(World Watch Monitor) — Two hundred and seventy-one Christians in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have been charged with a range of crimes including attempting to convert Hindus through the use of drugs and by spreading lies about Hinduism. Of the 271, just three were named – pastors Durga Prasad Yadav, Kirit Rai […]

(World Watch Monitor) — Two people were killed for failing to recite the Islamic statement of faith when militants, believed to belong to the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, attacked their bus in eastern Kenya on Friday. Seven men stopped the bus while it was on its way to Garissa, between the towns of Iljara and […]

(World Watch Monitor) — A spate of attacks, in which at least 20 were killed in Nigeria’s central Plateau State over the last week of August, has shattered peace efforts by religious and political leaders in its capital, Jos. … On Aug. 28, communities including a mining site at Wereh village (Ropp District), Abonong, Ziyat […]

(World Watch Monitor) — Leah Sharibu, the Christian teenager abducted by an Islamist group in February, has asked Nigeria’s president to intervene and help facilitate her release. In a 35 seconds-long audio recording, obtained by Ahmad Salkida for the Nigerian newspaper The Cable, she asks for help for her family and herself. “I also plead […]

(World Watch Monitor) — Amnesty International (AI) has launched an Urgent Action calling for the release of four Iranians sentenced to a combined total of 45 years in prison “solely for practicing their Christian faith.” Its report calls for urgent action from the Iranian government to “quash the convictions and sentences of Victor Bet-Tamraz, Shamiram […]

(World Watch Monitor) — A Mexican pastor who survived an assassination attempt in the notorious border city of Juarez in June says he was targeted because his church’s work is seen to negatively impact upon the efforts of drug cartels. A hitman entered the pastor’s home on 12 June, making him kneel down on the […]

(World Watch Monitor) — An Iranian convert to Christianity serving ten years in prison for “missionary activities” has written an open letter to the Iranian authorities, asking how his Christian activities could be perceived as anti-state. “Would it even be possible for a committed Christian – who was born and raised in Iran and whose […]

(World Watch Monitor) — The Rwanda Governance Board continues to close churches it says fail to meet requirements laid down at the beginning of the year. New requirements set in place for those congregations that want to continue ministry are also complicating efforts to comply. Many see the closures as part of an effort by […]

(World Watch Monitor) — A crowd of Turkish Christians from Andrew Brunson’s Izmir Resurrection Church greeted their pastor with cries of “We love you, Andrew!” as he arrived home under police escort on Wednesday afternoon, July 25. After nearly 22 months in detention, Brunson was released at 5:30 p.m. from Izmir’s Kiriklar maximum security prison […]

(World Watch Monitor) — Hopes were dashed for the imminent release of an American pastor jailed in Turkey on terrorism charges as a Turkish court today ordered him to remain behind bars. The court scheduled Andrew Brunson’s next hearing for Oct. 12. Some observers had believed that Turkey might release Brunson, who has been detained […]