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India: Kerala chief minister calls for fresh probe into Kandhamal deaths

December 16, 2016 India Dalits, Hindu nationalism, Kandhamal, Odisha

The chief minister of the south Indian state of Kerala has called for a fresh probe into the 2008 murder of a Hindu leader, which sparked months of rioting, in which almost 100 Christians were killed. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was speaking on Tuesday (13 Dec.) at the launch of . . . Read More

Murder of Fulani Christian mayor in Mali increases concerns over creeping Islamic extremism

December 16, 2016 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Bamako, Beatrice Stockly, Islamic extremism, Sahel, Timbuktu, Tuareg

The motive behind the murder of a Fulani Christian politician in Mali last month remains unknown, but locals suspect an Islamist agenda. Moussa Issah Bary, the 47-year-old deputy mayor of Kerana (near the Burkina Faso border), was shot dead by six unidentified men on motorbikes on 16 November. He is . . . Read More

Sudanese pastors pressured to ‘inform’ or stand trial

December 16, 2016 Sudan Abdulmonem Abdumawla, Apostasy, Blue Nile, Darfur, Hassan Taour, Islamic extremism, Khartoum, Kuwa Shamal, Nuba Mountains, Omar al-Bashir, Petr Jašek, Refugees, Sharia

Forty-eight-year-old father of three Rev. Yamane Abraha received an ultimatum in Khartoum following a trip to Ethiopia in the autumn of 2015. “[Sudanese government] security threatened me, saying I would have to appear in court either as a witness, or an accused,” the Evangelical Baptist Church of Khartoum pastor told . . . Read More

Sisi under fire after Coptic church attack

December 15, 2016 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Bishop Angaelos, Cairo, Copts, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (R) attends the funeral ceremony for the victims of the 11 December bomb attack on St. Peter and St. Paul Coptic Orthodox Church. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi faced sharp criticism following Sunday’s (11 Dec.) bomb attack on a Coptic church in Cairo, in which . . . Read More

Devastation of liberated Iraqi Christian towns makes return home seem further away than ever

December 15, 2016 Iraq Bartella, Erbil, IDPs, Islamic State, Karamles, Kurds, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Refugees

Now the smoke has gone from the Nineveh Plain, it is clear that Islamic State fighters dealt one final, vicious blow to the Christian population before surrendering its occupied towns: by systematically setting fire to their homes, thousands have become practically uninhabitable. Suddenly, for many Christians, the prospect of returning . . . Read More

Another court hearing, but no end in sight for Iranian Christian converts

December 14, 2016 Iran Amir Saman Dashti, Apostasy, Converts, Islamic extremism, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, Mohammad Dehnavi, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Saheb Fadaie, Tehran, Victor Bet-Tamraz, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Youcef Nadarkhani is greeted by his wife, Tina, after his release from prison in September 2012.The Nadarkhani family A second court hearing took place today (14 Dec.) for four Iranian converts to Christianity charged with “acting against national security”. Youcef Nadarkhani, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Saheb Fadaie and Mohammad Reza Omidi . . . Read More

Nigeria: Kebbi Christians face latent pressure to abandon faith

December 13, 2016 Nigeria Islamic extremism, Sharia

While violent attacks on Christians at the hands of Islamist militants Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen in the northeast and Middle Belt of Nigeria have captured media attention, the persistent social pressures Christians face elsewhere go mostly unnoticed. Despite common misperceptions that they are a minority across the north . . . Read More

Indonesian Christian governor insists ‘no insult intended’ as ‘blasphemy’ trial begins

December 13, 2016 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Kalimantan, Sumatra

UPDATE (13 Dec.) Indonesian Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (better known as “Ahok”), fought back tears during the first day of his blasphemy trial today (13 Dec.). Ahok – only the second Christian and the second governor of Chinese descent to lead the Indonesian capital city, Jakarta – is alleged to have “misused” . . . Read More

Azerbaijani Christians fined over ‘illegal’ prayer meeting

December 13, 2016 Azerbaijan Aliabad, Hamid Shabanov, House churches

Thirty people were arrested when a dozen policemen interrupted the prayer meeting on the morning of 27 November at the house of Gamid and Ginayat Shabanov in Aliabad, a village in the south of Azerbaijan.

World Watch Monitor

UPDATE (13 Dec.) Two Azerbaijani church leaders have been fined 1,500 Azerbaijani Manats ($850) each for holding an “illegal” prayer meeting. All 30 attendees were initially arrested when a dozen policemen interrupted the meeting on the morning of 27 November at the house of Hamid and Ginayat Shabanov in Aliabad, . . . Read More

Azerbaijani Christians face fines for ‘illegal’ prayer meeting

December 12, 2016 Azerbaijan Aliabad, Churches, Hamid Shabanov

Twenty-four Azerbaijani Christians have been told they will be fined at least 1,500 Azerbaijani Manats ($850) each for participating in an “illegal” prayer meeting at a church leader’s home. All 30 attendees were initially arrested when a dozen policemen interrupted the meeting on the morning of 27 November at the . . . Read More

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