by Jonathan Thatcher | 20 Aug 2018 | Asia, Islam
By Jonathan Thatcher In the farming village where I stay in Indonesia’s West Java province, Islam is central to daily life. The village has its own religious school, and those who can afford it sign up for the 10-year wait to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. But its...
by John Mehaffey | 6 Aug 2018 | Asia, Sports
Pakistan’s Imran Khan was a cricket star with glamorous women on his arm. Now he is poised to become prime minister of the South Asian nation. Pakistan captain Imran Khan, left, raises his arms in triumph as England’s last batsman Richard Illingworth walks away...
by Jonathan Sharp | 2 Aug 2018 | Asia, China
It’s been four years since young activists in Hong Kong launched a movement for democratic reforms. Now, a sense of powerlessness is growing. Pro-democracy protesters holding yellow umbrellas, Hong Kong, 28 September 2017 (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Few birthday...
by Julian Nundy | 11 Jul 2018 | Europe, Human Rights, Ukraine
Ukraine has had two revolutions and a war since 2004 but is still mired in conflict and graft. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, 7 May 2018. (EPA-EFE/Mykhaylo Markiv) Four years ago, the then nascent war in eastern Ukraine suffered...
by Harvey Morris | 27 Jun 2018 | Americas, History, Human Rights
Watching news from Nicaragua, where protests are challenging the authoritarian rule of President Daniel Ortega, I’m transported back exactly 40 years. Anti-government demonstrators take cover behind a barricade in Managua, Nicaragua, 30 May 2018 (AP Photo/Esteban...