News

Kenyan coast Christians fear for lives as local politicians appear to be linked to Al-Shabaab

  July 17, 2014 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Catholics, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Lamu, Mandera, Mombasa, Mpeketoni, Nairobi, Somalia, Tana River, Uhuru Kenyatta, Wajir, Westgate

After at least 65 people were killed a month ago on June 15 in the predominantly Christian town of Mpeketoni, 40km inland from Kenya’s mainly Muslim coastal strip, attacks in the area have continued. Now residents are sleeping in a nearby prison because they are scared to stay at home. . . . Read More

Mariam’s case highlights plight of Sudan’s Christians

  July 16, 2014 Sudan Blue Nile, Darfur, Khartoum, Mariam Ibrahim, South Kordofan, South Sudan

The globally known apostasy case of the death-row mother Mariam Ibrahim, forced to give birth with her legs shackled, is only one of many examples of the religious discrimination that Sudanese Christians battle on a regular basis. The poverty-stricken Muslim country lost the majority of its Christian population to South . . . Read More

Mosul’s two kidnapped Chaldean nuns released

  July 15, 2014 Iraq Catholics, Chaldeans, Churches, Dohuk, Europe, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Louis Raphael I Sako, Mosul, NATO, Nineveh Plains

Update (15 July) Two kidnapped nuns who managed an orphanage for girls in Mosul, and two women and a boy, who were kidnapped on 28 June have been released. According to ankawa.com no ransom was paid for the release of the five Assyrian victims who are in good health and . . . Read More

Chibok, 3 months later

  July 14, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, EYN, Islamic extremism, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kidnapping, Nigeria, Samuel Dali, Stephen Davis, Sultan of Sokoto

Three months to the day after more than 200 teenage girls were kidnapped from their school in northeast Nigeria, headlines have been dominated by the visit of another teenager, 17 year old Pakistani Malala Yusufzai, to some of the missing girls’ families and the Nigerian President. But there is no . . . Read More

Q&A with EYN President Samuel Dali

  July 14, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Chibok girls, Kidnapping, Samuel Dali

 The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, known locally as Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria — or EYN Church — has been a direct target of Boko Haram attacks. Many of the families of the more than 200 girls kidnapped in April from their school in Chibok are members of EYN . . . Read More

The rise of political Islam in Europe

  July 9, 2014 Egypt, Europe, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Syria, Tony Blair

After the allegations of Islamists infiltrating British education in schools earlier this year. An emergency report was commissioned, “Operation Trojan Horse,” to investigate practices at 21 schools in Birmingham, including Park View (pictured). SWNS   There are increasing fears that European-born young men who go to Syria will get caught . . . Read More

The rise of political Islam in Europe

  July 9, 2014 Egypt, Europe, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Syria, UK

Analysis: Why jihad is not as big a threat as creeping ‘participation’ There are increasing fears that European-born young men who go to Syria will get caught up in the fight of radical Islamic extremists to establish an Islamic Sharia-based state across Syria and Iraq, and then return to their . . . Read More

Ramadan adds extra pressure for N. African Christians

  July 2, 2014 Algeria Algeria, Algiers, Berbers, Hijab, Kabylie, Morocco, Ramadan, Sharia

In the name of all beliefs’ – a flyer for rallies this week in Algeria.World Watch Monitor   In about 50 countries across the world, some 1.6 billion Muslims have begun fasting from sunrise to sunset for the 30 days of Ramadan. It occurs every year during the ninth month . . . Read More

50 killed in Nigerian church attacks

  July 2, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, ECWA, Nigeria

Some of the parents of Chibok’s kidnapped girls. Chibok, Nigeria May 11, 2014World Watch Monitor   Scores killed and five churches burnt down as militants raided Christian villages near Chibok, where nearly 300 school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in April. On June 29, assailants on motorbikes and in . . . Read More

Priest pioneers peace process amid CAR’s chaos

  June 29, 2014 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bozoum, Central African Republic, Seleka

Despite the Central Africa Republic (CAR)’s increasing level of chaos, a glimmer of hope has been developing in its northern city Bozoum – which is peaceful and prosperous – thanks to mediation efforts. This city of about 26,000 inhabitants enjoys a relative calm which ensures the functioning of vital services . . . Read More