News

Egyptian brothers add to tally of Christians killed in Libya

  December 16, 2015 Egypt Ansar al-Sharia, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Libya, Sohag

Today, 16 December, is the date set for the signing of a UN-facilitated agreement on forming a new national unity government in Libya. Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been engulfed by conflicts between various coalitions of armed groups. The country is split between an . . . Read More

After Aung San Suu Kyi’s election win, Myanmar’s displaced Kachin are hopeful they can go home for Christmas

  December 16, 2015 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Baptists, Christmas, Churches, Elections, Kachin, Refugees

As democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi prepares to assume power in Myanmar, two Baptist leaders among the country’s ethnic Kachin refugees are cautiously expecting more freedom to live their Christian faith, perhaps as soon as this Christmas. More than 100,000 ethnic Kachin, displaced due to civil war that broke . . . Read More

18 Chibok parents have died as wait for girls goes on

  December 15, 2015 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls

As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas with close friends and family members, the Christians in Chibok prepare for another Christmas without their girls. Below, World Watch Monitor speaks to Yakubu Nkiki Maina, the chairman of the Chibok Abducted School Girls’ Parents’ Association. His 18-year-old daughter, Maimuna, was . . . Read More

Erbil airport closure delays Christians leaving Iraq for Europe

  December 7, 2015 Iraq Ankawa, Erbil, Islamic State, Kurds

Fr Douglas reveals news that a flight taking displaced Christians from Iraq to Slovakia is delayed, Dec 2015World Watch Monitor   We know that some Eastern European countries have been specifying that they are happy to take Christians direct from Iraqi IDP camps, and months of work had started to . . . Read More

Indian nationalists blame other faiths as census shows Hindus in decline

  December 6, 2015 India Arunachal Pradesh, BJP, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad

John Dayal speaks at a protest marking 300 days of Narendra Modi’s government in March, 2015Photo: Anto Akkara   Hindu nationalists have hit out at Christians and Muslims in India, after the number of adherents to “Bharatiya” (traditionally Indian) faiths fell, according to the recently released results of the 2011 . . . Read More

Woman who survived 5 weeks in Boko Haram camp speaks for first time

  December 3, 2015 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Gwoza

Mercy, a 22-year-old woman from Borno State in north-east Nigeria, was abducted in June 2014 when Boko Haram overran the small town of Gwoza where she lived. She speaks here for the first time about her five weeks in captivity, where she was forced into a marriage, made to watch . . . Read More

CAR: Pope Francis calls for unity between Catholics and Protestants

  December 2, 2015 Central African Republic Bangui, Catherine Samba-Panza, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, PK5, Pope Francis, Seleka

Pope Francis has completed his two-day visit to the Central African Republic, the final stop of his first African tour, which also took him to Kenya and Uganda. Among the three countries visited by the Pope, his stop in CAR was by far the most challenging and attracted lots of . . . Read More

Ethnic cleansing of Christians in central Nigeria too?

  November 29, 2015 Nigeria Fulani herdsmen, Genocide, Kwara, Middle Belt, Taraba

The aftermath of a suicide bombing in Kano State, northern Nigeria.World Watch Monitor   Everyone has heard of the violent atrocities committed by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria, but Taraba State, in what’s called the Middle Belt of the country, is also the scene of severe violence: Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen . . . Read More

Special Report: Violence Against Women

  November 26, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Pope Francis, Rape, Seleka, Trauma, Women

Pope Francis’ first pontifical trip to Africa concludes with a visit to the Central African Republic, where wholesale deadly violence against Christians in 2013 was largely characterised by attacks that singled out women. The first day of his trip to the continent, which beings in Kenya, is also the 17th . . . Read More

Pope in Africa says conflict ‘feeds on fear, mistrust and despair’

  November 26, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country African Union, Al-Mourabitoun, Al-Shabaab, Bamako, Central African Republic, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Kampala, Kenya, Nairobi, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, PK5, Pope Francis, Uganda, Westgate

For his first trip to Africa, Pope Francis is visiting Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic (CAR), from 25-30 November. The three countries all have predominantly Christian populations – Kenya about 80%, Uganda 85% and CAR 76% – with about 10% or so Muslim in each of them. But . . . Read More