These atrocities are just part of a continuing wave of attacks by the Islamic State Mozambique (IS-M), which has been active in northern Mozambique since 2017, killing an estimated 1,800 Christians and displacing more than half a million people. The militants ... establish roadblocks to intercept travelers, particularly Christians, who are charged "tolls" ranging from $150 to $460 to continue their journeys. IS-M continues to demand that Christians convert to Islam, submit to IS authority and pay jizya ("tribute"), or face death. — Barnabas Aid, September 14, 2025, Mozambique.

Organized by army officers and officials, these gatherings are presented to the public as "reconciliation," but Christian survivors call them diversions "designed to mask atrocities, shield perpetrators, and convince foreign diplomats that progress is being made... They told us to forgive and move forward, but they never asked who committed the killings. They only wanted photographs of us sitting together in the hall, so they could show Abuja and the U.S. embassy that peace has been restored." — A farmer whose brother was killed, persecution.org, September 3, 2025, Nigeria.

Human rights advocates say such kidnappings are common. Girls as young as 10 are abducted, converted, and raped under the guise of Islamic marriage, while courts routinely ignore evidence of age. The case highlights Pakistan's failure to enforce child protection laws, while, under sharia law, Islamic authorities oppose raising the marriage age.

"These are not teachers. The government has hired clerics to preach Islam instead of teaching." — A grandmother, persecution.org, September 24, 2025, Pakistan

"When even NGOs (non-governmental organisations) want to distribute food, the category of people who will receive this relief is controlled by Government. So, Government in these places doesn't give it to minorities. Often Christians here have been told: 'Unless you leave your Christianity, no food for you'.... For a long time now, they're eating animal feed and grass. No wheat, no rice, nothing can get in. And, unfortunately now, no medicine – if you have just the flu it can kill you." — Local church leader, GB News, September 17, 2025, Sudan.

"This is another tragic example of how Pakistan's blasphemy laws are being misused. Thousands of innocent people are languishing in prisons under false charges, and many have been murdered by vigilantes before trial. Social media is increasingly weaponized to settle personal scores and inflame communal tensions. Urgent reforms are needed to protect minorities and prevent abuse of Section 295-C [mandatory death penalty for blasphemy]." —Nasir Saeed, director of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance & Settlement UK, September 24, 2025, Pakistan.

[A] Christian pastor was denied access to a chapel at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport because Muslims were using it and unwilling to share their space with an infidel.... The chapel is dedicated to honoring U.S. military service members.... "Welcome to America, where we promote the Islam faith over all else in the name of inclusion," wrote one commentator — and shared similar experiences from other airports, raising broader concerns for Christians and others about access to public chapels. — September 27, 2025, United States of America.

Mount Sinai, the site where Moses received the Ten Commandments, is under threat from a state-backed luxury resort project that locals warn will irreparably disfigure one of the world's most sacred Judeo-Christian landmarks. The Great Transfiguration Project reportedly aims to build five hotels, hundreds of villas, a 1.4-acre visitors' center, and a shopping complex within the St. Catherine Protectorate, home to the 6th-century St. Catherine's Monastery and countless ancient biblical sites. "I call it the Grand Disfiguration Project," said John Grainger, the former manager of a European Union project to develop the area.... While the government frames the project as a "gift to the world," locals and preservationists see it as an aggressive, top-down imposition, enforced by extensive security surveillance, that disrespects centuries of religious tradition and the sacredness of one of the Bible's most hallowed sites. Any Egyptian who dares speak up is clamped down on by an intricate and omnipresent security network. In the words of Ben Hoffler, a British travel writer and former resident of St. Catherine, "If they say anything about it, they get a knock on the door [from Egyptian security services]. The secret police in St. Catherine monitor everything so closely — phone calls, we've had spyware on telephones. They follow people literally in the street. I've been followed many times." — The New York Post, September 11, 2025.

The ideological approach to the issue is rooted in lingering anti-capitalist sentiments that have survived the fall of the USSR and the triumph of state capitalism in the People's Republic of China. Many orphans of Marx and Stalin have redefined themselves as "greens" or, labeled "watermelons" i.e. green outside and red inside.

Despite the fact that nibbling at the magic forest has continued at an even faster pace under Lula, the crowd of do-gooders coming to Belém will be pleased because it reflects their own conviction that without stopping growth, or even going into what they call "negative growth", coping with climate change won't be possible.

That position means accepting a distinct drop in living standards in the 60 to 70 countries with medium or high personal incomes and a freezing of it in the remaining medium-to-poor nations.

True, human activity has caused tragedies such as the disappearance of the Aral Sea in Central Asia, Urmia Lake in Iran, and desertification in large chunks of Asia and Africa. But blaming disruptions in ecosystems solely on human activity ignores the fact that human activity must also be credited for saving many ecosystems and making large chunks of the globe fit for human, animal and plant life.

If the cause of saving the planet is to be taken seriously, we must make it less political, more scientific, less anti-capitalist, less anti-American and more pro-growth.