-kartse-tibetan-religious-leader-is-said-to-be-se...
A well-known Tibetan religious leader, Khenpo Kartse, has been sentenced by Chinese officials to two and a half years in prison, according to reports from International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group, and Radio Free Asia, which is financed by the United States government.

British Labour Chief, a Jew Who Criticizes Israel, Walks a Fine Line
by Stephen Castle
New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/world/europe/milibands-embrace-of-jewish-heritage-complicates-crit...
Britain’s center-left Labour Party often sympathizes instinctively with the Palestinian cause, and Mr. Miliband is not the first party leader to criticize Israel. Yet his willingness to speak about his family’s story and connections to Israel—showcased in a high-profile visit there this year—has brought a personal dimension to a loaded issue.

The Mirage of the ‘New Egypt’
by Mona Eltahawy
New York Times op-ed http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/opinion/mona-eltahawy-the-mirage-of-the-new-egypt.html?ref=opinion
Egypt barely registers on international news outlets these days. The galvanizing photographs and videos of hundreds of thousands facing off with security forces are gone. But almost four years after those mesmerizing scenes from Tahrir Square, these three different billboards tell the story of the dissent and unrest that still seethe beneath the surface.

The Allure of Radical Islam in Canada
by David Frum
Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/radical-islam-canada-parliament-shooting/38...
Since 2001, political violence (both plotted and executed) in Canada and against Canadians has overwhelmingly been inspired by the teachings of radical Islam. Our era’s foremost ideology of murder has found a home inside Canada too. Canadian law, Canadian institutions, and the Canadian government must adapt to the threat accordingly.

Saudi Arabia’s Shi’ites Fear They Are at Mercy of Region’s Tumult
by Angus McDowall
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2014/10/24/saudi-arabias-shiites-fear-they-are-at-mercy-of-regio...
The Shi’ite Muslim minority in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province have long felt marginalized by the Sunni ruling dynasty, and protests for greater rights as part of the 2011 Arab Spring brought a crackdown on both protesters and demands for reform. But now, death sentences for three Shi’ite Muslims including a prominent dissident cleric suggest that the region’s wider turmoil is further hardening attitudes toward the sect at home.

Pope Francis and His Season of Struggle
by John Lloyd Reuters
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/john-lloyd/2014/10/23/pope-francis-and-his-season-of-struggle/
This month, Pope Francis had to come clean. Time’s Man of the Year for 2013, the object of seemingly universal affection, is a liberal: and that means a season—perhaps a papacy—of struggle. His honeymoon as the Amiable Argentinian is over.

What the Synod of Bishops that Discussed Divorced, LGBT Catholics Did—and Didn’t—Do
by James Martin
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/23/what-the-catholic-synod-that-discussed-divorced-lgb...
 The interest generated by the Synod of Bishops on the Family, the two-week meeting of bishops, priests and lay people that concluded last weekend at the Vatican, surprised even veteran Vaticanologists. In recent years, synods did not garner much enthusiasm, to put it mildly. One reason for the renewed interest this year was Pope Francis’s urging participants to be as open as possible. And they were. Not only to one another, but also in the daily media briefings, which brought their candor before the general public.

Theocracy, Protest and Human Rights: Of Speech and Silence
Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2014/10/theocracy-protest-and-human-rights
Some people voice their feelings of indignation with noise and dramatic movements; others make their point in utter quietness. Both forms of protest were showcased this week at the latest Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), an annual festival for human-rights defenders and advocates of more open societies.

The Tunisia Model
by Brian Klaas and Marcel Dirsus
Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142290/brian-klaas-and-marcel-dirsus/the-tunisia-model\
Tunisia still faces tremendous challenges, including spillover violence from Libya, terrorism from Ansar al-Sharia, and the threat of destabilizing post-election disputes. And, for the first time since 2011, more than half of all Tunisians said in a recent poll that they would prefer a stable, prosperous, authoritarian government over an unstable, insecure democracy, reflecting concerns regarding the country’s ongoing economic woes. But Tunisia is nonetheless the last Arab Spring democracy still standing.
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