HANGZHOU, Zhejiang (ChinaAid) — As China clamps down on the freedoms of its state-run churches, officials in the country’s eastern Zhejiang province have recently issued orders aimed at closing Sunday schools and keeping children from Christian events over the summer months. “For a long time, teenagers and students have not been allowed to participate in […]
(Evangelical Focus) — Christian Labour Member of the UK Parliament, Stephen Timms, led a debate on July 15, calling for measures to tackle an alarming rise in acid attacks. There were over 450 such crimes in London last year, a big rise from 261 incidents in 2015. One third of these crimes occurred in Timm’s constituency, […]
JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Among several Boko Haram bombings that have put northeastern Nigeria on edge this year was a suicide attack on Christian student organization quarters that killed a Christian student, sources said. Ambore Gideon Todi, a 21-year-old student at the University of Maiduguri in Borno state, was staying in the Evangelical Church Winning […]
(Middle East Concern) — Algerian Christians are grateful that Slimane Bouhafs, imprisoned since September 2016 for blasphemy, has received a partial pardon. His three-year sentence was reduced by 16 months on July 5, the national day of Algeria, following a decree by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, which provided clemency to several prisoners on account of good […]
LONDON (The Christian Institute) — London Underground announcements will now be in “gender-neutral” language, after a change in policy. Transport for London (TfL) has informed its workers to begin announcements with “hello everyone” instead of ‘ladies and gentlemen” to ensure Tube stations are “fully inclusive.” Homosexual lobby group Stonewall celebrated the news, claiming that language […]
HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – A pastor in northern India’s Punjab state was shot dead in front of his church premises two months after Hindu extremists took offense at a gospel event celebrating his church’s 25th anniversary, sources said. Pastor Sultan Masih of Temple of God was found shot dead at Peer Banda Mohalla in the Salem Tabri […]
VALLETTA, Malta (New York Times) — Lawmakers in Malta, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, voted to legalize same-sex marriage on Wednesday, joining much of Western Europe by replacing the traditional “you are now husband and wife” declaration in civil ceremonies with “you are now spouses.” Only one lawmaker out of 67 in the Maltese Parliament […]
Eritrea (Mission Network News) — Homes. Graveyards. Shipping Containers. These are the meeting places of the Eritrean Church. Over 100 believers have been arrested in Eritrea during the last month, but Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyrs Canada says the recent crackdown is nothing new for the nation. Fifteen years ago the Evangelical Church […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Al Shabaab militia over the weekend killed 13 non-Muslims, mostly Christians, in coastal Kenya, sources said. Village Muslims in the Pandanguo settlement of Lamu County helped Islamic extremists from the Somalia-based Al Shabaab identify locations where the Christians resided, a survivor of the attack told Morning Star News from […]
HAVANA, Cuba — A Cuban appeals court has overturned a prison sentence leveled against a pastor who was punished in May for homeschooling his children. “This is a far better outcome than I had expected,” said Mike Donnelly of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in an update on Wednesday. “Based on my understanding of […]