Tag: Yemen

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

Middle East faith & money toxic for Horn of Africa

February 15, 2017 Africa, Al-Shabaab, Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, Eritrea, Houthis, Islamic extremism, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sufi, United Arab Emirates, Wahhabism, Yemen

There’s a long-standing connection between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, shaped by trade and faith. Former BBC Africa Editor Martin Plaut explores this relationship, which has caused increased tensions between and within the countries in the Horn, and which has affected the Christians there badly. Over centuries, . . . Read More

Nationalism in Asia, Islamic extremism in Africa – the 2017 World Watch List

January 11, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Africa, Asia, Bhutan, BJP, Ethiopia, Hindu nationalism, India, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Libya, Narendra Modi, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Yemen

One of the greatest increases in animosity towards Christians last year took place in India as a result of religiously motivated nationalism, according to the latest annual survey of the 50 countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian. Since the rise to power of Narendra . . . Read More

Criticised for not securing release of kidnapped priest in Yemen, Indian government says it ‘told him not to go’

January 9, 2017 Yemen Aden, Catholics, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

Fr Tom UzhunnalilArchdiocese of Bombay India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come under fire from his political opponents for his failure to secure the release of an Indian Catholic priest kidnapped 10 months ago in Yemen by Islamic extremists. Now Modi’s Deputy Foreign Minister, M. J. Akbar, has said the . . . Read More

Freedom of religion or belief ‘undermined’ in corrupt countries

June 2, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Asia-Pacific, Central Asia, Colombia, Corruption, David Cameron, Eastern Europe, Europe, G20, Libya, London, Mexico, Middle East, Nigeria, North Africa, Religious freedom, Somalia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Yemen

Corruption is increasingly seen as a factor behind the persecution of minority Christians around the world, and the world leaders who gathered at an Anti-Corruption Summit in London in May showed they are beginning to pay more attention to the effects of corruption on freedom of religion or belief. Evidence . . . Read More

Most of today’s wars are in Muslim countries

May 18, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen

Most wars across the world are taking place in majority-Muslim countries, with Muslims mainly fighting each other, says . In 2012, there were six civil wars worldwide. All took place within Muslim countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Of the nine rebel groups in these conflicts, seven had . . . Read More

Priest’s crucifixion rumours false, says India’s Foreign Minister

April 4, 2016 Yemen Aden, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

Mathew Uzhunnalil, left, the older brother of kidnapped priest Thomas Uzhunnallil, talks with their cousin, V.A. Thomas, in the family home in Kerala state, India.World Watch Monitor UPDATE (4 April) India’s government has said rumours that a kidnapped Catholic priest was crucified on Good Friday are false, and promised . . . Read More

Why do we not save Christians?

October 7, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Iraq, Israel, Jews, Middle East, Sunni, Syria, USA, Yemen

Why is the West, with its “overwhelming” majority of Christians, showing reluctance to offer a home to Christians fleeing the Middle East, asks Elliott Abrams, writing in The Weekly Standard. The former foreign policy advisor to President George W. Bush compares the reluctance with Israel’s willingness to accept Jews persecuted . . . Read More

Religious freedom in the Arabian Peninsula?

September 22, 2015 Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Medina in Saudi Arabia is the heartland of the Islamic faith, attracting millions of pilgrims every year.Wajahat Mahmood / Flickr / CC A recent article in Christianity Today reports that Christianity is booming in the “heart of Islam”, with the “millions” of Christians there not really facing persecution – . . . Read More

Yemen church set on fire

September 17, 2015 Yemen Aden, Houthis, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Masked militants yesterday (16. Sep) set ablaze one of the few remaining churches in Aden, Yemen’s southern port city. The fire, which witnesses told the BBC burned the entire contents of the St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in the city’s Crater neighbourhood, came the day after vandals had broken in . . . Read More

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