EVENT, 10 April 2025: 11th Annual Iowa Religious Freedom Day Celebration, "The Role of Religion in Peacemaking" (Des Moines, IA, USA) (Iowareligiousfreedomday.org)

EVENT, 6 February 2025: Religious Freedom in America (Washington, DC, USA) (National Council for Religious Freedom)

EVENT, 6 February 2025: National Prayer Breakfast (Washington, DC, USA)

EVENT, 6-9 February 2025: Faith and Freedom: Constitutional Law and Religious Liberty (Washington, DC, USA) (Hudson Institute)

CALL FOR PROPOSALS, deadline 5 February 2025: Renewing the Conversation - A one-day colloquium on Africa, Article 18, Christianity and Human Rights (University of Birmingham and Aid to the Church in Need (UK))

EVENT, 4-5 February 2025: IRF Summit 2025 (Washington, DC, USA)

EVENT, 3 February 2025: Global Faith Forum: Together for Peace in a Time of Outrage (Washington, DC, USA) (Multi-Faith Neighbors Network)

EVENT, 3 February 2025: IRF Summit University Partnership Program 2025 (Washington, DC, USA) (IRF Summit)

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS, deadline for submission 31 January 2025: Young Scholars Fellowship at Oxford (International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University)

EVENT, 28 January 2025 (8AM GMT+1): Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2025: The European Union and the Year Ahead (Brussels, Belgium) (European Union & International Affairs Office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Transformative change: A Bahá’í perspective on the IPBES Assessment (Arthur Lyon Dahl, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)

Nearly half the globe has ‘elevated levels’ of antisemitic beliefs, ADL survey finds (Asaf Elia-Shalev, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Syria and the future of global jihad (Max Prowant, Law & Liberty)

Syrian gov't proposes 'Islamic path' changes to education system (The Jerusalem Post)

Syria: Between religious diversity and national unity: The role of family law in Syria’s transitional justice journey (Lena-Maria Möller, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)

Syria: Christians in Syria are worried but cautiously optimistic (Open Doors)

Hamas lists 34 hostages it may free under ceasefire (Naomi Scherbel-Ball and Rushdi Abualouf, BBC)

Hong Kong sees success in getting friendly for Muslim travellers (Caroline Boey, TTG Asia)

China: Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly Digest January 01-15 (Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Colombia: Another Protestant church leader assassinated (CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

Cuban government announces release of 553 prisoners through mediation of Pope Francis (Walter Sánchez Silva, Catholic News Agency)

Nicaraguan dictatorship shuts down more organizations, including Dominican nuns (Walter Sánchez Silva, Catholic News Agency)

Nigeria atheist defiant after leaving jail in high-profile blasphemy case (Aminu Abubakar, Barron's)

Uganda: Land grabs spark razing of churches and mosques (John Semakula, Religion Unplugged)

India: Baptist groups urge Indian officials to stop mob violence (Baptist Press)

Muslim convert planned mosque attack, trial hears (BBC News)

Europe must combat antisemitism as thousands of Jews abandon the continent, top Jewish leader says (Menelaos Hadjicostis, Associated Press)

OCU Primate tells Japanese Ambassador about Moscow manipulating religious issues (Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))

Report details bleak human rights situation in Ukraine nearly three years into Russian invasion (UN News)

Discrimination after death: The afterlives of Muslims in Spain (Paula M. Arana Barbier, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

The forcible removal of religious headwear in Texas jails is invasive and unconstitutional (Savannah Kumar, ACLU of Texas)

Why some doctors have started asking patients about their spiritual lives (Ben Thorp, NPR)

Brooklyn yeshivahs file Title VI complaint with U.S. Department of Education (Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

9th Circuit: Police department's LGBTQ outreach was government speech that did not violate 1st Amendment (Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

In Newark, Catholic bishops host interfaith leaders to oppose mass deportation (Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service)

Speaker Johnson cites Genesis after House passes bill banning trans people from women's sports (Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)

Southern Methodist University wants to sever ties to its church. Can the church stop it? (The New York Times)

Supreme Court justices appear open to upholding Texas' porn site age-verification law (Taylor Goldenstein, Houston Chronicle)

New Hampshire Supreme Court upholds judge’s ruling on ‘Keep New England White’ banners (Kathy McCormack, Associated Press)

Catholic cardinals play a key role in secular politics as well as the Catholic Church–and the importance of Pope Francis’ choice to head the church in DC (Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation)

Two Molokai churches lauded for highway cleanups (Maui News)

‘God led us here’: Religious, emotional first day of Wyoming legislative session (Hannah Shields and Carrie Haderlie, WyoFile)

Evangelical leaders urge Trump to preserve refugee resettlement program (Jeff Brumley, Baptist News Global)

West Virginia governor axes DEI and enacts vaccine exemptions on first full day in office (Leah Willingham, Associated Press)