An international protest was underway Tuesday, May 12, to obtain the release of a detained, frail, evangelical pastor in Uzbekistan, who came to symbolize what rights investigators described as widespread persecution of Christians and other minorities in Central Asia.
A Britain-based Christian rights group has urged Iran’s government to relaese two female Christian converts who remained detained Tuesday, May 12, a day after an American-Iranian reporter was freed amid international pressure.
American Iranian free-lance journalist Roxana Saberi who reported for Vatican Radio, National Public Radio and other international media has been freed from a Tehran prison, amid international pressure, her attorney confirmed Monday, May 11.
Indian court proceedings underway Monday, May 11, against men who were allegedly involved
in gang raping a nun were overshadowed by indications that witnesses have been threatened not to accurately testify, observers said.
Evangelical Christians in India’s eastern state of Andhra Pradesh faced the difficult task Sunday, May 10, of rebuilding their church after suspected anti-Christian militants torched the building, the latest in a series of attacksagainst churches in the area, investigators said.
Hundreds of thousands of people, including Christians, have fled Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled Swat Valley and nearby areas as the Pakistani military on Saturday, May 9, continued to pound suspected militant positions.
Three women were free Friday, May 8, as Eritrean authorities unexpectedly released them from a notorious military prison camp where they were detained for six months because of their membership of a “banned” Christian movement, an advocacy group with close knowledge of the situation said.
United States President Barack Obama was to limit his participation in the annual “National Day of Prayer,” Thursday, May 7, to signing a proclamation, disappointing both Christian conservatives and atheists who want to end the tradition.
Amid protests against reported church destructions, the city of Hanoi has ordered one of its districts to stop construction work on land claimed by the Catholic church, Worthy News monitored Thursday, May 7.
Pakistan’s military and the militant Taliban group clashed in the country’s strategic Swat Valley Wednesday, May 6, adding to fears among minority Christians and forcing thousands of civilians to flee the area.
The livelihood of at least hundreds of thousands of Christians in Cairo and other areas was threatened Wednesday, May 6, as Egypt’s government announced it would go ahead with slaughtering the country’s pigs to combat swine flu and improve hygienic conditions.
A group of Chinese house church Christians, including key leaders, remained detained in China’s Henan province Tuesday May 5, after security forces raided a house church in Xinye city, rights investigators said.
A Protestant pastor who says he was tortured while being detained in the Philippines has warned of widespread killings and other attacks against church members in the Asian nation.
Libya has released a Ghanian believer who was sentenced in 2001 to 25 years in prison for importing evangelistic materials, a major rights group involved in the case confirmed Monday, May 4.
Christians in Iraq held worship services Sunday, May 3, after they were urged not to flee despite the killing of three believers in the northern city of Kirkuk.
The latest annual report by the independent United States Commission on International Religious Freedom names 13 countries as serious violators of religious freedom, Worthy News monitored Saturday, May 2, with reporting by the Voice of America network (VOA).
Former leaders of Britain’s three main political parties have urged the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to make the release of Burma’s 2,100 political prisoners, including Christians, his personal priority, Worthy News monitored Friday, May 1.