General

Boko Haram’s attacks spread into Niger sparking mass exodus

February 13, 2015 Niger Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Diffa, Islamic extremism, Lake Chad, Niamey, Niger, Nigeria, UN, Zinder

Nigeria’s neighbour to its north, French-speaking Niger, is the latest country to pledge its army will fight the radical Islamic group, Boko Haram. Boko Haram’s military and strategic advance has already provoked the postponement of Nigeria’s Presidential election, due to have been held this Saturday, 14 February. The election is . . . Read More

Organised crime is making life worse for Latin America Christians

February 8, 2015 Bolivia, Central America, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, ELN, Evo Morales, FARC, Guatemala, Honduras, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Organised crime, Pentecostals, Venezuela

About one-quarter of the world’s Christians live in Latin America and, apart from in Colombia, most have enjoyed wide freedom to live out their faith. Christian life in Latin America is getting a bit more difficult, however, according to Open Doors International, creator of the World Watch List. The annual . . . Read More

Indian bureaucrat convert to challenge preaching ban

February 3, 2015 India Bangalore, Chennai, Converts, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu Munnani, Hindu nationalism, India, Proselytism, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand

Chellakani Umashankar, an elite Indian bureaucrat in southern Tamil Nadu state, has decided to challenge the order by the government of southern Tamil Nadu state that asked him to stop preaching and cancel his evangelical conventions. “This is nonsense. I am going to challenge it in the court” 51-year-old Umashankar, . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians still held by Islamic State ‘against their will’

February 1, 2015 Iraq Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Kirkuk, Mosul, Peshmerga, Qaraqosh, Refugees

More news has emerged about the situation of Christians who are still being detained in Islamic State after ten elderly Christians, some with disabilities, managed to escape. The group, eight men and two women, were ‘expelled’ by IS militants for refusing to convert to Islam. They spent two days travelling . . . Read More

Bureaucratic delays put Egyptian convert’s appeal at risk

January 29, 2015 Egypt Apostasy, Blasphemy, Egypt, Mohammed Hegazy

After weeks of judicial runaround, Egyptian lawyer Karam Ghobrial has managed to find and visit his client, Egypt’s most publicly-known Christian convert Mohammed Hegazy, in Cairo’s Tora Prison. The whereabouts of Hegazy, the first Egyptian Muslim to, in 2007, fight a legal case to change his religious identity to Christian, . . . Read More

Recent violence in Niger shows growing intolerance among religious groups

January 28, 2015 Niger Boko Haram, Charlie Hebdo, Churches, Islamic extremism, Mahamadou Issoufou, Maradi, Niamey, Protestants, Sahel, Salafism, Zinder

Mixed emotions were evident as members of the Christian community in Niger gathered for their services on Sunday, 25 January, 2015. Some were full of joy to get back to church; others could barely hide their sorrow. A week ago, the church bells remained silent. Ten people died during that . . . Read More

Ahead of Obama’s visit, India’s Christians start hotline on Hindu harassment

January 27, 2015 India Barack Obama, Bihar, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Religious freedom, RSS, Tamil Nadu

President Modi welcomes President Barack Obama & Michelle Obama to India on 25 January 2015.Photo: narendramodi.in President Obama ended his visit to India with a speech referring to religious freedom which has been interpreted as an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s treatment of minority faiths, although Modi was . . . Read More

Libyan militants hold 20 Egyptian Christians hostage

January 26, 2015 Libya Ansar al-Sharia, Benghazi, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Libya, Sirte, Tripoli

Coptic families in Upper Egypt’s Minya province await news on their kidnapped relatives in Libya, January 2015.Photo: Watani The kidnapping of at least 20 Coptic Christians in two separate incidents in December and January has been claimed by Libyan militants affiliated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Seven of the Christians . . . Read More

Kidnapped CAR Cleric & French aid worker released

January 23, 2015 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bangui

On Jan. 21 Rev. Gustave was briefly released to enable him to collect some medicine for Claudia. He received the blessing of Pastor Nicolas Guerekoyamé and the Archbishop of Bangui before returning to his place of detention.World Watch Monitor The two aid workers kidnapped at gunpoint on Jan. 19 . . . Read More

Accused perpetrators released in Malatya murder trial

January 22, 2015 Turkey Malatya, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

n A Turkish criminal court has released two former military officers and an Islamic university researcher who had been jailed for nearly four years on suspected involvement in the 2007 murders of three Christians in southeast Turkey. At the 101st hearing of the case Jan. 21, the Malatya First High . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye