News

First time in 1600 years no Mass said in Mosul, Iraq, says Chaldean Archbishop

  June 27, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Bashar Warda, Chaldeans, Dohuk, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Mosul, Peshmerga, Qaraqosh

The Chaldean Catholic Church’s Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, in Kurdish-governed Northern Iraq, is reported as saying that for the first time in 1600 years there was no Mass said in Mosul on Sunday June 15th. This is the city taken over days before by ISIS forces. Reports say the . . . Read More

Sudan’s death row mother freed again

  June 27, 2014 Sudan Mariam Ibrahim, Omar al-Bashir

Mariam Ibrahim, the Sudanese mother imprisoned for six months and released from death-row charges for apostasy, was released for the second time on Thursday night. She had been re-arrested less than 24hrs after being freed by the court, after being driven to the airport in a US Embassy car with . . . Read More

Egyptian convert appeals 5-year sentence for misdemeanor

  June 26, 2014 Egypt Converts, Luxor, Mohammed Hegazy

Mohamed Hegazy, left, with his lawyer, Karam Ghobrial.World Watch Monitor   An Egyptian man who captured video of clashes between Muslims and Christians has been sentenced to five years in prison. Mohamed Hegazy was convicted June 18 for failing to obtain permission to film demonstrations in the Egypt’s Minya governate, . . . Read More

Malaysia refuses Church right to appeal ban on use of ‘Allah’

  June 25, 2014 Malaysia 'Allah', Hudud, Islamic extremism, Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Najib Razak, PAS, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Sharia, The Herald

Almost eight years after the Malaysian Catholic newspaper the Herald first sought to overthrow a government ban on it using the word ‘Allah’ for ‘God’ in its publication the judicial appeal process appears to have ended in failure. A federal court in Kuala Lumpur ruled on June 23 that it . . . Read More

Turkish Assassination Plot Suspects on Trial

  June 23, 2014 Turkey Diyarbakir, Izmit, Protestants, Quran

Pastor Emre Karaali of the Izmit Protestant Church outside the courthouse after the first trial hearing.The sign behind him says, ‘Justice is the foundation of the state.’ Izmit, Turkey; April 1, 2014 World Watch Monitor   Testimonial evidence at a court hearing concerning a plot to assassinate a Turkish Christian . . . Read More

The lessons of Kim Jong-Wook

  June 20, 2014 North Korea Kenneth Bae, Kim Jong Wook, Missionaries, Refugees

North Korea seen through barbed wire at the China border.Open Doors International   Last week, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea rejected a request from South Korea to hold discussions about the fate of Kim Jong-Wook. The DPRK in late May sentenced Kim to spend the rest of his life . . . Read More

BJP win elicits mixed reaction from India’s Christians

  June 19, 2014 India Assam, Catholics, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Narendra Modi, Pune

From left to right. Indian President Mahinda Rajapaksa and new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting for bilateral talks in New Delhi, India. May 27, 2014 Mahinda Rajapaksa / Flickr/ Creative Commons   India’s Christian leaders aren’t quite unanimous, yet, on the meaning of the May election landslide that swept . . . Read More

Kenya massacre prompts calls for increased security

  June 19, 2014 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Kenya, Lamu, Mpeketoni, Uhuru Kenyatta

Following the June 15 massacre of dozens of people in a Christian-majority coastal village, Kenya’s religious leaders are urging the government to improve security in the country. “We acknowledge the anger and desperation of Kenyans arising from the spiralling insecurity and rising tension in the country,” said the Most Rev. . . . Read More

South Sudan’s transitional Government to aid crisis

  June 16, 2014 South Sudan Bor, Dinka, East Africa, Juba, Nuer, Riek Machar, Salva Kiir, Sanctions, South Sudan, White Army

South Sudan has agreed to end fighting and pledged to set up a transitional government within 60 days and to resolve the conflict that’s caused a massive humanitarian crisis -resulting in thousands being killed and more than 1 million people fleeing their homes since December. In a rare meeting between . . . Read More

Why Christians are under pressure to exit Iraq

  June 13, 2014 Iraq Islamic State, Jizya, Kirkuk, Kurds, Mosul, Saddam Hussein, Syria

Internally displaced Iraqi girl holding a children’s Bible. Kurdistan, November 2007.World Watch Monitor   BBC reports have described ISIS ambitions to create an Islamist caliphate spreading from northern Iraq across to north-west Syria. If ISIS can hold Mosul and consolidate its presence there, it will have taken a giant step . . . Read More