News

Kano, Nigeria: father and son killed, three women and a baby kidnapped

  August 31, 2017 Nigeria Kano, Middle Belt, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

A father and son were killed, and three women and a baby abducted, in an attack in Nigeria’s northern state of Kano, in the largely Muslim area of Tudun Wada. At around 8pm on 15 August, armed men, believed to be local Muslims, attacked the house of Baba Kale Dankali, . . . Read More

Family imprisoned, tortured for fleeing North Korea – and for their Christian faith

  August 30, 2017 North Korea China, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, South Korea

As North Korea’s missile testing focuses the world’s attention on Kim Jong-un’s regime, one woman’s story shows how harshly families are treated when they refuse to follow his authoritarian rules. Hannah Cho* was born just before the Korean War broke out in 1950. She remembered the air-raid sirens and holding . . . Read More

Sudan church leader re-arrested, with at least 6 more, over government pressure for property

  August 30, 2017 Sudan Bahri, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Omdurman, Sanctions, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Sudanese Church of Christ

A Sudan church leader who already spent Christmas 2015 in prison on charges of “spying” – he was freed due to lack of evidence after 19 days – has been re-arrested for a day, along with five other fellow church leaders. Those arrested belong to the Sudan Church of Christ . . . Read More

Turkey charges US pastor as ‘spy’; conviction would mean life in prison

  August 29, 2017 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

Almost a year after arresting him, Turkey piled on new charges of “spying” and “insurgency” against American pastor Andrew Brunson on 24 August, demanding four consecutive life sentences in prison against the 23-year resident of Turkey. Jailed since his surprise detention without charges last October, Brunson was eventually accused of . . . Read More

Malaysia withdraws law clause that could have ‘resolved inter-faith child custody conflicts’

  August 25, 2017 Malaysia Converts, Divorce, Islamic extremism, Malaysia, Marriage, Sharia

Malaysia’s government has removed a clause from the new Marriage and Divorce Law that would have prohibited the conversion of children to Islam with consent of just one parent after conservative Muslims protested against it, reports the Malay Mail Online. The new Article 88 (A) had stated that should a non-Muslim . . . Read More

UN troops ‘complicit’ in killing of civilians, says MP for Gambo, eastern C. African Republic

  August 24, 2017 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bangassou, Bangui, Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Gambo, Oumar Kobine Layama, Seleka, UN, UPC

A local MP has accused UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) of “complicity” in an attack which claimed dozens of lives, including ten Red Cross workers, in the eastern town of Gambo recently, World Watch Monitor has learned. The MP for Gambo, Michel Kpingo, in a statement (7 August) . . . Read More

Egypt: Copts worship in streets after clashes over church permit

  August 23, 2017 Egypt Anba Macarius, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Kom El-Loufy, Samalut

Tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians in a village in Upper Egypt have reportedly softened following clashes at the weekend. Copts in the village of Ezbat Al-Forn, in the Minya governorate, were stopped from holding mass at a private home on Sunday (20 August) because they had no permit. Local . . . Read More

Kenyan Christians killed for refusing to recite Islamic Shahada

  August 22, 2017 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Boni, Garissa, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Lamu, Mandera, Mpeketoni, Pandaguo, Somalia, Tana River, Uhuru Kenyatta, Westgate

Three Kenyan Christians were hacked to death by Al-Shabaab militants on Friday night (18 August) after they refused to recite the Islamic prayer of faith. A fourth Christian – the mentally challenged older brother of one of the three – was also killed. At around 9pm, Changawa Muthemba, who was . . . Read More

DRC: grandmother forced to live in classroom after husband and friends murdered

  August 22, 2017 Democratic Republic of the Congo ADF, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eringeti, IDPs, North Kivu, Oicha

Marie, a 73-year-old Congolese woman, had lived in a war zone for two decades when rebels attacked her village in North Kivu province again, killing her husband and causing her to flee with her family to find shelter in a school. She thinks it was probably a year ago when . . . Read More

Pakistan: illiterate Christian boy, 16, forced to confess ‘blasphemy’ to escape mob violence

  August 21, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Bonded labourers, Gujranwala, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Nabeel Masih, Pakistan, Quran, Rimsha Masih

An angry Pakistani mob almost killed a 16­-year-old Christian boy – who is completely illiterate and also slightly mentally challenged – for allegedly burning the pages of a Quran. He was then apparently forced to confess to the alleged crime, and is now in custody – despite apparent inconsistencies in . . . Read More