News

Egypt church reopened after 22 years seen by some as gesture to US

  November 3, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Anba Macarius, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Minya, Pentecostals, USA

A Pentecostal church in Minya City, Egypt, reopened its doors on Sunday (29 October) after 22 years without a permit, a move some see as a goodwill gesture from the government ahead of the visit of US Vice President Mike Pence. Pence announced last week that he hoped to visit . . . Read More

Nineveh Christians still talk of emigration, despite Iraqi-Kurd peace agreement

  November 3, 2017 Iraq Dohuk, Iraq, Islamic State, Kirkuk, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga

Christians in Kirkuk and other parts of northern Iraq continue to worry about insecurity in the Nineveh Plains despite the recent peace agreement between Kurdish and Iraqi forces. Recent clashes between the Kurdish Peshmerga and the combined forces of the Iraqi army and al-Hashd al-Shaabi – the pro-Iraqi militia groups – . . . Read More

Eritrean Christians told to remove crosses as schools forced to go public

  November 3, 2017 Eritrea Abune Antonios, Asmara, Catholics, Education, Eritrea, Pentecostals, Religious freedom

Eritrea’s security forces shot at protesters, using live ammunition, in the capital Asmara on Tuesday (31 October) during a protest against the government’s plans to turn all schools public. This would mean forbidding students from wearing religious items such as Christian crosses or Muslim headscarves. A local source told World . . . Read More

Kidnapped 9 months ago in broad daylight, where is Malaysian pastor Raymond Koh?

  November 2, 2017 Malaysia Kidnapping, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Minorities, Petaling Jaya, Raymond Koh

Raymond Koh turns 63 today, but almost nine months after his abduction there is still no news of the Malaysian pastor. Koh was kidnapped in broad daylight by masked men driving black 4x4s in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, on 13 February. The whole incident, which lasted less than a . . . Read More

Pakistani Christians face discrimination in prisons too

  November 1, 2017 Pakistan Caste, Gujranwala, Kasur, Minorities, Pakistan, Peshawar, Prisons, Punjab, Taliban

Pakistani Christians, often discriminated against because of their faith and standing as members of Pakistan’s lowest caste, find that discrimination follows them in prisons as well. The justice system is extremely slow in Pakistan and, as a result, thousands of Pakistanis languish in overcrowded jails, having yet to face trial. . . . Read More

Jordan charity ‘restoring dignity’ to Iraq’s refugees

  October 31, 2017 Jordan Amman, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Refugees, Trauma

There was a time when Maran, a mother of three, worked as an engineer and had a long career ahead of her. But when Iraqi refugees started arriving in Amman, Jordan’s capital, fleeing from the violence Islamic State had unleashed upon their communities, Maran was dismayed about the treatment they . . . Read More

Cameroon: 6 siblings kidnapped by Boko Haram escape to safety

  October 31, 2017 Cameroon Boko Haram, Cameroon, Children, Far North, Nigeria

Six siblings kidnapped from Moskota in the Far North region of Cameroon on 17 August have been found near the border with Nigeria by a group of vigilantes. A local source told World Watch Monitor that the children, between the ages of three and 15, had been taken to Nigeria, . . . Read More

Central African Republic IDPs angry at UN failure to protect them

  October 31, 2017 Central African Republic Bangassou, Bocaranga, Bozoum, Central African Republic, Gambo, UN

When armed men attacked the north-western town of Bocaranga in the Central African Republic in September, thousands fled, including women and children. Madeleine, nine, was among them. She didn’t think of taking a toy; instead, she strapped her 15-month-old baby sister Cesare on her back and ran. With others, she . . . Read More

Jill Ireland back in court as Malaysia considers Christians’ right to call God ‘Allah’

  October 27, 2017 Malaysia 'Allah', Borneo, Islamic extremism, Jill Ireland, Kuala Lumpur, Lawrence Andrew, Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, The Herald

A Malaysian Christian woman’s campaign for Christians’ right to use the word “Allah” for “God” has resumed in Malaysia’s High Court. Jill Ireland has been campaigning for Christians’ right to use the word ever since immigration officials at a Kuala Lumpur airport seized eight Christian CDs from her in May . . . Read More

Sudan Church of Christ leaders charged with sound pollution for ‘noisy’ services

  October 27, 2017 Sudan Churches, Islamic extremism, Kuwa Shamal, Pentecostals, Port Sudan, Sadiq al-Mahdi, Sanctions, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Sudanese Church of Christ

Five Sudanese Christians arrested, but later released, last Sunday (22 October) have now been charged with causing sound pollution through overly loud church services. The five church leaders – Ayouba Telyan, Abdelbagi Tutu, Ali El Hakim, Ambarator Hamad and Haibil Ibrahim – were summoned to court yesterday morning (26 October), but . . . Read More