A Christian minister from the USA has travelled to Iraq as part of a small group visit to highlight the need for relationship-building as well as political action in addressing issues of peace and justice in the midst of conflict.

Emad Baghi, a leading Iranian human rights advocate based in Tehran, has been awarded the 2009 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders - a global award highlighting courageous and significant action for social justice.

Amnesty International has teamed up with other human rights organisations to campaign for a stay of execution. The protest concerns Troy Davis who is accused of killing a police officer in the state of Georgia, in the USA.

While Madonna's controversial adoption attempts have put the small and land-locked African nation in the spotlight of global media, the struggles of ordinary Malawians for economic survival have received much less attention.

The leader of Africa's largest grouping of churches is urging faith communities and civil society on the continent to unite in a campaign for human rights, acknowledging that "we have often failed to speak with one voice" on this vital common concern.

Chinese Christians have urged churches around the world to mark the 20th anniversary on 4 June 2009 of the suppression of democracy protesters who had joined thousands of students and civilians in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

People resisting progress towards rights for all have stolen the language of religion, warned Peter Purton of the Trades Union Congress, opening a conference on faith, homophobia, transphobia and human rights in London on Saturday.

A delegation representing churches engaged with indigenous peoples across the globe, coordinated by the World Council of Churches, will form a delegation at the upcoming 8th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

In spite of a global trend to better recognize the right to conscientious objection – which is marked with an International Day on 15 May – those who refuse military service are often discriminated against, persecuted, punished and imprisoned says a new study

A major London conference this weekend will seek to show that people of faith and those with non-religious beliefs can be united in common purpose and action to eliminate prejudice and discrimination on grounds of sexuality and identity.

A Church of Scotland body claims that Scottish public life would benefit if congregational conflict could be overcome, and admits that churches need to become part of the solution rather than the problem when it comes to angry disputes.

The furore about MP’s expenses has temporarily overshadowed all other political issues, says Simon Barrow. But it is perhaps better seen as a symptom of a much wider disconnect between governors and governed.

Respected mental health charity Mind has this week published a disturbing new report presenting evidence that the recession is having an adverse affect on men’s mental health, in particular. It dovetails with a week of awareness-raising.

Resisting pressure from both Israeli hard-liners and those antagonistic to the Israeli state, the visiting Pope Benedict XVI has come out in support of a genuine Palestinian homeland and has equally condemned anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.