General

‘Can Christians be butchers?’ Tanzania’s Islamist tensions continue

May 23, 2016 Tanzania Butchers, Islamic extremism, Mwanza, Zanzibar

The recent attack on a mosque in Mwanza, northern Tanzania, has highlighted the area as one under growing pressure from political Islam. More than three years have passed since the murder of a Tanzanian pastor, killed when rioting Muslims protested against Christians working as butchers. Tanzania is believed to have . . . Read More

Second Chibok girl rescued, says Nigerian army

May 20, 2016 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, Rape

Nigeria’s army says that it has rescued a second Chibok schoolgirl, two days after rescuing Amina Ali Nkeki, 19, the first of the 219 kidnapped girls to be found alive. “We are glad to state that among those rescued is a girl believed to be one of the Chibok Government . . . Read More

Egypt Parliament to discuss easing restrictions on church-building

May 20, 2016 Egypt Churches, Copts

On May 12, the makeshift church of Esmaelia al-Bahreia, Minya, was burned down by ‘extremists’ as the proper church has since 2009 been awaiting government permit to function.Courtesy of www.wataninet.com Once again the Egyptian Parliament is considering a proposal on the construction of churches that Christians hope will narrow . . . Read More

NGOs appeal to Congo’s President to stop ‘massacre’

May 19, 2016 Democratic Republic of the Congo ADF, Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Islamic extremism, Joseph Kabila, North Kivu, Trauma

Local civil society organisations have written to Congolese President Joseph Kabila to denounce the ongoing killings of people in eastern DR Congo, particularly in Beni and Lubero (North Kivu Province). They say the violence has so far claimed 1,116 lives between October 2014 and May 2016. That’s an average of . . . Read More

Pakistan police deny Christian-Muslim tension after blasphemy allegation

May 19, 2016 Pakistan Barelvi, Blasphemy, Bonded labourers, Islamic extremism, Mandi Bahauddin, Pakistan Muslim League, Punjab, Sunni Tehreek, Sweepers

Imran Masih’s house in the remote village of Chak 44, Punjab, Pakistan.World Watch Monitor Conflicting reports have emerged over Christian-Muslim tensions in a remote Pakistani village, after an illiterate Christian cleaner was accused of blasphemy. However, international media reports of a Muslim mob attacking the local Christian minority are . . . Read More

Return of one Chibok girl raises Nigeria’s hopes for the 218 still missing

May 18, 2016 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, EYN, Nigeria

The first missing schoolgirl kidnapped by Boko Haram militants two years ago has been rescued. Amina Ali Nkeki was found on Tuesday (17 May) in the Sambisa Forest, close to the border with Cameroon. Her return has now raised the hope that the rest of the 218 missing girls may yet . . . Read More

Hostile homecoming for Mexican Protestant after exile

May 16, 2016 Mexico Catholics, Chiapas, Exile, Lauro Pérez Núñez, Oaxaca, Protestants

Lauro Pérez Núñez has been arrested and detained several times since leaving ‘traditionalist’ church.Coordinación de Organizaciones Cristianas Lauro Pérez Núñez, a convert to the Protestant faith, was ordered to leave his community last year for violating what local authorities claimed was the village’s “custom” of belonging to the “traditionalist” . . . Read More

Religion-driven hostility to Christians follows them to German refugee centres

May 13, 2016 Afghanistan, Chechnya, Europe, Iran, Migrants, Refugees, Sweden, Syria

Mahan, 2, an Iranian Christian refugee who along with his parents is seeking asylum in Germany, peeks from behind a glass partition in the dining room at the Spreehotel refugee centre in January 2015 in Bautzen, Germany. About 200 refugees, many from Syria and Tunisia, but also from Chechnya, the . . . Read More

US lawmaker pledges to push for special envoy to Nigeria

May 11, 2016 Nigeria Agatu, Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, West Africa

A member of the U.S. Congress said on Wednesday (11 May) that he will help introduce legislation calling on the president to establish a special envoy to Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region, in an attempt to sharpen the American response to deadly Islamist insurgencies that have killed thousands . . . Read More

DR Congo death toll nears 50 after second attack

May 11, 2016 Democratic Republic of the Congo ADF, Beni, Bukavu, Cadeau, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eringeti, Islamic extremism, North Kivu

At least a further nine people have been killed in another attack by suspected Islamist militants in the eastern extremes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the total killed in the past week to nearly 50. World Watch Monitor reported last week that between 20 and 40 villagers . . . Read More

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