News

Understand concept of ‘infidel’ to understand risks of Islamic radicalization

  October 21, 2014 Boko Haram, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Pakistan, Rwanda, Salafism

Iraqi Christian children driven out of their homes by IS. Photo taken at a refugee camp in Erbil on September 16.World Watch Monitor   In recent history, genocides have often been accompanied by the preparatory dehumanization of victims. In 1994, in Rwanda, for example, the Hutu interhamwe labelled the Tutsis . . . Read More

Tanzanian teacher murdered in church, pastor and wife on Zanzibar attacked by extremists

  October 21, 2014 Tanzania Acid attacks, Arusha, Bukoba, Censorship, East Africa, Islamic extremism, Kagera, Mwanza, Pentecostals, Tanzania, Zanzibar

Pastor Crodward Edwar (centre) at a press conference about the Bukoba murderHarakati News blog   Unknown attackers killed a Christian man by machete and injured another in Bukoba in northwest Tanzania on Thursday, Oct. 9, according to sources. This followed another recent incident on Zanzibar island in which a pastor . . . Read More

Priest kidnapped, dozens killed amidst renewed violence in C. African Rep

  October 21, 2014 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bangui, Bozoum, Central African Republic, Seleka, UN

Fr Mateusz Dziedzic, has been living in CAR since 2009, where he runs nursery schools.Courtesy of Catholic Church in CAR   A Polish priest has been abducted by armed men in the Central African Republic, amidst rising tension which has claimed dozens of lives in recent days. Father Mateusz Dziedzic . . . Read More

Claim of truce raises hope that kidnapped Nigerian girls will be released

  October 18, 2014 Nigeria Ansaru, Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Goodluck Jonathan, Kidnapping, Niger Delta, Samuel Dali, Stephen Davis

The deserted streets of Chibok in August.World Watch Monitor   Nigeria’s kidnapped schoolgirls will be released as part of a truce between militant Islamist group Boko Haram and government forces, the Nigerian army said Friday. The Nigerian chief of defence, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, made the announcement. Boko Haram . . . Read More

Pakistan court upholds death penalty for Asia Bibi despite serious legal loophole in trial

  October 17, 2014 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Sheikhupura, USA

The first Christian woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws had her appeal rejected by the High Court in Lahore on Thursday. Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi, received the death penalty in 2010 after she allegedly made derogatory comments about the Prophet Mohammed during an . . . Read More

Iran appears to fight Islamic State, but are their ultimate goals too similar for comfort?

  October 16, 2014 Iran Behnam Irani, Hamas, Hassan Rouhani, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Islamic State, UK, UN, USA

ISISKarl-Ludwig Poggemann / Flickr / Creative Commons   It says something about the depths of worldwide revulsion to the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” that Western powers such as the US and the UK have been sitting at the same table with Iran to discuss how to defeat the deadly Islamist movement . . . Read More

All Knayeh hostages free

  October 13, 2014 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Bashar al-Assad, Boulos Yazigi, Homs, Idlib, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Paolo Dall’Oglio, Raqqa, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

NOTE: This report, originally posted Oct. 8, is updated to include the release of all hostages The last of a group of 20 Syrian Christians kidnapped Oct. 5 have been released as their pastor awaits trial before an Islamic court. Rev. Hanna Jallouf, a Franciscan priest in the northeastern Syria town of Knayeh, was abducted with about 20 . . . Read More

As UN targeted by Islamists in Mali, Bishops urge renewed peace efforts

  October 9, 2014 Mali Ansar Dine, Bamako, Gao, Kidal, Mali, MNLA, MUJAO, Timbuktu, UN

The UN Mission in Mali honors nine Nigerien peacekeepers killed on 3 October 2014.UN Photo/Marco Dormino   While the world’s attention is fixed on IS in Syria and Iraq, it’s easy to forget that last year, French troops were rushed to Mali to prevent a jihadist-influenced coup that threatened to . . . Read More

‘How can I celebrate my birthday with a homeless, scattered family?’

  October 3, 2014 Nigeria Abuja, Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, EYN, Gwoza, Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Rebecca Dali

Dr Rebecca Dali is the founder of Centre for Caring, Empowerment and Peace Initiatives.Courtesy of CCEPI   Nigerian Rebecca Dali’s birthday is 1 October – the same date as her country’s Independence Day. But this year there was little time for celebration because her home town of Michika is overrun . . . Read More

Indian Christian man forced to separate from Hindu wife by right-wing activists

  October 3, 2014 India Barack Obama, BJP, Gujarat, Narendra Modi, Seventh-day Adventists, Uttar Pradesh

Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat state, at a BJP rally in 2009.Flickr / Al Jazeera English / Creative Commons   An Indian couple who married Sept. 26 had their marriage annulled five days later by police under pressure from Hindu nationalists. The couple, Joseph Pawar and Ayushi Wani, were . . . Read More