(Radio Free Asia) — A Vietnamese pastor and democracy advocate held in custody since last July is in failing health in jail, with injuries suffered in a beating last year still not fully healed, the man’s wife says. Nguyen Trung Ton was arrested on July 30, 2017, in a roundup of members of an online […]
(Newsweek/Yahoo News) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is developing a new generation of advanced nuclear weapons including a hypersonic intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can reach almost anywhere in the world and cannot be shot down by anti-missile systems. Putin made the claim during his annual presidential address to the Federal Assembly in […]
(World Watch Monitor) — Local authorities in Algeria’s north-western city of Oran have closed two more churches amidst growing pressure on Christians in the Maghreb country. The two churches—L’Oratoire (The Oratory) in Oran’s city centre, and a village church in Layayda (about 40km from Oran)—were sealed off by police on Tuesday, Feb. 27. The police […]
(World Watch Monitor) — Malaysia’s highest court dismissed an appeal today (Feb. 27) against four appellants who wanted to be formally recognized as Christians. The five judges of the Malaysian Federal Court ruled that in matters of conversion away from Islam, it was necessary for them to consult the Islamic Sharia courts. The president of […]
JERUSALEM — An archaeologist in Israel says that a seal that her team discovered during an excavation in Jerusalem several years ago might have belonged to the biblical prophet Isaiah, as it bears the Hebrew name and was found in the same area where another seal bearing the name of King Hezekiah had been unearthed years […]
NANJING, Jiangsu (ChinaAid) — Physicians in China’s eastern Jiangsu province declared renowned Christian human rights lawyer Li Baiguang dead on Sunday despite a previous record of clean health, indicating that he was murdered by the Chinese Communist Party, whom he often opposed. Li went to the hospital for a minor stomach ache and was declared […]
(International Christian Concern) — International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that six Christians from Elahiabad, a town located near Faisalabad, were charged with committing blasphemy on Friday, Feb. 23. Following the blasphemy accusations, a majority of the Christians from the neighborhood fled, fearing mob violence. According to First Information Report (FIR) #238/18, Fayaz Masih, Riaz […]
JIANGMEN, Guangdong (China Aid) — A house church Christian in China’s southern Guangdong province has been blacklisted out of employment after being arrested for his faith. Ruan Haoan, a member of Fengle Church in the city of Jiangmen, discovered that after his release from a month-long detention last year, employers in the area have been […]
(Hurriyet Daily News) — An atheist man who died in the Ayvalık district of the western district of Ayvalık has been buried in a cemented grave along with his personal belongings, forgoing a religious ceremony in line with his will. Atila Yüksel was 76 years old when he died of a heart attack on Feb. […]
North Korea (Mission Network News) — Kyung-ja’s* first experience hearing about God in North Korea wasn’t from a missionary or radio broadcast or pamphlet—but from her torturer. The North Korean guard continued to beat Kyung-ja with a club even as she faded in and out of consciousness. She had snuck into China to try and earn […]