Amid widespread criticism of the Rajasthan anti-conversion bill by Christian and human rights organizations, Rajasthan Gov. Pratibha Patil on Friday (May 19) refused to sign it into law, saying its provisions would violate religious freedom.
An Iranian Christian who converted from Islam 33 years ago is under arrest and interrogation in northern Iran, where secret police have held him incommunicado for the past three weeks.
Chinese security forces carried out massive arrests of house church pastors in two provinces and at least one church leader from South Korea was expelled from the country, investigators said Monday, May 15.
Hindu extremists yesterday vandalized an independent church in Gauri Nadi village, about 12 kilometers (seven miles) from Jabalpur city in the north-central state of Madhya Pradesh. The mob beat a church member and lodged a police complaint against a pastor for ‘;forcibly converting’ Hindus.
Christians in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province worshipped Sunday, May 14, amid concerns over the future of their award-winning Good News Community Radio (GNCR) which was ordered to stop broadcasting by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), officials said.
Police in Indonesia announced Wednesday (May 10) that suspected Islamic terrorists have confessed to beheading three Indonesian schoolgirls in Poso, on the island of Sulawesi, in October 2005.
Unruly mobs have attacked three churches over the past fortnight, in one incident setting car tires on fire in front of a Methodist church to prevent people from entering for Sunday worship.
A woman in the city of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh state, has accused six of her uncles and their pastor of trying to forcefully convert her to Christianity.
Police in India’s northeastern state of Punjab have urged Christians to remain calm and promised protection after a house church in Bhatinda district was attacked by Hindu extremists during an Easter service, news reports said Tuesday, May 9.
Evangelical Christians in the ex-Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were on edge Saturday, May 6, ahead of Sunday worship services as security forces in both countries reportedly raided church gatherings and threatened believers, including children, while confiscating Bibles.
Two Anglican priests in Nigeria were out of their comas Friday, May 5, after crowds of traditional animists reportedly beat them nearly to death and destroyed their properties for ‘making gods angry’ with church services.
Facing threats from a local Muslim militia leader, Christians in central Sudan have decided to leave their church half-built after it went up in flames the day after Christmas last year.
Human rights officials in Europe and the United States expressed concern Wednesday, May 3, over the persecution of Christians in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, nearly a year after hundreds of people died when security forces opened fire on pro-democracy demonstrators.
Radical Muslims in mid-April forced three churches to cease services in North Jakarta and the provinces of West Java and Tangerang, claiming the meetings were disturbing Islamic communities.
Parliamentarians in the Netherlands have urged the government to investigate reports of death threats against former Muslims who converted to Christianity, a Dutch Christian daily newspaper reported Tuesday, May 2.
Police officers from Uzbekistan’s criminal investigation department burst into the home of a Protestant pastor in northwest Uzbekistan last week, disrupting 12 people as they were having lunch together. The pastor and another believer were charged with “breaking the laws on teaching religion.”
The president of one of India’s largest evangelical mission organizations will be released on bail after 47 days of imprisonment on charges related to alleged anti-Hindu activities, officials said Monday, May 1.
Sri Lanka’s Parliament has appointed a 19-member committee to review a bill that would outlaw “forcible” conversion, before it is presented for a final vote.
The health of a leading Christian Cuban prisoner of conscience has “significantly worsened,” amid abuse inside the detention facility where at least one person was killed in recent days, his wife said Monday, April 24.
Family members and human rights activists urged the international community Saturday, April 22, to pressure North Korea not to execute a Christian man who has been accused of “betrayal” and “espionage” by the Communist government.