General

Documents indicate Turkey connection to bishops’ kidnappers

May 19, 2014 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Syria, Turkey, Yohanna Ibrahim

When police arrested Magomed Abdurrahmanov in Turkey about a year ago, word spread quickly that the suspected kidnapper of two prominent Syrian bishops had been caught. The Turkish government, however, said the man they had arrested, and his companions, were nothing to worry about. Officials said they were foreigners with . . . Read More

Condemned to hang, pregnant Sudanese doctor refuses to recant

May 16, 2014 Sudan Apostasy, Mariam Ibrahim, Sharia, Sudan

Mariam Yahia Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Sudanese doctor due to have her second baby next month, has been condemned to death by hanging, after yesterday (Thursday May 15th) refusing to renounce her Christian faith, despite pressure on her to do so, even in court. Her lawyer reported that, after the court . . . Read More

Sudanese pregnant mother sentenced to death for ‘apostasy’

May 14, 2014 Sudan Apostasy, Mariam Ibrahim, UN

Western Embassies have expressed deep concern for a Sudanese woman pregnant with her second child, who has been sentenced to death in Khartoum, for ‘apostasy’ [converting to Christianity] as well as to 100 lashes for committing adultery. Mariam Yahia Ibrahim, who is 27-years-old and 8-months pregnant with her second child, . . . Read More

South Sudan’s fragile peace deal still threatens famine

May 13, 2014 South Sudan Darfur, Dinka, Juba, Nuer, Riek Machar, Salva Kiir, South Sudan, SPLM-N, Sudan, UN

Three years after gaining independence, the rebel movement that propelled South Sudan into statehood has degenerated into ethnic bloodletting verging on civil war. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has agreed to form an interim government with his political adversary, Riek Machar following pressure from the United Nations Secretary General Ban . . . Read More

Christian party asserts Dalit rights in Indian elections debut

May 12, 2014 India Andhra Pradesh, Caste, Dalits

India’s low-caste citizens are taking a sizable step into politics with a newly formed Christian political party and a campaign dedicated to earning seats in a new state assembly. The election closed on May 12 for the residents of Seemandhra, a new state carved out of India’s southern state of . . . Read More

Chibok victim: Kidnappers threatened to shoot

May 9, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, EYN, Goodluck Jonathan, Kaduna, Kano, Kidnapping, Lagos, Samuel Dali

In this image captured from a 57-minute video released May 5, a man purported to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau says he will sell the girls kidnapped April 14 from school in Chibok village, in Borno state, Nigeria.You Tube One of the Nigerian girls to escape her Boko . . . Read More

Algerian Christians should promote friendship with Muslims, says Pope Envoy

May 9, 2014 Algeria Berbers, Pope Francis

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of the church St. Augustine of Hippo in Algeria, Pope Francis is calling for better relations between Christians and Muslims in a country where Islamic extremism is a primary source of pressure on Christian life. Pope Francis encourages the Christians, a minority in . . . Read More

Boko Haram kidnaps more girls; outrage mounts

May 7, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Education, Gwoza, Kano, Kidnapping, Lagos

The number of Nigerian girls abducted by Boko Haram continues to increase, as does global outrage. Between eight and 11 more teen-aged girls were kidnapped May 4 by the Islamist group, which on April 14 abducted more than 230 schoolgirls, most of them reported to be Christian, from the northeastern . . . Read More

Argentina’s fight to hold onto religious freedom

May 5, 2014 Argentina Argentina, Constitution, Córdoba, Marcelo Nieva, Protestants, Río Tercero

Marcelo Nieva, 34 leader of Pueblo Grande Baptist Church in Río Tercero, a city in Argentina´s central Cordoba region.World Watch Monitor An Argentinian pastor subjected to death threats says his country is facing a fight to retain its religious freedom. Marcelo Nieva, 34, leader of Pueblo Grande Baptist Church . . . Read More

Christian and Muslim clerics pledge to tackle insecurity in N. Cameroon

May 3, 2014 Cameroon Boko Haram, Cameroon, Georges Vandenbeusch, Maroua

About 40 Christian and Muslim leaders met in Maraoua, Cameroon on April 23-24, to promote a culture of peace and tolerance between members of different religious communities.World Watch Monitor The focus of the search for the missing Nigerian girls has moved across the Nigerian borders – to Cameroon and . . . Read More

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