News

Will end of sanctions against Sudan ease Bible shortage for 1 million Christians?

  October 26, 2017 Sudan Bibles, Khartoum, Port Sudan, Sanctions, Sudan, USA

Measures by the Sudanese government to prevent Bibles from entering the country are leaving the churches there with a serious shortage of Scripture and teaching materials. One senior church leader, who has overseen the import of hundreds of thousands of Bibles and other pieces of Christian literature to Sudan, told . . . Read More

Uzbekistan should ‘protect religious freedom, not see religion as a threat’ – UN Special Rapporteur

  October 25, 2017 Uzbekistan Ahmed Shaheed, Bukhara, Censorship, Central Asia, Fergana Valley, Human rights, Khorezm, Soviet Union, Tashkent, USA, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan should invest more time in protecting religious freedom in its ongoing reforms rather than see religion as a threat, a UN expert has concluded after an official visit to the country. “Resilience against religious extremism can be built on strengthening diversity as well as freedom of religion or belief,” . . . Read More

Christians who fled IS displaced again as Iraqi and Kurdish forces clash

  October 25, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Bashiqa, Dohuk, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Tel Skuf

Fighting has erupted between Iraqi and Kurdish forces in a predominantly Christian town in northern Iraq, causing residents to flee. Around 900 families have fled Telskuf and its surrounding villages – part of the Nineveh Plains region of northern Iraq liberated last year from the Islamic State group – to . . . Read More

UK calls for action to secure freedom of religion for 80% of world’s population

  October 25, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Ahmed Shaheed, Human rights, Islamic State, Nepal, Religious freedom, Rohingya, UK, UN

A new report urges the UK and other governments to take practical measures to turn the rhetoric of ‘freedom of religion or belief’ into reality, to protect the millions who are vulnerable to violence, discrimination and disadvantage as a result of its abuse. The report, presented in the UK Parliament today . . . Read More

Central African Republic: where government rule only runs in the capital

  October 24, 2017 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bangui, Bocaranga, Bozoum, Central African Republic, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Gambo, Kaga Bandoro, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, PK5, Seleka, UN, Zemio

I’m just back from a visit to the Central African Republic (CAR) – where there is a sense of emergency again. Security has dramatically deteriorated across the country: President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has failed to establish his authority beyond the capital, Bangui, 18 months after his election. To my surprise, I . . . Read More

UN chief visits CAR, where lack of aid is leading to starving children

  October 24, 2017 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bambari, Bangassou, Central African Republic, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Seleka

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is in the Central African Republic (CAR) to draw attention to the world’s “forgotten crisis” and its heavy toll on aid workers and UN peacekeepers. The visit is happening a week after the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the country told media that the deteriorating security situation . . . Read More

Egyptian police foil latest terrorist attack on Coptic church in Sinai

  October 24, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Ismailia, Sinai, Suez

An attack on a Coptic church in north-eastern Egypt, which was also targeted during the wave of anti-Christian violence in August 2013, has been repelled by state security forces stationed outside the building. The heavy security presence outside the Mar Girgis (St. George) church in El-Arish, which had the use . . . Read More

Government again pressures Sudanese Church of Christ leaders

  October 23, 2017 Sudan Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, NISS, Omdurman, Pentecostals, Sudan, Sudanese Church of Christ

Leaders of the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) have been detained for some hours in the capital, Khartoum, during which they were ordered to hand over ownership of their church to government officials, by transferring authority from an elected committee to a state-sanctioned rival committee. The five men, who, according to . . . Read More

Philippines: Marawi liberated but root cause of extremism remains

  October 20, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, Southeast Asia

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte declared “Marawi City liberated from the terrorist influence” on Tuesday (17 October) after the military killed two of the ring leaders behind the five-month assault on the city, but a religious freedom expert has warned the “killing of militant leaders does not destroy the fighters behind . . . Read More

Algeria: ‘unjust law’ still denying churches their ‘right to worship’

  October 19, 2017 Algeria Algeria, Algiers, Mâatkas, Protestant Church of Algeria, Religion Law, Tizi Ouzou

Churches in northern Algeria continue to clash with the authorities over permission to hold services in non-religious buildings. Authorities in Tizi Ouzou province – 100km east of the capital, Algiers – have said a 2006 law that regulates non-Muslim worship is breached by churches meeting in houses meant only for . . . Read More