General

S Sudan pastors will face trial, judge rules

July 2, 2015 Sudan Bahri, Peter Yen, Sharia, Yat Michael

A Sudanese judge has decided enough evidence exists to require two South Sudanese Presbyterian pastors to face trial on espionage and other charges that could carry the death penalty, according to a US-based religious-freedom group. The American Center for Law & Justice reported late Thursday that the judge made the . . . Read More

Egyptian solider, the only Christian in his unit, found dead

July 1, 2015 Egypt Conscripts, Copts, Egypt, Suez

The facts are these: Bahaa Gamal Mikhail Silvanus, 23 and a conscript in the Egyptian Army, was found dead June 24 in a chair in the office of the military base where he was stationed. There were two bullet wounds in his chest, and a gun at his feet. One . . . Read More

Modi’s UN Yoga Day latest example of co-incidence with Christian ‘high days and holidays’

June 29, 2015 India BJP, Good Governance Day, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Narendra Modi, Shimla, UN

Thousands in India celebrated the first International Day of Yoga, 21 JuneFB/Narendra Modi As you may have seen, June 21 was the first-ever International Yoga Day, observed from New Delhi to New York. In yoga’s birthplace, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself led a yoga session attended by 37,000 . . . Read More

Case of the disappearing Christian CDs: 7 years on, Malaysian court orders their return

June 24, 2015 Malaysia 'Allah', Borneo, Catholics, Hudud, Jill Ireland, Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur, Lawrence Andrew, Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Sabah, Sarawak

After a seven-year battle through the courts, yesterday (23 June) Jill Ireland, a Malaysian Christian finally won the right to re-gain her CDs of worship songs which include the word ‘Allah’. The Malaysian Court of Appeal ordered its Government to return the spiritual material to Ms Ireland. Her appeal had . . . Read More

Egyptian convert still in jail having served his time

June 22, 2015 Egypt Apostasy, Converts, Egypt, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Mohammed Hegazy

Having spent most of his adult life either harassed, in hiding, or in jail, former Muslim now Christian Mohamed Hegazy can expect more of the same. Hegazy, who has been in prison since December 2, 2013, is known to be the first Egyptian to openly seek a change from Muslim . . . Read More

Coptic boys on bail, anti-Islam charges pending

June 18, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Blasphemy, Copts, Gad Younan, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Ramadan

The last of four Egyptian boys accused of having “offended” Islam has been released on bail while trial is expected to continue after the Muslim month of Ramadan. The 17-year-old student from Upper Egypt was released after 62 days in prison, subject to the payment of 10,000 Egyptian pounds, equivalent . . . Read More

Community ‘justice’ expels Copts from their homes

June 17, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Gad Younan, Islamic State, Minya, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

Forgive Emad Youssef if he and his extended family felt quite confused. The crowd welcoming them back to the village had only a few days earlier demanded they leave. “They said this is the first time something like this has happened in our village,” he told private satellite channel, OnTV “and that, . . . Read More

Central Asia in the spotlight as Azerbaijan hosts European Games

June 13, 2015 Ashgabat, Azerbaijan, Baku, Caucasus, Central Asia, Islam Karimov, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, London, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Saparmurat Niyazov, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

In a somewhat geographically and culturally challenging development, the first ever European Games begins today (13 June) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is more usually identified as a Central Asian country, but the European Union considers it to be in what it calls its “European Neighbourhood” – what others . . . Read More

Second mentally ill Pakistani in 2 weeks charged with desecrating Quran

June 11, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Sindh

Twenty-year-old Yaqoob Bashir Masih was accused of desecrating the Quran in Mirpur Khas in Sindh province on June 4, even though he has been treated for his mental health, according to a Catholic priest. After Bashir (a Christian, known locally as ‘Kaka’) is said to have told a crowd who threatened . . . Read More

Home at last in Mexico

June 11, 2015 Mexico Catholics, Chiapas, Exile, Hidalgo

The 12 families returned to the village of Buenavista Bawitz on 15 April to find that some of their homes had been vandalised while they were gone.Courtesy Open Doors International It’s been almost two months since 12 evangelical Christian families – 49 people* in all – were allowed to . . . Read More

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