Iranian Supreme Court Confirms Death Sentence?
The Iranian Supreme Court’s ruling on the appeal against the death sentence of Youcef Nadarkhani by a lower court was finally delivered to his attorney.
Christian Persecution
Laos: Two Church Leaders Languish in Prison
Two pastors arrested six months ago on charges of holding a “secret meeting” during a Christmas celebration without government approval languish in prison without a trial. Officials continue to offer them the option of renouncing their faith and walking free.
U.S. Condemns Iran For Threatening To Execute Pastor
The United States has condemned reported plans by Iran to execute an Iranian pastor if he does not abandon his faith in Christ, Worthy News established Tuesday, July 12.
China claims Christian used “superstition” to undermine law enforcement
A leader in China’s growing underground church movement who disappeared last month was actually in police custody.
Held on “suspicion of using superstition to undermine national law enforcement,” Shi Enhaoi is one of 150 million Chinese Christians who refuse to join the Communist Party’s Three-Self Patriotic Movement: the only officially sanctioned Protestant church on the mainland.
Iraq’s first new church opens under US occupation
Iraq’s first new church under the US occupation opened its doors in the northern city of Kirkuk, the region’s Chaldean archbishop told AFP.
Blasts near two churchs kills six Nigerians
Explosions near two churchs — one in the town of Suleija near the Nigerian capital and another in the town of Damboa south of the state capital — have so far claimed the lives of six Nigerians.
Kazakhstan: Pastors Charged with Praying
Pastor Yerzhan Ushanov of New Life Protestant Church in Taraz is looking at two years’ imprisonment if criminal charges for injuring an individual’s health ever come to court, Christian rights investigators said.
Egyptian Court rules in favour of Christian Converts
Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court recently ruled in favour of anyone wanting their religious registration officially changed back to “Christian”, according to Middle East Concern.
CAN fears Nigerian Islamization via Banking
The Christian Association of Nigeria said a proposal by the Central Bank of Nigeria to introduce Islamic Banking is part of a hidden agenda by Muslims to Islamize the nation.
Iranian Believer Remains in Custody Despite Making Bail
Farshid Fathi was in solitary confinement for months before he was told that he could be free on $200,000 bail; with great difficulty, his family came up with the cash after selling his father-in-law’s home, but when Fathi was ready to to walk out the prison door, the chief interrogator from the Iranian public prosecutor’s office ordered him back for further questioning.
Iran: Doubts that Pastor’s Death Sentence Has Been Annulled
Christians in Iran have challenged news reports that the death penalty for Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani has been annulled pointing out that in reality the Supreme Court appears to have added a precondition requiring him to renounce his faith or face execution, according to an international Christian rights group.
Iran Court ‘Overturns’ Death Sentence for Pastor Amid Pressure
Iran’s secretive supreme court has reportedly overturned a death sentence handed down to an evangelical pastor for leaving Islam, surprising trial observers who were earlier informed about an execution ruling.
Israel Group Campaigns Against Messianic Jews, Missionaries
A hard-line Jewish ultra-Orthodox group in Israel has launched a campaign against Christian missionaries and Jewish Christians, known as Messianic Jews, who they view as a security threat.
Cuba Detains Over 20 Christians In New Crackdown, Activists Say
Baptist Pastor Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso and his wife, Yoaxis, were part of the 23 Christians detained by Cuban police in Santa Clara, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a major religious rights group.
Chinese Expel Shouwang Church Member from Beijing
Chinese authorities recently expelled yet another member of Beijing’s largest unregistered house churches.
Chuan Liang was the second member of the Shouwang “keeping watch” Church to be expelled from the city since authorities compelled the congregation to meet outdoors; the first expulsion came after Shouwang Church held its fifth consecutive outdoor Sunday worship service when 15 members were taken to 10 police stations across Beijing, but most were released within 24 hours.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s Death Sentence Upheld by Iranian Supreme Court
An Iranian pastor, convicted of apostasy and sentenced to death, may have only hours or days to live, according to a US-based Christian ministry acquainted with the facts of his case.
Christians attacked after rumors of Church Construction
Three people were injured when Muslim mobs burned down eight Christian homes in the Egyptian village of Awlad Khalaf Saturday after a rumor that a house currently under construction would instead become a church.
Islamist Boko Haram blamed for escalating violence in Nigeria
At least 25 Nigerians were killed Sunday when motorcyclists bombed several outdoor beer gardens in Maiduguri; although no one claimed responsibility for the bombings, local police said the attacks bore the hallmark of Boko Haram, an Islamic group fighting for the implementation of shar’ia, which prohibits alcohol.
Taliban Execute Man For Leaving Islam For Jesus Christ
Afghani Christians are warned of “dire consequences” should American forces leave Afghanistan, Worthy News has learned. “If U.S. troops are not in Afghanistan the Taliban will come to power,” said Obaid S. Christ, an Afghan Christian exiled to India, said last Tuesday. “We will have the same situation we had in the 1990s when the Russians left Afghanistan, when we had civil war and millions killed.”
Uzbek Christians Suffer as Regime Tightens Noose
At least four incidents of Christian persecution were reported from the former Soviet country of Uzbekistan this week. According to an analysis and report researched and written by Fernando Perez for the World Evangelical Alliance – Religious Liberty Commission, a Christian woman was beaten into concussion, another woman was fined $1,465 by a court for giving the New Testament to a child, a Christian man was threatened with axe attack by a police official and another man was assaulted by police.