News

Christian party asserts Dalit rights in Indian elections debut

  May 12, 2014 India Andhra Pradesh, Caste, Dalits

India’s low-caste citizens are taking a sizable step into politics with a newly formed Christian political party and a campaign dedicated to earning seats in a new state assembly. The election closed on May 12 for the residents of Seemandhra, a new state carved out of India’s southern state of . . . Read More

Chibok victim: Kidnappers threatened to shoot

  May 9, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Chibok girls, EYN, Goodluck Jonathan, Kaduna, Kano, Kidnapping, Lagos, Samuel Dali

In this image captured from a 57-minute video released May 5, a man purported to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau says he will sell the girls kidnapped April 14 from school in Chibok village, in Borno state, Nigeria.You Tube   One of the Nigerian girls to escape her Boko . . . Read More

Algerian Christians should promote friendship with Muslims, says Pope Envoy

  May 9, 2014 Algeria Berbers, Pope Francis

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of the church St. Augustine of Hippo in Algeria, Pope Francis is calling for better relations between Christians and Muslims in a country where Islamic extremism is a primary source of pressure on Christian life. Pope Francis encourages the Christians, a minority in . . . Read More

Boko Haram kidnaps more girls; outrage mounts

  May 7, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Education, Gwoza, Kano, Kidnapping, Lagos

The number of Nigerian girls abducted by Boko Haram continues to increase, as does global outrage. Between eight and 11 more teen-aged girls were kidnapped May 4 by the Islamist group, which on April 14 abducted more than 230 schoolgirls, most of them reported to be Christian, from the northeastern . . . Read More

Argentina’s fight to hold onto religious freedom

  May 5, 2014 Argentina Argentina, Constitution, Córdoba, Marcelo Nieva, Protestants, Río Tercero

Marcelo Nieva, 34 leader of Pueblo Grande Baptist Church in Río Tercero, a city in Argentina´s central Cordoba region.World Watch Monitor   An Argentinian pastor subjected to death threats says his country is facing a fight to retain its religious freedom. Marcelo Nieva, 34, leader of Pueblo Grande Baptist Church . . . Read More

Christian and Muslim clerics pledge to tackle insecurity in N. Cameroon

  May 3, 2014 Cameroon Boko Haram, Cameroon, Georges Vandenbeusch, Maroua

About 40 Christian and Muslim leaders met in Maraoua, Cameroon on April 23-24, to promote a culture of peace and tolerance between members of different religious communities.World Watch Monitor   The focus of the search for the missing Nigerian girls has moved across the Nigerian borders – to Cameroon and . . . Read More

Autopsy raises questions whether Christian’s death was suicide

  May 2, 2014 Pakistan Lahore, Punjab, Sweepers

Haroon HaidarWorld Watch Monitor   The autopsy report on a Pakistani Christian killed by gunshots raises questions whether the death was a suicide, as the owner of the weapon has claimed. The Punjab state medical examiner’s report on the April 16 death of Haroon Haidar potentially indicates he suffered two . . . Read More

What would Sharia mean for non-Muslims in Brunei?

  May 1, 2014 Brunei Brunei, Hijab, Human rights, Sharia, Southeast Asia, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, UN

The Sultan of Brunei has announced a controversial new law based on Islamic criminal punishments criticised by UN human rights officials and other human rights groups. “I place my faith in and am grateful to God the Almighty to announce that Thursday May 1, 2014, will see the enforcement of . . . Read More

Nigeria’s kidnapped teens feared to be abroad

  April 30, 2014 Nigeria Boko Haram, Cameroon, Chad, Chibok girls, Goodluck Jonathan

Sources say that some of the 230 school girls abducted from Nigeria’s North-Eastern town of Chibok more than two weeks ago have been transferred to neighboring Cameroon and Chad. Some villagers near the Nigeria-Cameroon border indicate that they have seen girls on board buses heading to Cameroon. Other reports given . . . Read More

Sanjiang church demolished

  April 28, 2014 China Sanjiang, Three-Self Patriotic Movement