Sudan (Mission Network News) — Czech Christian aid worker Petr Jasek has been in a Sudan prison for 352 days — nearly a full year. He’s one of the people featured on Voice of the Martyrs’ Prisoner Alert system, and an example of the abuse of religious freedom in Sudan today. According to Open Doors […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — More than 10,000 Indonesians took to the streets of their capital to call for tolerance and unity in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, after police opened a blasphemy investigation into the city’s Christian governor. Earlier this month, Jakarta was rocked by a massive protest by conservative Muslims against the popular […]
KENT, U.K. — A U.K. magistrate that was removed from office last year for telling the media that he believes it is best for adoptive children to be placed with a mother and father will now file suit after also being prohibited from returning to his position on the board of the National Health Service (NHS) Trust. […]
ROME — Roman Catholic leader Jorge Bergoglio, also known as Pope Francis, has granted priests the unending power to pardon mothers who have obtained abortions, outlining his endowment in a letter issued at the end of his proclaimed “Jubilee Year of Mercy.” The development has raised concern among some. “I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of […]
(Morning Star News) – A pastor in southwestern China, jailed for nearly a year on fabricated charges and suffering a liver disease, focuses on trusting God in a letter of encouragement to his wife, according to China Aid. Authorities took pastor Li Guozhi, better known as Yang Hua, into custody after a raid on his […]
WENZHOU, Zhejiang (China Aid) — China’s two Christian, state-run organizations forcibly removed a pastor from his position in the coastal province of Zhejiang on Oct. 29 and prohibited him from preaching or evangelizing. The pastor, Zhang Chongzhu, was placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location,” otherwise known as a “black jail,” last September. On Feb. […]
ONTARIO — A 19-year-old homeschool graduate has become the youngest in Canada to win a parliamentary seat, closing out his opponents with over 50 percent of the vote. Sam Oosterhoff beat out New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Mike Thomas, 61, and Liberal Party candidate Vicky Ringuette, 37, on Thursday, receiving 54 percent of the popular vote. He had […]
Officials in the United Kingdom have reportedly agreed to reconsider their denial of a couple’s request to adopt two foster children in their care because they told social workers that the juveniles needed a mother and a father, and not two daddies. “At a meeting this week, the council recognized that the initial rejection was wrong. […]
(Christian Institute) — Proposals to legalize same-sex marriage across Mexico have been struck down. President Enrique Pena Nieto’s plans for nationwide legalization were rejected by 19 votes to 8 in the Lower House of Congress. Same-sex marriage is currently allowed in Mexico City and several other states, but the president had called for it to […]
(The Guardian) — South Australia premier Jay Weatherill has said he is “gutted” after the state parliament’s 15th attempt to pass a voluntary euthanasia bill was defeated by one vote. Weatherill told ABC radio on Thursday he respected the decision of MPs in the overnight vote but he was personally “incredibly disappointed.” Opposition leader Steven […]