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Vietnam: Two Vietnamese-Americans jailed for bomb attacks
August 23, 2018 By Faith Matters

Vietnam: Two Vietnamese-Americans jailed for bomb attacks

A Vietnamese court found two Vietnamese-Americans guilty of terrorism on Wednesday and sentenced them to 14 years in prison for masterminding a series of bomb plots earlier this year, a court official told Reuters. James Nguyen and Angel Phan were convicted, along with 10 accomplices who received short jail terms, after a two day trial. […]

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Europe: New data law upends global online advertising
August 23, 2018 By Faith Matters

Europe: New data law upends global online advertising

Europe’s new data privacy law has put a small army of tech firms that track people online in jeopardy and is strengthening the hand of giants such as Google and Facebook in the $200 billion global digital advertising industry. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/justice-and-fundamental-rights/data-protection/2018-reform-eu-data-protection-rules_en) brought in by the European Union in May is […]

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Spain: More than 100 migrants storm North African border
August 23, 2018 By Faith Matters

Spain: More than 100 migrants storm North African border

More than 100 African migrants managed to force their way into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Wednesday when hundreds tried to storm the highly fortified border, a Spanish police spokesman said. Television images showed some of the migrants with bloodied arms and legs, apparently caused by the razor wire that tops the […]

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Bosnia: Leader accuses U.S. of meddling in elections
August 23, 2018 By Faith Matters

Bosnia: Leader accuses U.S. of meddling in elections

The president of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic has accused the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo of using its development agency to interfere in the Balkan country’s election process, a charge dismissed by the embassy as a “wild” conspiracy theory. Milorad Dodik said the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was implementing its aid programme through non-government […]

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US: Social media platforms dismantle disinformation campaigns
August 22, 2018 By Faith Matters

US: Social media platforms dismantle disinformation campaigns

Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc. collectively removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation on Tuesday, while Facebook took down a second campaign it said was linked to Russia. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the accounts identified on his company’s platform were part of two separate campaigns, the first from […]

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Indonesia: Buddhist woman imprisoned for blasphemy
August 22, 2018 By Faith Matters

Indonesia: Buddhist woman imprisoned for blasphemy

An Indonesian court sentenced a Buddhist woman to 18 months in prison for blasphemy on Tuesday, after she was accused of insulting Islam for complaining that neighbourhood mosque was too loud. Meiliana, a 44-year old ethnic Chinese Buddhist had complained the Muslim call to prayer, repeated five times a day, was being played too loudly […]

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Saudi Arabia: Public prosecutor seeks death penalty for rights activists
August 22, 2018 By Faith Matters

Saudi Arabia: Public prosecutor seeks death penalty for rights activists

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against five human rights activists from the kingdom’s Eastern Province currently on trial in a secretive terrorism court, groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Among the detainees is Israa al-Ghomgham, whom Saudi activists said was the first woman to possibly face the death penalty for […]

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Myanmar: UN says it is still denied ‘effective access’ to Rakhine region
August 22, 2018 By Faith Matters

Myanmar: UN says it is still denied ‘effective access’ to Rakhine region

The United Nations is awaiting “effective access” to the Myanmar region where 700,000 Rohingya Muslims were driven out in an army crackdown, months after agreeing with the government to aid the return of refugees, the U.N. country head said on Tuesday. The organisation’s agencies for development and refugees – UNDP and UNHCR – signed a […]

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UK: Why is the Home Office letting sectarian preachers into the country?
August 21, 2018 By Faith Matters

UK: Why is the Home Office letting sectarian preachers into the country?

What would you say, if you found out that a preacher who promoted anti-Ahmadi hate in Pakistan, just walked into our country? Worse still, what if you found out that he was advocating violence against the buildings of a minority group in his country, simply because of their identity? What would you then say if […]

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Germany: Refugee employment and integration going ‘pretty well’
August 21, 2018 By Faith Matters

Germany: Refugee employment and integration going ‘pretty well’

A growing number of migrants are finding jobs in Germany, according to data released on Tuesday that will give heart to supporters of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to let in hundreds of thousands of war refugees since 2015. Figures last week also showed that German companies have managed to attract more apprentices to on-the-job training […]

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