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UN Security Council Takes Up Issue of Afghanistan concerning Human Rights
February 01, 2022
The United Nations (UN) Security Council is focused on the challenge of delivering massive humanitarian assistance to the crisis conditions of shortages in food, shelter, medicines, and fuel in Afghanistan, a consequence of the rupture in diplomatic relations between most states and the Taliban Islamist regime, with the UN trying to balance humanitarian relief for the Afghan population within the context of the Taliban's human rights violations and religious terrorism.
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Islamic Finance Continues Global Expansion Despite COVID
February 01, 2022
Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Iran are the leaders in the $200 billion global Islamic funds market, which continues to show strong growth under COVID conditions, and the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), which is the official monitoring entity of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Islamic Development Bank, forecasts continuing expansion of sharia-compliant/compatible funds.
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Pakistan’s Islamic Blasphemy Laws Expansed to Apply to WhatsApp
January 26, 2022
Pakistan’s notorious Islamic blasphemy laws have now been expanded to apply to social media platforms, as a local court meted out a death sentence to a women accused of blasphemy through text messages sent on WhatsApp, in the latest indication that Islamist hardliners hold increasing sway and intimidation in society and the judiciary in the South Asian country.
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Boko Haram’s Origins in Nigeria Underscores Local Drivers of Jihadism
January 26, 2022
The origins of Boko Haram in Nigeria as an indigenous jihadist movement that emerged from the application of Islamist extremist teaching to local conditions of state failure is an important policy lesson in addressing local drivers of Islamist radicalism that, otherwise overlooked, frequently lead to the transnationalization of jihadism, as has occurred with Boko Haram’s reestablishment as the Islamic State West Africa Province.
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FATF Designation Highlights Islamist Extremist Groups’ State Protection in Pakistan
January 26, 2022
Global financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has continued Pakistan’s designation on the grey list, because of deficiencies in the state’s approach to resolving money laundering and terrorism problems, evidenced in state failures to disband the many Islamist extremist groups associated with both violence against the country’s religious minorities and links to external jihadist groups.