General

Jakarta’s Christian ex-governor drops blasphemy appeal ‘for sake of the people’

May 23, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic extremism

Jakarta's Christian ex-governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as 'Ahok', with his wife Veronica and son Nicholas cast their votes in Jakarta on April 19, 2017. Ahok announced today not to appeal his two year prison sentence for blasphemy. Photo: Getty Images

Jakarta’s Christian ex-governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (also known as “Ahok”), has withdrawn his appeal against his two-year prison sentence for blasphemy in a controversial case that has challenged religious pluralism in Indonesia, with repeated clashes between Ahok’s supporters and radical Islamic groups. It was for this reason, said Ahok, that . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian schoolgirl told: ‘Do Islamic studies instead of Ethics, or leave this school’

May 23, 2017 Pakistan Education, Mardan, Punjab, Taliban

A Christian girl studying at a state school in Pakistan has been told by her teacher that, if she refuses to take a class in Islamic Studies, then she should not be in that school. Muqadas Sukhraj chose instead to study Ethics, a subject created as an alternative for children . . . Read More

Second church in 10 days torn down in Sudan

May 23, 2017 Sudan Algadisia, Islamic extremism, Khartoum, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church

A Sudan Church of Christ (SCOC) building has been demolished in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, ten days after the destruction of another SCOC building in nearby Soba, 12 miles south of the city Christian charity Middle East Concern (MEC) reports that the second demolition took place on 17 May in Khartoum’s . . . Read More

Turkey unprepared for Trump’s counter-demand

May 22, 2017 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Gaziantep, Izmir, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey was unprepared in mid-May when a new bilateral issue emerged with the United States during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington DC, Al-Monitor reports. There were already two obvious agenda items between the two presidents: Turkey’s outspoken objection to Washington’s decision . . . Read More

German aid worker killed, Finnish woman ‘kidnapped’ in Kabul

May 22, 2017 Afghanistan Kabul, Kidnapping, Taliban

A German woman and her Afghan guard were killed, and a Finnish woman apparently kidnapped, at an international guesthouse run by a Swedish-based charity in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul late on Saturday evening, 20 May. The two women were aid workers employed by Operation Mercy, a relief and development NGO which . . . Read More

Iraqi bishops seek $262m for post-IS ‘Marshall Plan’

May 20, 2017 Iraq Bashar Warda, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Lebanon, Nineveh Plains, Tel Skuf, Turkey

Church leaders in northern Iraq are launching an ambitious US$262 million “Marshall Plan” for the reconstruction of Christian-majority villages devastated by the occupation of Islamic State (IS) jihadists – but knowing they could be subjected to attacks while they implement it. The ecumenical Bishops’ Emergency Committee (BEC) hopes to raise the . . . Read More

Why Iranian Christians are pinning hopes on ‘moderate’ Rouhani, despite human rights failures

May 19, 2017 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Armenians, Assyrians, Ayatollah Khamenei, Hassan Rouhani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tehran, Victor Bet-Tamraz

As Iranians head to the polls today (19 May) to vote for their next President, World Watch Monitor takes a look at President Hassan Rouhani’s first term in office and the potential impact of the election result for the country’s Christian minority. Hassan Rouhani was voted in four years ago, . . . Read More

US Commission urges Trump administration to prioritise international religious freedom

May 18, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Abune Antonios, Andrew Brunson, Central African Republic, China, Donald Trump, Eritrea, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Iran, Mike Pence, Myanmar, Nguyen Cong Chinh, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Religious freedom, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

An influential US government commission that monitors religious freedom around the world is urging President Donald Trump and his new administration to take concrete steps to make advocacy of universal religious rights a priority in American foreign policy. “Our foreign policy should not simply be about US self-interest – you know, . . . Read More

Turkmenistan’s secret additions to already restrictive Religion Law

May 18, 2017 Turkmenistan Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Islamic extremism, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Turkmenistan

It’s been over a year since the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan added further restrictions to its Religion Law, but the changes were introduced in such secrecy that few knew about them until well after the event. It wasn’t until January this year that regional news agency Forum 18 shed . . . Read More

75% of north-east Nigeria’s water and sanitation infrastructure destroyed

May 18, 2017 Nigeria Bauchi, Boko Haram, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Plateau, Sharia

Gloria Shehu is one of the people in north-east Nigeria set to benefit from the UN’s humanitarian fund targeting the devastation from the conflict with Boko Haram. Yesterday (17 May) the agency stepped up a call for more money, reminding that “the number of people close to sliding from emergency . . . Read More

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