General

Nigeria’s churches will not stay silent during violence, leader says

March 12, 2014 Nigeria Berom, Boko Haram, Christian Association of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, Pentecostals

Nigeria’s largest church network is calling on the country’s president for more protection from Boko Haram attacks. The president, meanwhile, is calling for more prayer. “We will not keep silence amidst persecution Christians are facing,” Rev. Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, told World Watch Monitor on . . . Read More

N. Korea to execute 33 for missionary work

March 10, 2014 North Korea Kenneth Bae, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong Wook, Kim Jong-Un, Missionaries, North Korea

North Korea has ordered the death of as many as 33 people because of their alleged contact with a missionary, South Korea’s largest news organization has reported. The 33 North Koreans are charged with attempting to overthrow the regime by setting up 500 underground churches, according to the South Korean . . . Read More

Use of ‘Allah’ still unresolved for Malaysia’s Christians

March 8, 2014 Malaysia 'Allah', Bibles, Borneo, Brunei, Jill Ireland, Lawrence Andrew, Najib Razak, Putrajaya, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Sharia, Southeast Asia, UMNO

Malaysian Christians this week have been anxious about their right to practise their faith without state interference or provocation from militant Islam, as three cases concerning religious freedom have come to court. Much is riding on the legal system to affirm Malaysia’s constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. Christians in Malaysia . . . Read More

Nigeria ‘at war’ with Boko Haram

March 6, 2014 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Cameroon, Chad, Goodluck Jonathan, Kaduna, Niger, Sultan of Sokoto, Yobe, Zaria

Goodluck Jonathan pictured at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January.Jolanda Flubacher, WEC / Flickr / Creative Commons The Nigerian President’s spokesman has said that the conflict with Boko Haram is a “war situation”. Speaking to Lagos-based Channels TV on Feb. 28, Doyin Okupe . . . Read More

Malatya murder suspects to be set free

March 5, 2014 Turkey Kurds, Malatya, Trabzon

A 2008 snapshot of the five Malayta murder suspects.World Watch Monitor Five Turkish murder suspects on trial for torturing and killing three Christians in Malatya nearly seven years ago are expected to be set free on bail within the next few days, before the conclusion of their trial in . . . Read More

Trouble in the south

March 4, 2014 India Andhra Pradesh, BJP, Hindu nationalism, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Hyderabad, India

Church leaders in India are alarmed over a dramatic increase in attacks on Christians in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where in recent weeks one pastor has been murdered, others beaten, and churches demolished. The All India Christian Council documented 72 incidents of anti-Christian violence and hostility in Andhra Pradesh . . . Read More

CAR clerics plead for ceasefire

February 28, 2014 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bangui, Catherine Samba-Panza, Central African Republic, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Michel Djotodia, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, Refugees, Seleka, UN

Two of the most senior religious leaders in the Central African Republic have issued a joint plea for a truce between retreating militant rebels and vigilantes who have been taking their revenge. “May all the brothers carrying weapons hand over their arms,” said the Catholic Archbishop of Bangui, Msgr. Dieudonné . . . Read More

Dozens dead as violence continues in central Nigeria

February 26, 2014 Nigeria Berom, Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, Niger Delta, Plateau

Tribal attacks have claimed many lives in central Nigeria in recent months. In November, around 40 members of the Berom community were killed and buried in mass graves.World Watch Monitor At least 43 people have died in two separate attacks as sectarian violence continues in central Nigeria’s Plateau state. . . . Read More

Indonesia’s religious freedom ‘in peril’

February 26, 2014 Indonesia Aceh, Java, Religious freedom, Sumatra, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

The Batak Protestant Church near Jakarta was torn down in March 2013, just after being built.World Watch Monitor A new report paints a bleak picture of religious freedom in Indonesia. Indonesia: Pluralism in Peril, which was launched at the UK Parliament yesterday (Feb. 25), says that in the world’s most . . . Read More

Boko Haram kills dozens of boys in school raid

February 25, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Goodluck Jonathan, Yobe

Islamic militants stormed a Nigerian secondary school campus early this morning (Feb. 25), locked a boys’ dormitory and set it on fire, killing those who tried to flee and burning the rest alive. News accounts report that suspected Boko Haram militants killed at least 43 young men during the pre-dawn . . . Read More

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