News

Zahle dispatch: Life among Syria’s Christian refugees

  May 1, 2013 Syria Arab Spring, Hijab, Lebanon, Refugees, Syria

Lisa Pearce is deputy CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, which works with partners worldwide to support Christians who are under pressure for their faith. She traveled to Lebanon in April to meet with Syrian Christians who have fled the violence in their homeland. Here are some of her . . . Read More

Kidnapped archbishop urges Christians to stay in Syria

  April 26, 2013 Syria Aleppo, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Kidnapping, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

The nephew of Yohanna Ibrahim, one of the two archbishops kidnapped in Syria on Monday, said he hopes Syrian Christians will not use the incident as an incentive to flee the country. Jamil Diarbakerli, who represents the Assyrian Democratic Organisation (which petitions for the rights of the Assyrian minority) said . . . Read More

My cousins in Qamishly

  April 25, 2013 Syria Al-Qaeda, Free Syrian Army, PKK, Qamishli, Turkey

Correspondent Nuri Kino lives in Sweden. Parts of his family remain in Syria. He writes: It’s mid-April, Friday, almost 9pm. I’ve showered, had a bite to eat and sat down in front of the TV. After a long day of work, I want to relax in front of a good . . . Read More

Goodluck Jonathan’s amnesty gamble

  April 23, 2013 Nigeria Abuja, Adamawa, Bauchi, Boko Haram, Borno, Christian Association of Nigeria, Gombe, Goodluck Jonathan, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kano, Lagos, Niger Delta, Nigeria, Pentecostals, Sultan of Sokoto, West Africa, Women, Yobe

A month ago, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said he would not negotiate with the militant Islamic sect Boko Haram because they were “ghosts,” faceless adversaries who would not step forward. That was then. This Wednesday, the President is scheduled to formally inaugurate a committee to explore amnesty for Boko Haram . . . Read More

Brazilians’ ordeal in Senegal prison over, but legal challenges remain

  April 16, 2013 Senegal Dakar, Missionaries, Senegal, West Africa

Two Brazilian missionaries held in a Senegal jail without charge for five months were released on bail this month, yet still face accusations they operated youth programs without permits. Jose Dilson Da Silva is a missionary with the Brazilian Presbyterian Church in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Zeneide Moreira Novais, who . . . Read More

Church shelled, seven Christians killed in Central African Republic

  April 16, 2013 Central African Republic Michel Djotodia, Seleka

A weekend of violence in the Central African Republic included three artillery shells that crashed into a church and killed seven people, according to a pastor. At least 20 people were reported dead after gun battles in sectors of Bangui, capital of the republic, where an alliance of rebel groups . . . Read More

Sudan President’s amnesty releases Christian woman

  April 12, 2013 Sudan African Union, Darfur, Nyala, Omar al-Bashir, Port Sudan, Sharia

It has been a little more than a week since Salwa Fahmi Suleiman Gireis, a 64-year old Sudanese accountant has been released from prison on Tues 2nd April. She was detained without charge for 7 weeks by the Sudanese security services, following arrest from her home in Khartoum. Amnesty International . . . Read More

Bangladesh PM rejects Muslim demand for blasphemy law

  April 10, 2013 Bangladesh Awami League, Blasphemy, Dhaka, Hefazat-e-Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami, Sheikh Hasina

The Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has turned down the demand of radical Islamists to enact a blasphemy law to punish those who desecrate Islam and its prophet Muhammad. One hundred thousand activists belonging to Hefazat-e-Islam, an umbrella Islamic organization, had earlier rallied on 6th April in the capital Dhaka . . . Read More

Egypt’s Christians, fearing instability, seek security elsewhere

  April 9, 2013 Egypt Arab Spring, Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Hosni Mubarak, Maspero, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Samalut

In downtown Cairo¬ mid-March, the multicolored pharaoh-motif tablecloths and dishtowels were missing from a fabric store once known for such items. The owner of the textile factory that produced them closed down and left Egypt soon after the country’s 2011 revolution. Assad Attiya, a clerk who has worked at the . . . Read More

Pakistan court overturns blasphemy conviction, death sentence

  April 3, 2013 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Punjab

A Pakistan court Wednesday threw out the 2007 conviction of a Christian man sentenced to death for offending Islam. Younis Masih is at least the second Christian accused of blasphemy that Pakistan judges have exonerated since the country’s Supreme Court threw out a high-profile blasphemy case against a teen-aged girl . . . Read More