News

At least 26 killed, despite increased Nigerian Army presence in S. Kaduna

  February 22, 2017 Nigeria Abuja, Fulani herdsmen, Jama'atu Nasril Islam, Kaduna, Kafanchan, Lagos, Nigeria

UPDATE (22 Feb): Heavily-armed Fulani herdsmen carried out raids on communities in Kaduna State, central Nigeria, on 19 and 20 February, destroying homes and claiming at least 26 lives, including two policemen. According to CSW, hundreds of militiamen reportedly descended on Bakin Kogi in the Kaninkon Chiefdom of Jema’a Local Government . . . Read More

CAR: Special Criminal Court prosecutor appointed as killing continues

  February 21, 2017 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bambari, Catherine Samba-Panza, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, PK5, Seleka

The three top faith leaders of the Central African Republic (CAR), who’ve won international recognition for efforts to end conflict in their country, have welcomed the appointment of a prosecutor for a Special Criminal Court. CAR has been beset by religious and ethnic conflict between mainly Muslim Séléka rebels and . . . Read More

Islamic State threatens to wipe out Egypt’s Copts

  February 20, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo, Copts

UPDATE: (20 Feb) The Islamic State has released a propaganda video, vowing to wipe out Egypt’s Coptic Christians and “liberate Cairo”. The video also purports to show the last statement of the suicide bomber responsible for the 11 December attack on a church in Cairo, which killed at least 28 . . . Read More

The Christian migrants building Qatar’s football stadiums

  February 20, 2017 Qatar Arabian Peninsula, Doha, Football, Migrants, Qatar

The football stadiums being built for the 2022 FIFA World Cup are said to be costing Qatar $500m a week.World Watch Monitor   Ten white plastic chairs are arranged in a circle on the roof terrace of a four-storey apartment block housing hundreds of Asian labourers. This is a part . . . Read More

How easy is it to live as a Christian in the Arabian Peninsula?

  February 20, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Aden, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tom Uzhunnalil, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman.World Watch Monitor   There are currently hundreds of thousands of Christians living and worshipping in the Arabian Peninsula. Millions of labourers from predominantly poor Asian and African countries – many of them Christians – work long-term in the region. Most of the migrants . . . Read More

Hope for victims of the Nigerian conflict claiming more lives than Boko Haram

  February 17, 2017 Nigeria Bayelsa, Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Kafanchan, Middle Belt

In the village of Goska, houses were destroyed, churches burnt and shops vandalised in a December attack.World Watch Monitor   The two Nigerian villages are barely five minutes’ drive apart. In one, Goska, houses were destroyed, churches burnt, shops vandalised, carcasses of animals littered the streets and most of the . . . Read More

Turkish court blocks US Christian’s deportation

  February 17, 2017 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Ankara, Coup, David Byle, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Proselytism, Ryan Keating

David Byle preaching in Turkey.World Watch Monitor   Turkey’s Constitutional Court intervened promptly this week to block temporarily the pending deportation and re-entry ban ordered against a US citizen active in Christian ministry in Turkey for the past 17 years. Without the high court’s provisional ruling, Canadian-American David Byle would . . . Read More

Charges reinstated against men accused of stripping elderly Coptic woman in public

  February 17, 2017 Egypt Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Minya, Soad Thabet

Soad Thabet and Bishop Makarius of the Coptic Church.Watani   UPDATE (17 Feb, 2017) The case against three men accused of publicly stripping naked a 70-year-old woman has been reopened. A month ago today (17 January), charges were dropped against the three men over a reported lack of evidence, despite . . . Read More

Iranians end hunger strike

  February 17, 2017 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Amir Saman Dashti, Armenians, Assyrians, Ebrahim Firouzi, Hadi Asgari, Mohammad Dehnavi, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Saheb Fadaie, Tehran, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Amin Afshar Naderi, left, and Hadi Asgari began their hunger strike on 5 February.Article 18   UPDATE (17 Feb) Two imprisoned Iranian Christians have ended their hunger strike after being promised medical care and progress in their case. Amin Afshar Naderi and Hadi Asgari, both of whom had reportedly suffered . . . Read More

India’s religious freedom failings ‘enshrined in constitution’

  February 16, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Dalits, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, Narendra Modi, Religious freedom

Religious freedom in India will never be achieved unless the country is willing to make substantial amendments to its constitution and legal framework, says a new report. It also asks the US to put human rights at the heart of trade and diplomatic interactions with India. A tide of religiously . . . Read More