General

Sweden to Iranian convert it plans to deport: ‘It’s not our problem you chose to become a Christian’

August 16, 2017 Aideen Strandsson, Amin Afshar Naderi, Apostasy, Asylum seekers, Converts, Europe, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Migrants, Netherlands, Refugees, Sharia, Sweden, UK

Iranian convert, Aideen Strandsson, is still waiting for an appeal hearing after her asylum request in Sweden was rejected. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An Iranian convert to Christianity has been refused asylum in Sweden, placing her at risk of deportation and “torture and rape” in jail in her home country. Aideen Strandsson, 37, who was baptised in Sweden in 2014, said officials at the country’s Migration Board did not believe her life would . . . Read More

70 years after Pakistan’s founding, what PM’s recent ousting means for minorities

August 14, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Divorce, Imran Khan, India, Islamic extremism, Jamaat-e-Islami, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Mumtaz Qadri, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Peoples Party, PTI, Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, Sindh, Taliban

70th Annual General Assembly Debate

Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, addresses the general debate of the General Assembly’s seventieth session.

30 September 2015

United Nations, New York

Photo # 646792

UN Photo/Cia Pak

Pakistan celebrates its 70th birthday today (14 August). And there’s a new Prime Minister after Nawaz Sharif, founder of the largest political party, was disqualified by the apex court on 29 July on charges of not being “righteous” and “ameen”*. This Supreme Court decision about Sharif “will throw the governing . . . Read More

Ethiopia: church attacked, then told to close and member arrested for ‘inciting religious clashes’

August 11, 2017 Ethiopia Amhara, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Mahibere Kidusan, Pentecostals, Tigray

A Pentecostal church in Ethiopia has been ordered to stop meeting in a residential area, in the wake of a mob attack on the church, after which a church member was arrested for “illegal activities” that “incited religious clashes”. The Full Gospel Church in Tikil Dingaye, 20km from the historic . . . Read More

Egypt: second Copt in two years dies mysteriously in same Army unit – this time on his first day

August 11, 2017 Egypt Beni Suef, Conscripts, Copts, Egypt

The family of a Coptic Christian soldier who died last month on his first day at work – in the same regiment where another Copt died in mysterious circumstances in November 2015 – say he was murdered because of his Christian faith. Having just completed his army training, 22-year-old Joseph . . . Read More

International Youth Day: Young Christians want to build peace

August 11, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Aleppo, Arauca, Asia-Pacific, Bangui, Blasphemy, Central African Republic, Colombia, Damascus, ELN, FARC, Indonesia, Iran, Jakarta, Java, Syria, UN, Venezuela, Yogyakarta, Youth

After years of war Colombia's young men and women want peace. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Ahead of the UN’s International Youth Day on 12 August, which this year has “Youth Building Peace” as its theme, World Watch Monitor takes a look at some of the challenges facing young Christians around the world and how they try to contribute to building peaceful societies. Many of the world’s . . . Read More

North Korea frees Canadian church leader ‘on sick bail’

August 9, 2017 North Korea Hyeon Soo Lim, Kenneth Bae, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song, Kim Jong Wook, Kim Seung-mo, North Korea, Otto Warmbier, Pyongyang, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, Tony Kim

Hyeun-soo Lim, the Korean Canadian church leader sentenced to life in prison with hard labour, has been freed today (9 August) “on sick bail”, says a North Korean state news agency. Convicted in December 2015 by the country’s Supreme Court of numerous charges, including an attempt to overthrow the government, he had been detained . . . Read More

Indian Christians faced almost as many attacks in first half of 2017 as all of 2016

August 8, 2017 India BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, India, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Narendra Modi, RSS

In the first six months of 2017, Indian Christians were harassed, threatened or attacked for their faith in 410 reported incidents (248 in the first quarter) – almost as many as the total for the whole of 2016 (441). This is according to figures compiled by partners of Open Doors, . . . Read More

Coastal and north-east Kenyans have more to fear than most, as Al-Shabaab threatens elections

August 7, 2017 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Boni, East Africa, Garissa, Kenya, Lamu, Mandera, Mombasa, Mpeketoni, Pandaguo, Somalia, Tana River, Uhuru Kenyatta, Westgate

On June 15, 2014 twin attacks by suspected al-Shabaab militants on Mpeketoni and a nearby village of Poroko left 52 people dead. The attackers singled out all who could not recite Muslim prayers and killed them in plain site before destroying their homes.

Attacks by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in the Kenyan coastal region of Lamu are raising concerns that the Islamist group is attempting to disrupt the election tomorrow (8 August), as international observers warn of chaos if the result is perceived as rigged. The election, between current President Uhuru Kenyatta and his . . . Read More

Sudan demolishes another church, but MPs block school on Sundays

August 4, 2017 Sudan Donald Trump, Education, Justin Welby, Khartoum, Omdurman, Religious freedom, Sanctions, Sudan, Sudanese Church of Christ, USA

The Baptist Church in Omdurman that was demolished this week. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The Sudanese government demolished another church on Wednesday (2 August), the day after Members of the Khartoum state parliament rejected an order by the Minister of Education for all Christian schools in the capital to open on a Sunday. The Baptist Church in Omdurman, across the Nile, just west from . . . Read More

Displaced by Boko Haram’s violence, Nigerians finally get food to prevent famine

August 4, 2017 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Christian Association of Nigeria, IDPs, Nigeria, UN, Yobe

Food aid has reached 15,000 families in Northeast Nigeria who live in famine-like conditions. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The current crisis in northeast Nigeria has been called the “greatest crisis on the African continent“. More than five million Nigerians live in famine-like conditions in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, the epicentre of the eight years-long Boko Haram insurgency. According to the World Food Programme, the ongoing insecurity has . . . Read More

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