Every year, Nepal becomes awash with vermillion powder as Hindus celebrate Sindoor Jatra to welcome the arrival of spring and Nepalese new year
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Ilhan Omar has had spike in death threats since Trump attack over 9/11 comment
Congresswoman said many threats referenced the president’s tweet as Sarah Sanders praises Trump for ‘calling Omar out’
Muslim American congresswoman Ilhan Omar has said she has received an increased number of death threats after Donald Trump repeatedly tweeted video footage of September 11 and accused Omar of downplaying the terror attacks.
Omar issued a statement on Sunday night saying: “Since the president’s tweet Friday evening, I have experienced an increase in direct threats on my life – many directly referencing or replying to the president’s video.”
Continue reading...Buttigieg v Pence: Indiana politicians put faith on the election front line
The vice-president and the Democratic hopeful are both Christian and have worked together but in the age of Trump, they and their fellow Hoosiers sense a looming battle
Both are from modestly sized cities in Indiana. Both were baptised Catholic but came to embrace other branches of Christianity. Both found inspiration in former president John F Kennedy as they launched political careers of their own.
The parallels between Mike Pence and Pete Buttigieg stop there.
Continue reading...Steve Bannon ‘told Italy’s populist leader: Pope Francis is the enemy’
Trump’s ex-strategist advised Matteo Salvini ‘to target pontiff’s stance on plight of refugees’
Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon advised Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini to attack the pope over the issue of migration, according to sources close to the Italian far right.
During a meeting in Washington in April 2016, Bannon – who would within a few months take up his role as head of Trump’s presidential campaign – suggested the leader of Italy’s anti-immigration League party should start openly targeting Pope Francis, who has made the plight of refugees a cornerstone of his papacy.
Continue reading...Ex-pope Benedict XVI blames sexual abuse on swinging sixties
Essay by 91-year-old dubbed ‘catastrophically irresponsible’ for undermining reforms
Retired pope Benedict XVI has ventured out of retirement to publish an essay blaming the Catholic church’s sexual abuse scandals on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and “homosexual cliques” among priests.
The analysis by Benedict, who abdicated as pontiff in 2013, was immediately criticised as “catastrophically irresponsible” and in conflict with efforts by his successor, Pope Francis, to lead the church out of its crisis.
Continue reading...‘It’s dangerous to go out now’: young, gay and scared in Brunei
Draconian new laws have spread unease rather than outright panic in a population that is used to finding ways around legislation
A day after it became legally possible to be stoned to death for having gay sex in Brunei, 21-year-old Zain* got a bitter taste of the new reality.
Walking down the street in skinny jeans and high-heeled boots, a flamboyant anomaly in the conservative sultanate, the university student became a target.
Continue reading...The Guardian view on Brunei and stoning: don’t leave it to celebrities to act | Editorial
Brunei’s shocking new penal code must be challenged – through deeds as well as words. Britain’s responsibilities are clear
Brunei’s introduction of new laws allowing stoning for adultery and sex between men has sparked international outrage. Elton John and George Clooney’s calls for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by the tiny south-east Asian kingdom have grabbed the spotlight. The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has condemned the “cruel and inhuman” measures, as have the EU, Australia and others.
The punishment is only one of many horrifying changes in a penal code which also covers apostasy, amputation as a punishment for theft and flogging for abortions. Lesbian sex is punishable by 40 strokes of the cane as well as jail. In some cases children who have reached puberty are subject to the same penalties as adults; younger ones may be flogged. The sharia code was first introduced in 2013, and was supposed to be enacted gradually; following an outcry the government did not bring forward its harshest elements until now. Many suspect that the impact of declining oil revenues on public spending has left Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, one of the longest-ruling absolute monarchs, keen to bolster support among conservative elements.
Continue reading...Harry Potter among books burned by priests in Poland
Anti-sorcery post by evangelical Catholic group widely mocked on Facebook
Catholic priests in Poland have burned books that they say promote sorcery, including one of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, in a ceremony they photographed and posted on Facebook.
Three priests in the northern city of Koszalin were pictured carrying the books in a large basket from inside a church to a stone area outside. The books were set alight as prayers were said and a small group of people watched on. A mask, various trinkets and a Hello Kitty umbrella were also visible in the pictures of the makeshift bonfire.
Continue reading...Women’s rights in the Catholic church | Letters
Jenny Tillyard addresses the issue of unwanted pregnancy and a ‘demographic disaster’ in Africa, while Judith A Daniels says the church needs to legitimise women’s much-needed accession to leadership roles
Cherie Blair was right to mention the problem of forced pregnancy among young schoolgirls in Africa (Cherie Blair accused of reinforcing stereotypes about African women, 27 March). She was speaking at a Catholic school, and Catholics are currently struggling with the whole problem of unwanted pregnancy and women’s (and men’s) rights.
In traditional societies in Africa, a girl’s reproductive capacity was “owned” by her birth family, and there were recognised customs to enforce damages for “seduction”, which to some extent protected young girls. These protections have vanished with modernity, and organisations such as Cafod can provide in-depth information about the attrition of girls in school past puberty, which puts a question mark over every attempt at social development (we are talking about girls as young as 11). Of course African leaders, including bishops, would rather not talk about this. But a demographic disaster is unfolding in southern Africa, and silencing talk about it will not make it go away.
Jenny Tillyard
(Lived 30 years in Zimbabwe), Seaford, East Sussex
Quebec’s religious symbol ban targets minorities in the name of secularism | Martin Patriquin
Bill 62 is the fruit of over a decade of institutionalized animus directed towards the province’s religious minorities
The government of Quebec, Canada’s second-most populous province, wishes to assure everyone that its newly proposed religious symbol ban doesn’t target hijabs, kippa, kirpans and the like. Rather, by outlawing the wearing of such accoutrements by certain government workers, it is ensuring that those who police streets, judge defendants, guard prisoners and teach children do not betray even a modicum of faith to those in their care – “a concrete affirmation that the Quebec state is secular”, as Quebec’s immigration minister, Simon Jolin-Barrette, put it recently.
Related: US woman kidnapped in Afghanistan says husband's abuse was just like captors'
Continue reading...City of love? Christian right congress in Verona divides Italy
Opponents says League-backed event symptomatic of politics of extremism going national
Antonio Gardoni had petrol thrown in his face when he opened the door of the home he shares in Verona with his husband after being woken up in the middle of the night by noise from outside. The assailants slashed the tyres of the couple’s car and daubed a swastika on the wall alongside the message: “We’ll put you all in the gas chambers”.
Gardoni escaped serious injury but is looking on with trepidation as Verona, better known around the world as the “city of love”, plays host to a lineup of anti-LGBT, anti-feminist and anti-abortion activists whose self-declared goal is to restore the “natural family order”.
Continue reading...Pope kept pulling away hand for fear of spreading germs, says Vatican
Spokesman responds to viral video of Pope Francis refusing to let his ring be kissed saying the reason was simply hygiene
Pope Francis has attempted to set the record straight after a video showed him repeatedly snatching his hand away from well-wishers who tried to kiss his ring, saying that he was worried about spreading germs.
Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said that Francis was concerned about hygiene when, after greeting dozens of people in a lengthy receiving line, he began pulling his hand away to discourage people from kissing his ring.
Continue reading...Kumbh Mela: cleaning up after the world’s largest human gathering
Around 220 million people descended on sleepy Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) for the 50-day Hindu festival. The cleanup could take months
As the sun sets over the Ganges, Vikas Kumar drives his garbage truck through the streets of Prayagraj, a historic Indian city of 1.1 million that was until last year known as Allahabad. “All this stuff people have been eating, drinking and throwing away,” he says, gesturing at piles of food waste, discarded water bottles and mud-spattered flowers. “It will take three or four months to clear.”
Over a 50-day period this normally sleepy city has been visited by around 220 million people for the Kumbh Mela – a Hindu pilgrimage dubbed the world’s largest human gathering.
Continue reading...Christchurch attack: Al Noor mosque handed back to Muslim community
Leaders and worshippers escorted through cordon by police as life begins to return to normal
Muslim community leaders and worshippers have been escorted back to one of two mosques targeted in the New Zealand terror attack.
Two groups were taken through the cordon to Masjid Al Noor on Saturday morning, accompanied by a delegation of dignitaries. They received a briefing from officers on the street before being led to the front door where the shooting rampage that killed 50 began.
Continue reading...Celebrating Purim in Manchester – in pictures
Orthodox Jewish children in fancy dress and adults take to the streets of Broughton in Greater Manchester to celebrate the annual feast of Purim, celebrated by Jewish communities around the world with parades and costume parties. Purim commemorates the defeat of Haman, the adviser to the Persian king, and his plot to massacre the Jewish people, 2,500 years ago, as recorded in the biblical book of Esther.
Continue reading...Holi: a festival of colours – in pictures
The Hindu festival of Holi is under way in India. The two-day celebration signifies the victory of good over evil and marks the end of winter and the arrival of spring. Its origins can be found in Hindu mythology, while the use of colour is tied to stories about Lord Krishna
Continue reading...Self-interest must not guide UK aid | Letters
Britain’s aid budget must be about altruism, not narrow self-interest say the Rt Rev John Arnold and the Rt Rev Dr Christopher Cocksworth
Your article (Aid budget: Ex-minister joins calls for shake-up, 18 March) on the report by the TaxPayers’ Alliance offers an opportunity to reflect again on what we want and expect from our government.
In the suffering of men, women and children caught up in conflict, dealing with the worst effects of climate change or leaving their homes in search of a safer future, we see the face of Jesus Christ.
Continue reading...New Zealand attack: Christchurch in mourning after mosque massacre – latest updates
Death toll from shooting at two mosques rises to 50, with 50 people injured
Hi, and welcome to our ongoing coverage of the fallout from Friday’s mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Continue reading...‘We love you’: mosques around world showered with flowers after Christchurch massacre
Messages of support and solidarity delivered in New Zealand, Australia, Britain, America and Canada
Mosques in New Zealand and around the world have been inundated with floral tributes and messages of support after a massacre in Christchurch that killed 49 Muslims.
The strongest response from the public was in New Zealand, which is reeling in the wake of the worst peacetime mass killing in the nation’s history.
Continue reading...Anish Kapoor: ‘If I was a young Muslim, would I feel angry enough to join Isis? I would at least think about it’
Britain has gone through the looking glass and the artist’s new show follows it into the abyss. He talks about the upsurge in racism, fighting for Shamima Begum – and his clash with France’s president
At 7.30 on the morning after Britain voted to leave the European Union, Anish Kapoor left his London flat for an appointment with his analyst. On the street, he heard two men talking. “Bet he doesn’t even speak English,” said one. “I turned around and they were talking about me. I was so furious.”
Sir Anish Mikhail Kapoor, CBE, RA, the 65-year-old, Turner prize-winning, Mumbai-born British-Indian artist, who has lived in London since the early 1970s and (though this is hardly the point) speaks better English than most of his countrymen, had woken up in a new land. “Since then permission has been given for difference, rather than being celebrated, to be undermined.”
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