Officials, Police in India Halt Worship in 10 Churches

Officials, Police in India Halt Worship in 10 Churches

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – Officials and police in Tamil Nadu state, India have ordered 10 churches to discontinue worship services, sources said. Hindu extremists compelled state officials and police to issue orders to the churches in Coimbatore District to stop worship unless they obtain permission from the collector’s office, and the extremists intend to […]

US Senators: Pakistan Should Be Designated ‘Country of Particular Concern’

US Senators: Pakistan Should Be Designated ‘Country of Particular Concern’

(World Watch Monitor) — Pakistan should be designated a “country of particular concern” because of its violations of religious freedom, according to a group of influential US senators. Senators Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio, Chris Coons, Todd Young, Jeff Merkley and James Lankford wrote to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ahead of the Nov. 13 deadline […]

Imprisoned Chinese Pastor Sues Government

Imprisoned Chinese Pastor Sues Government

GUIYANG, Guizhou (China Aid) — An imprisoned house church pastor filed a lawsuit against local government departments in China’s southern Guizhou province on Oct. 10, claiming his religious freedom had been violated and that a fine was wrongly imposed on him, ChinaAid learned recently. Li Guozhi, who is known by his alias, Yang Hua, pastored […]

Paraguayan Government Bans Gender Ideology in Schools

Paraguayan Government Bans Gender Ideology in Schools

(Evangelical Focus) — The Ministry of Education and Science of Paraguay has issued a resolution prohibiting “the dissemination and use of materials” referring to “gender ideology” in public and charter schools. The Education Minister, Enrique Riera, presented this resolution in Asuncion, during the General Assembly of the Latin Evangelical Alliance (AEL in Spanish), on 18 […]

UK Student Expelled Over Facebook Comments Outlining Biblical Stance on Homosexuality Loses Appeal

UK Student Expelled Over Facebook Comments Outlining Biblical Stance on Homosexuality Loses Appeal

LONDON — A student at a prominent university in the United Kingdom who was expelled over comments that he made on Facebook outlining the biblical stance on homosexuality has lost his appeal before the Royal Courts of Justice. While Judge Rowena Collins-Rice found that the “right to express the content of deeply held religious views deserves respect […]

Torture of Pastor in India Ruins His Livelihood, Hearing—But Not His Faith

Torture of Pastor in India Ruins His Livelihood, Hearing—But Not His Faith

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – A pastor in Uttar Pradesh, India has lost hearing in one ear after Hindu extremists tortured him, pressured police to falsely charge him and prevented doctors from treating him, sources said. Pastor Abhay Sagar, 37, of Biswan town in Sitapur District in the northern state, was about to begin preaching on Sept. […]

‘We Could Have Faced the Death Penalty’: Man Who Escaped North Korea Tells of Having to Keep Church ‘Secret’

‘We Could Have Faced the Death Penalty’: Man Who Escaped North Korea Tells of Having to Keep Church ‘Secret’

A North Korean man who escaped the country after being arrested, and was granted asylum in the United States, is telling his story of how he had to keep a church he founded underground and secret, else he possibly be put to death. “There were about nine people,” Choi Kwanghyuk told Fox News. “I couldn’t […]

Tajik Pastor Placed in Solitary Confinement in Prison Over 200 Miles From Home

Tajik Pastor Placed in Solitary Confinement in Prison Over 200 Miles From Home

(World Watch Monitor) — A Tajik Protestant church leader serving a three-year sentence for “singing extremist songs in church and so inciting religious hatred” has been moved to a prison 350km from his home and placed in solitary confinement. Bakhrom Kholmatov, 42, was sentenced in July under the Tajik Criminal Code Article 189 (“inciting national, […]

U.K. Magistrate Removed From Office, NHS Board for Opposing Same-Sex Adoption Loses Lawsuit

U.K. Magistrate Removed From Office, NHS Board for Opposing Same-Sex Adoption Loses Lawsuit

KENT, U.K. — A U.K. magistrate that was removed from office for telling the media that he believes it is best for adoptive children to be placed with a mother and father, and later also prohibited from returning to his position on the board of the National Health Service (NHS) Trust, has lost a lawsuit seeking reinstatement to the […]

UK Abortion Facility Accused of Paying Staff Bonuses for Persuading Women to Abort

UK Abortion Facility Accused of Paying Staff Bonuses for Persuading Women to Abort

(The Independent) — A damning report has accused one of the UK’s biggest abortion providers of paying its staff bonuses for encouraging women to go through with a termination. The allegations concerning the Maidstone branch of the Marie Stopes International clinic emerged in an inspection report by the Care Quality Commission, the official health service […]