Mindy Belz

Mindy wrote WORLD Magazine's first cover story in 1986 and went on to serve as international editor, editor, and now senior editor. She has covered wars in Syria, Afganistan, Africa, and the Balkans, and she recounts some of her experiences in They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Mindy resides with her husband, Nat, in Asheville, N.C. Follow her on Twitter @mcbelz.

Hating on the EU

International | British lawmaker gives rousing farewell speech before the European Parliament

by Mindy Belz
Posted 1/30/20, 02:35 pm

BRITAIN: “We love Europe, we just hate the European Union,” lawmaker Nigel Farage told the European Parliament in a rousing final speech in Brussels (see video clip below). The Parliament ratified the withdrawal agreement on Wednesday for Britain’s formal Friday departure from the EU—fulfilling a 2016 British referendum.

Something’s coming undone

Protest | Unprecedented Middle East protesters beg to be heard

by Mindy Belz
Posted 1/30/20, 02:05 pm

Someday the postgraduate students will study the protest movements underway in the Middle East the way students a generation ago dissected Africa’s independence movements or South America’s guerrilla warlords.

The streets in Lebanon and Iraq each marked 100 continuous days of protest in January. Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, resigned in mid-October, and on day 97 the government named a new head of state and cabinet. Iraq Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi resigned in November, but he has stayed on as a caretaker head of state.

Free at last

Africa | Sudan’s era of Islamic dictatorship has ended, and the hard work toward achieving democracy has just begun

by Mindy Belz
Posted 1/30/20, 02:01 pm

They said it was the best Christmas in 30 years. On Dec. 25 thousands of Sudanese filled the streets of Khartoum, welcoming not only the birth of Christ but also news that they could celebrate it openly.

President Omar al-Bashir outlawed public Christmas celebrations in 2011. Throughout a 30-year dictatorship, his Islamist-led government cracked down on Christian worship, confiscated church property, and jailed, tortured, and killed Christian believers. A civil war waged under Bashir’s command against the predominantly Christian south killed more than 2 million people.

A sober anniversary

International | Holocaust survivors gather at Auschwitz to commemorate their liberation

Mindy Belz | 1/27/20, 11:25 am

POLAND: Seventy-five years ago, Allied forces liberated Auschwitz, where Nazis killed more than 1 million people, nearly all Jews. On Monday philanthropist Ronald Lauder led 200 survivors in a commemoration at the site.

BBC Radio has a new documentary on the story of a German family who hid Jews.

Nigerian Christians lose hope

International | Pastor’s execution lead many to question the government’s ability to protect them

Mindy Belz | 1/23/20, 01:39 pm

NIGERIA: Militants executed the kidnapped chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, pastor Lawan Andimi, only weeks after they distributed a proof-of-life video following his Jan. 3 abduction. The Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) and its Boko Haram affiliates also claimed to have killed another abducted Christian, who they did not identify.

Travel crunch

International | The world’s largest human migration begins for Chinese New Year

Mindy Belz | 1/17/20, 03:46 pm

CHINA: With the approach of Chinese New Year, the world’s largest migration begins this weekend. An estimated 3 billion trips will be made over the next three weeks, as Chinese revelers flock to be with family and friends.

Living with brutal realities

Iran | Soleimani’s death raises new tension for Iraq’s Christians

Mindy Belz | 1/16/20, 03:38 pm

As the United States and Iran traded airstrikes in Iraq this month, Behnam Benoka made middle-of-the-night pastoral visits. “It’s important I am available to meet with them in their homes at this hour,” the Syriac Catholic priest said of parishioners when I reached him by phone on Jan. 7. “We wake in the night due to the situation, and people are worried.”

Governments teeter in Iran and Iraq

International | Protests and violence mark a weekend of unrest in the neighboring nations

Mindy Belz | 1/13/20, 02:33 pm

IRAN: Iranians took to the streets declaring “death to this rule” (more here) and calling for the prosecution of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after its leaders admitted to downing Ukrainian Airlines Fligh

The ‘killing’ of the Catholic Church in China

International | Conditions continue to worsen after the government’s agreement with the Vatican

Mindy Belz | 1/09/20, 03:56 pm

CHINA: Government authorities have closed more than 100 Catholic places of worship in Fuzhou, where clergy have resisted joining the government-controlled church. The Vatican in 2018 signed an agreement with the Chinese government pledging to cooperate in the selection of bishops, but the agreement also stipulated authorities would “respect” conscientious objectors.

Hour of need

Iran | Christians face multiple threats in the midst of U.S.-Iran crisis over Iraq

Mindy Belz | 1/09/20, 12:19 pm

It’s nearing midnight in Iraq’s Nineveh Plain when Behnam Benoka sets off on pastoral visits to families living in Bartella.

“It’s important I am available to meet with them in their homes at this hour,” the Syriac Catholic priest said when I reached him by phone. “We wake in the night due to the situation, and people are worried.”

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