WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of State released its annual International Religious Freedom Report on Wednesday, which analyzes the state of religious freedom around the world, country by country. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback also held a press conference to speak about the report. The […]
NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Incited by Hindu extremists, followers of traditional tribal religion in eastern India last week stabbed and stoned a 16-year-old Christian boy to death for his faith, sources said. The mutilated body of Sambaru Madkami was found on Friday, buried in the jungle of Malkangiri, about six kilometers (less than 4 […]
(International Christian Concern) – On May 9, Tirpan Oraon was brutally attacked by his younger brother, an attack reportedly instigated by radical Hindu nationalists. On May 31, another pastor was assaulted while distributing COVID-19 food relief. Both of the incidents occurred in Jharkhand, a state located in northeastern India, where Christians have faced increased hostility […]
(Mission Network News) — A Nigerian pastor and his pregnant wife were laid to rest on Friday, leaving behind eight children between the ages of one and 19 years old. It’s the latest in a barrage of ethnic and religious violence overwhelming Nigeria. “It’s frustrating,” Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs USA says. … […]
Pakistan (Mission Network News) — Christians often get accused of blasphemy in Pakistan, and the story of Shafqat Emmanuel and his wife follows familiar trends. Bruce Allen of Forgotten Missionaries International says the couple was accused of “sending a text message by phone that insulted the Prophet Muhammad and insulted the Quran. These crimes, if […]
HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – Police in Jharkhand, India refused to register a complaint about an attack that sent Christians to the hospital for treatment, while officers in another area falsely accused the victims’ relatives in an assault that left a woman unconscious, sources said. A mob of about 400 animists of the tribal Sarna religion […]
(Mission Network News) — Only a few weeks ago, Iran was in the news as a hotspot for the COVID-19 pandemic. However, now that the pandemic has touched almost every corner of the world, Iran has mostly fallen out of headlines. But according to David Curry of Open Doors USA, there’s still plenty to […]
(Church in Chains) — The appeal hearing for Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, his wife Shamiram Issavi Khabizeh and three Christian friends, scheduled for June 1, has been canceled, with no new date set. Each of the five Christians has been sentenced to at least ten years in prison because of their house-church activities, and their appeal […]
Malaysia (International Christian Concern) – The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will resume the public inquiry into the disappearance of Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his Indonesian wife Ruth, who were last seen in November 2016, once the conditional movement control order (CMCO) is lifted. According to Suhakam Commissioner Jerald Joseph, they would first wait […]
(Barnabas Aid) — Christians were among those targeted and killed when armed jihadists launched three separate attacks within 24 hours in Burkina Faso that left at least 58 dead. … A Barnabas contact reported that it was clear from the testimony of a survivor that the militants were targeting Christians and humanitarians taking food to […]