PESHAWAR, Pakistan — One of the five Taliban leaders freed from Guantanamo Bay in return for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release has pledged to return to fight Americans in Afghanistan, according to a fellow militant and a relative. “After arriving in Qatar, Noorullah Noori kept insisting he would go to Afghanistan and fight American forces there,” […]
North Korean officials have sentenced a Baptist missionary from South Korea to hard labor for life for allegedly attempting to establish underground churches in the nation. Kim Jong-uk was convicted of spying and other “anti-state” violatons on Friday during his trial. According to reports, he admitted to the court that he had founded a church […]
An American tourist is being detained in North Korea after he was discovered to have left a copy of the Bible in a hotel room, reports state. According to reports, the tourist, identified in English as Jeffrey Fowle, has been held since mid-May, but North and South Korean news outlets first released the information today. “The […]
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered at least 200 civilians in three villages in northeastern Nigeria and the military failed to intervene even though it was warned that an attack was imminent, witnesses said on Thursday. A community leader who witnessed the killings on Monday said residents of the Gwoza local […]
WASHINGTON — A nationally-recognized Christian organization is urging the Obama administration to provide a safe haven to a Sudanese woman who was recently sentenced to death for refusing to convert to Islam, but is reportedly expected to be freed. As previously reported, Meriam Ibrahim, 27, was officially sentenced on May 15th after she was convicted of apostasy […]
KHARTOUM, Sudan – A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to convert to Islam will soon be freed, reports state. As previously reported, Meriam Ibrahim, 27, was officially sentenced on May 15th after she was convicted of apostasy against Islam for professing to be an Orthodox Christian. Ibrahim was born to a Muslim […]
RIO DE JANEIRO (RNS) As Brazil counts down to the opening of the World Cup on June 12, churches in cities hosting the international soccer tournament are not content to sit on the sidelines and cheer. They’ve launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the hundreds of vulnerable children at risk of sexual exploitation […]
BELFAST, Northern Ireland – A 75-year-old Irish preacher was subjected to a police probe after he condemned Islam in a sermon and was accused of ‘hate mongering.’ James McConnell, pastor of the Whitewell Metropolitan Church in North Belfast, Ireland, discussed the religion of Islam during an evening sermon on Sunday, May 18th. During the sermon, […]
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — In the days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, al-Qaida became a household name. But today, other extremist Islamist groups, many in Africa, are vying for headlines. Recently, the group Boko Haram gained international infamy after it abducted more than 250 schoolgirls. Since 2009, Christians in northern Nigeria have borne the […]
A mother whose daughter survived an abortion says she will “always regret” taking abortive drugs to end her baby’s life. Shannon Skinner, 20, followed medical advice to abort her unborn child after complications with her first baby, but baby Amelia survived and is now four weeks old. Skinner says she told herself “it wasn’t a […]