World

LINDAU, Germany (RNS) — The 10th Religions for Peace World Assembly launched Tuesday (Aug. 20) with calls for religious groups to take decisive action on the main geopolitical issues of the day. Almost every religious leader who spoke at the opening ceremony called  communities of faith to look beyond their own local or church-related issues.

Progress is insufficient to reach many food-related sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030, according to a report published July 18 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

HONG KONG (BP) -- A proposed extradition law sparking violent protests at Hong Kong's airport would make it easier for China to persecute Hong Kong Christians, who comprise about 10 percent of the residents.

(RNS) — After 183 years as a Roman Catholic nation, Bolivia officially became a secular country in 2009, when a new constitution dropped any mention of the historic faith of its Spanish colonial rulers, bolstering the position of its precolonial religions. The surprising winners in the transition to the new constitution: long-ignored evangelical Christians.

(RNS) — An increasingly vocal band of advocates and experts says the Trump administration’s policies have failed to address many of the challenges faced by Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities abroad — especially those in the Middle East.

HUNGARY (BP) -- International Mission Board missionaries Gary and Carolyn Miller are tapping into a Hungarian love of nature to build bridges for gospel work through a program called "The Master's Gardeners."

KHARTOUM, Sudan (BP) -- A new power-sharing agreement to establish civilian rule in Sudan is potentially good news for persecuted Christians there, according to religious liberty watchdog International Christian Concern.

The number of countries with significant government restrictions on religious liberty declined slightly in 2017, yet levels remain well above those from a decade ago. And the number of nations with high levels of social hostility toward religion increased.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — China, Iran and other countries that the U.S. considers the most egregious religious liberty violators aren’t invited to the State Department’s second summit on religious freedom this week, said Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback.

NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS -- During the 2019 Annual Gathering of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), the General Council voted unanimously to approve the membership application of the Zomi Baptist Convention of Myanmar (ZBCM), making it the 240th member body within the 114-year-old organization.