(World Watch Monitor) — Attacks attributed to radical Islamic groups are happening on a weekly, or even daily, basis in Africa, posing security concerns across a vast swathe of the continent. The phenomenon has dramatically affected Church activities in various regions. But Reuben E. Ezemadu, Coordinator of the Movement for African National Initiatives (MANI), a […]
BAGHDAD (USA Today/Associated Press) — A massive bombing by the Islamic State group outside a popular ice cream shop in central Baghdad and a rush hour car bomb in another downtown area killed at least 31 people on Tuesday, Iraqi officials said. The attacks come as IS militants are steadily losing more territory to U.S.-backed […]
(World Watch Monitor) — As Ramadan begins, the daughter of an Algerian Christian serving three years in jail for “insulting Islam and the prophet Muhammad” on Facebook says she’s worried about the abuse her father could suffer after he was transferred to a third different prison. Slimane Bouhafs, who is eight months into his sentence, […]
(The Independent) — Teenagers who smoke marijuana regularly achieve poorer grades at school and risk their chances of going to university, according to a major new scientific study. A longitudinal study of more than 26,400 pupils in Canada found those who started using marijuana at least once a month were around half as likely to […]
(The Christian Institute) — The Church of Scotland has taken steps to allow its ministers to perform same-sex “weddings,” after debating a report in its General Assembly. The report, put forward by the influential Theological Forum, acknowledged that the Bible condemns same-sex acts, but claimed Scripture was framed by cultural context. Marriage was redefined in […]
(World Watch Monitor) — A church leader was among those killed in the recent outbreak of violence in the Central African Republic, it has emerged. Baptist pastor Ange-Apoléon Ngakolada, 36, leaves behind a wife and eight children. The president of the Association of Evangelical Baptist Churches in CAR, Singa Gbadia, told World Watch Monitor that […]
(Reuters) — Indonesia’s anti-terrorism unit raided the home of a suspected suicide bomber on Thursday as authorities linked attacks that killed three police officers at a Jakarta bus station a day earlier to the Islamic State militant group. Six police officers and six civilians were also wounded in the twin blasts set off five minutes […]
(World Watch Monitor) — New cases have emerged of Azerbaijanis facing heavy fines and imprisonment for trying to sell or distribute religious literature. The South Caucasus state, which supposedly allows religious freedoms under its secular constitution, has made it difficult in the past for Christians to practice their faith. In December 2016 two church leaders […]
TAMPA, Fla. (Washington Post) — A former neo-Nazi who converted to Islam is accused of killing his two roommates because they “disrespected” his new faith, police said. Last Friday evening, police arrested 18-year-old Devon Arthurs after he briefly held three people at gunpoint at a smoke shop in Tampa, then surrendered to officers. That incident, it […]
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Fox 59) — A Nigerian-born church pastor was shot to death in Indianapolis and police are continuing to search for his killer. The murder took place over the weekend at an apartment complex near 10th Street and I-465 on the city’s west side. Friends and neighbors say the 66-year-old victim, Oluwadayomi Epenusi, had […]