General

No charges for attackers of Pakistani headmaster

October 25, 2015 Pakistan Dalits, Education, Kasur

Siddique Azam, headmaster of eight schools in Pakistan’s Kasur district, after release from the hospital following a 5 Oct. beating.Courtesy Pakistan Christian Post A Christian headmaster hospitalized from a severe beating by four primary-school colleagues has been blocked from pressing criminal charges against his attackers. The incident in Pakistan’s . . . Read More

Indian court provides ‘minor relief’ from ban on Christianity

October 21, 2015 India Chhattisgarh, Human rights, India, Raipur, Religious freedom, Vishva Hindu Parishad

The high court of Chhattisgarh state in central India has asked the state government to ensure that anti-Christian resolutions passed by village councils will not infringe religious freedom. A Christian organization challenging the local resolutions said the court order is “only a minor relief.” In July 2014, the village of . . . Read More

Church attack routs thousands of Indonesian Christians

October 20, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Papua, Sharia, Sumatra

Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh region have started to tear down churches following last week’s religious violence that left at least one person dead and forced thousands of Christians to flee. Clashes broke out after Islamic hardliners burned down a church in Aceh Singkil on 13 Oct. According to local church . . . Read More

Report: Christianity contracting in MidEast, Africa

October 16, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Belarus, Boko Haram, China, David Cameron, Egypt, Eritrea, Europe, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, London, Middle East, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pope Francis, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Turkey, Turkmenistan, UK, Ukraine, Vietnam

Christianity is fast disappearing from entire regions, most notably a huge chunk of the Middle East, and could vanish from Iraq within five years, according to a new report by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. Released in the UK’s House of Lords on Tuesday, the report, “Persecuted and . . . Read More

Police raid Sat-7 channel’s Egypt offices

October 14, 2015 Egypt Censorship, Copts, Egypt, Middle East, North Africa

Egyptian police raided Sat-7 channel’s Cairo offices on Oct. 10, confiscating equipment and briefly detaining the pioneer Arabic Christian broadcaster’s country office director. Detained for hours before being released, director Farid Samir faces possible charges related to operating a satellite TV channel “without the necessary licenses,” a press release by . . . Read More

Pakistan’s Supreme Court makes landmark judgment

October 14, 2015 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Diyat, Islamabad, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Mumtaz Qadri, Nawaz Sharif, Rawalpindi, Salmaan Taseer, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi, Sunni Tehreek

n Mumtaz Qadri was showered with rose petals by supporters for killing Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer over his criticism of the blasphemy laws.Getty Images In a landmark judgment on 7 October the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) upheld the death sentence of Malik Mumtaz Qadri, 30, who murdered the former . . . Read More

Qadri verdict a ‘victory over terrorism’

October 14, 2015 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Mumtaz Qadri, Salmaan Taseer, Taliban

The apex court in Pakistan has kept intact the death sentence of a man who murdered the former governor of the Punjab for seeking reforms in the blasphemy law and supporting Asia Bibi, a Christian woman condemned to death for allegedly committing blasphemy. The governor, Salmaan Taseer, was shot and . . . Read More

Ethiopian village church attacked

October 13, 2015 Ethiopia Addis Ababa, Oromia, Proselytism

A boy stands outside the church in Guder.Courtesy Open Doors International A church in a village 130km west of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, has been attacked three times recently by suspected animists angered over their evangelism efforts. On 30 August, a mob killed one Christian and injured around . . . Read More

DR Congo – Islamist militias threaten central Africa too

October 12, 2015 Democratic Republic of the Congo ADF, Africa, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Beni, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eringeti, Islamic extremism, Oicha, Sharia

In Africa, it isn’t only in the west that Islamist insurgencies are posing a security threat. While attention has been focused on Nigeria’s radical Islamist group Boko Haram (whose attacks have spread to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger), a relatively unknown militant group has intensified attacks in the Democratic Republic . . . Read More

IS releases first execution video of Syrian Christians

October 9, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Hasakah, Hezbollah, Islamic State, Jacques Mourad, Khabur, Syria

A video released by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) on 7 Oct. has showed the jihadists killing three Assyrian Christian hostages with shots to the back of their heads. According to the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights, it is the first IS video showing Christians in Syria being executed. Shown . . . Read More

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