News

Pastor and son killed as CAR violence continues

  February 6, 2014 Central African Republic Bangui, Bocaranga, Bria, Catherine Samba-Panza, Michel Djotodia, Seleka

Bangui.World Watch Monitor A pastor and his son are among the latest casualties of violence in the Central African Republic, which continues despite the recent appointment of Catherine Samba-Panza as interim President. Rev. Pierre-Séverin Kongbo, 52, his son Dieubéni were killed on Jan. 28 by former members of the disbanded . . . Read More

Algerian Christian refused burial in public cemetery

  February 5, 2014 Algeria Bejaia, Burial, Islamic extremism, Kabylie, Ramadan, Tizi Ouzou

A Christian family in Algeria has been refused permission to bury their son in the local public cemetery because he was not a Muslim. “The leaders of the mosque demanded that I would have to follow Islamic burial rites if I was to bury my son in the cemetery,” said . . . Read More

Egyptian priest claims church attack was Muslim Brotherhood ‘revenge’

  February 4, 2014 Egypt Copts, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Pope Tawadros II

The priest of an Egyptian church attacked last week says his church was targeted as part of a wider pattern of retribution from Muslim Brotherhood supporters against churches and security forces following the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi last summer. Around 70 churches were attacked last summer in retaliation against the . . . Read More

Kazakh pastor’s trial halts amid heated arguments

  January 31, 2014 Kazakhstan Almaty, Astana, Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev, Protestants

Bakhytzhan KashkumbayevWorld Watch Monitor   The trial of a 67-year-old pastor in Kazakhstan halted amid heated arguments on Wednesday (January 29), as the pastor and his lawyer stormed out of the courtroom, even after two of his original charges were dropped. The pastor and his lawyer say the whole court . . . Read More

Religious leaders plead for UN force in Central African Republic

  January 31, 2014 Central African Republic African Union, Bangui, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Michel Djotodia, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, Seleka, UN

The Catholic Archbishop of Bangui, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, says Central Africans live in fear.Courtesy Open Doors International   Two of the most senior religious figures in the Central African Republic (CAR) visited London this week to urge the UK to support the deployment of a UN-led peacekeeping operation in the war-torn . . . Read More

Nigerian worshippers killed during mass

  January 29, 2014 Nigeria Adamawa, Boko Haram, Borno, Yola

World Watch Monitor is curating news coverage of the attacks on Sunday in north-eastern Nigeria. At least 22 worshippers died at a church in Yola, while 300 homes were burnt down in a village in neighbouring Borno state and at least 52 people were killed. Boko Haram is suspected of carrying . . . Read More

Sri Lanka’s Christians protest after January attacks

  January 28, 2014 Sri Lanka Anti-conversion law, Buddhist nationalism, Colombo, Protestants

More than 2,000 Christians gathered in Colombo on Sunday (January 26) to protest against a perceived lack of religious freedom in Sri Lanka, following recent attacks on Christian places of worship by Buddhist extremists. Two churches and a Christian prayer centre were attacked on Jan. 12 by Buddhist mobs claiming . . . Read More

Malaysia’s ‘Allah’ impasse

  January 24, 2014 Malaysia 'Allah', Bibles, Borneo, JAIS, Kuching, Lawrence Andrew, Najib Razak, Petaling Jaya, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, The Herald, UMNO

Should Malaysia’s Muslims alone be afforded the right to use the word ‘Allah’?Abu Emran / Flickr / Creative Commons   “God, what is your religion?” This cryptic question, spotted on a T-shirt at a packed public meeting on religious freedom in the Malaysian city of Petaling Jaya last week, sums . . . Read More

‘Martyred’ Iranian pastor remembered 20 years on

  January 23, 2014 Iran Assemblies of God, Haik Hovsepian, Mehdi Dibaj, Tehran

Memorial services are being held in Tehran, London and California to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Haik Hovsepian, an Iranian pastor hailed by many Christians as a martyr. Hovsepian vanished on January 19, 1994, three days after his protests helped to secure the release of fellow Iranian . . . Read More

Tunisian constitution finds no place for Sharia

  January 20, 2014 Tunisia Apostasy, Arab Spring, Constitution, Ennahda, Islamic extremism, Sharia, Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Al-Zaytuna Mosque, Tunis.Christopher Rose / Flickr / Creative Commons Three years after the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ started in Tunisia, the country’s National Constituent Assembly is close to passing a new constitution which rejects Islam as the “main source of law”, but states it is the State’s duty to “protect the . . . Read More