(Bloomberg) – A group of people has been taken hostage in a cafe in Sydney’s Martin Place and forced to hold a black flag with Arabic writing against the window, Australian television networks reported. About half a dozen armed officers wearing helmets and body armor were stationed on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Martin Place, […]

Former bookstore employee, Wenxi Li, is currently scheduled for release from a Shanxi province prison on December 18th. Wenxi, who is from Beijing, had travelled to Shanxi province to help local Christians open a new bookstore. Police raided the new business and confiscated hundreds of books. On December 19, 2012, Wenxi was asked to come […]

(World Watch Monitor) — Three more cases of blasphemy accusations have emerged in Pakistan, even after a Christian couple’s beating to death and burning in a brick kiln after allegations of blasphemy horrified the world, including the metropolitan elite in the country. The Christian couple were killed over suspicions of desecrating the Qur’an on November […]

JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – For Jummai Sunday, 63, Thursday (Dec. 11) began like any other for the Christian widow. After a morning devotional, she visited sick or bereaved families, and then returned home to gather items for sale at her market spot near the bus terminal area in Jos, Nigeria. She survived the twin […]

JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Islamic extremists from Boko Haram killed 11 people and kidnapped 20 women as they attacked predominantly Christian Lassa in northeastern Nigeria state last week, the third town a three weeks that the terrorist group claims as part of its caliphate. The Boko Haram insurgents, who seek to impose sharia (Islamic […]

“Saving Christmas,” a film-based campaign from actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron that seeks to convince Christians that some Christmas traditions, such as Santa Claus and Christmas trees, aren’t pagan and have a biblical basis for their observance, has received the lowest rating ever in Internet Movie Database (IMDB) history. Although the movie has grossed $2.2 million […]

VENICE, Fla. – A 17-year-old recruited fellow high school students for a prostitution ring and coordinated deals on social media, charging $50 to $100 in cash and alcohol, police in Florida said. The teen is charged with felony human trafficking after a Friday arrest in Venice, near Sarasota on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The Associated Press […]

Werner Groenewald’s family and friends were shocked when he decided to go to Afghanistan about 12 years ago. It was 2002, the year after the September 11 attacks that prompted the United States to invade the country and remove the Taliban from power. Afghanistan had just begun rebuilding itself, following decades of brutal regimes and […]

France is celebrating its first successful fetal surgery after a baby girl was born Nov. 9 at full term and in good health. Nearly four months earlier, in July, doctors at Armand Trousseau Hospital in Paris operated on the 20-week-old fetus with spina bifida while inside her mother’s womb. To prevent brain damage, doctors recommended […]

JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – Police and security personnel today dispersed a congregation keeping vigil over its disputed property in North Khartoum, Sudan, and arrested five church leaders, sources said. Authorities arrived at noon at the compound of the Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church, where last week they demolished a pastor’s house and church wall, […]