If you think life couldn't be any more difficult in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, think again. On December 26, 2021, the Taliban government announced that women can no longer travel farther than 45 miles (72km) without the companionship of a male relative.
On December 20, 2021, the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, with its Rewards for Justice office, has offered a $5 million reward for information on the terrorist attack and murder of Avijit Roy, an Atheist blogger and naturalized American citizen, which took place nearly seven years ago in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
On November 19, Friday, an unknown person delivered a letter to the police headquarters in Gusau, a city in northwestern Nigeria. The letter threatened Christians in the Zamfara state not to hold public worship or Sunday services. If they do, they will be attacked; their members will be abducted, and their churches will be burned.
In a tweet posted on November 14, LVC Comedy Club in Goa canceled Munawar Faruqui’s show schedule this week. The decision to cancel the already sold-out show came after the meeting with local police. The police claimed that more than 500 people threatened to set themselves on fire if the show continued.
On October 16, 2021, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, the senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, officially declared Sir David Amess's murder as an incident of terrorism. According to Haydon, the Metropolitan police's early investigation revealed "a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism."
April 2016 was a dark time for Bangladesh’s LGBTQ+ community. On April 25, 2016, Bangladesh’s top gay rights activist, Xulhaz Mannan, was brutally murdered along with actor Rabbi Tonoy, identified by the local media as Tanay Mojumdar. Both are figureheads, pillars in Bangladesh’s thriving LGBTQ+ community.
On June 22, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in Sweden began the trial for an Iranian national. The unnamed respondent is suspected of playing a vital role in the series of killings in 1988 during the Iran-Iraq War.
Kurt Westergaard,a Danish cartoonist for Jyllands-Posten conservative newspaper since the 1980s, dies at age 86. According to the Danish Berlingske newspaper’s interview with the family, he died in his sleep after suffering from deteriorating health.
NBC News interviewed a handful of former students (or ex-interns) regarding a Christian leadership training program at Bethany Church in Baton Rouge, LA. These ex-interns attested that the program was abnormally brutal. They described their disturbing experiences.
On Wednesday April 21st, a deadly suicide blast took place inside the parking area of Serena Hotel in Quetta, Pakistan. The hotel is part of a five-star chain popular with diplomats and aid agencies and was also hosting the Chinese Ambassador in southwest Pakistan on the day of the blast.
