Bypassing public debate on the matter, Pakistan’s National Assembly on January 17 voted to make the country’s highly controversial blasphemy laws even harsher than they already are, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports. Pakistan ranks seven on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
A Christian father has been arrested and detained in Islamabad, Pakistan on a charge of blasphemy which carries the death penalty, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
The Satanic Temple (TST) has announced that its upcoming ‘SatanCon 2023’ convention in Boston, Massachusetts will be the “largest Satanic gathering in history.”
Muslim extremists in eastern Uganda last month severely beat up two of their own brothers for leaving Islam and putting their faith in Christ, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Although Muslims are a minority in Uganda, where Christianity is legal, Islamic extremists are carrying out attacks against preachers and new believers in Christ at an increasing rate.
A young newly Christian woman in Somaliland has begun a five-year prison sentence she received for refusing to renounce her faith in Christ and return to Islam, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
A major new report shows the government of Algeria has closed down 16 Evangelical churches in the past year as part of a crackdown on proselytization and perceived blasphemy against Sunni Islam, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
A Christian woman who was imprisoned without bail for blaspheming Islam in a WhatsApp message has gone on trial in Nigeria’s Bauchi state, Morning Star News (MSN) reported on October 5.
Imran Ghafur Masih, the Pakistani Christian who spent some 11 years in a Pakistani jail for “blasphemy” against Islam, has arrived with family members in Thailand, a pastor involved in the rescue operation told Worthy News.
Dutchman Anne van der Bijl, known as the “Brother Andrew” who founded Christian charity Open Doors and became a voice of voiceless persecuted Christians, has died, his group confirmed Wednesday. He passed away in the Dutch town of Harderwijk at age 94.
A 57-year-old Christian man in Pakistan who was imprisoned for blasphemy two years ago has just been denied his latest application for bail pending trial, Asia News reports.
In a move that has caused severe consternation among rights groups, the secular High Court in Nigeria’s Kano state has upheld a recent death sentence given by a Sharia court to a man accused of blasphemy, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Controversially, Kano is one of 12 northern Nigerian states whose legal system operates under both the secular Nigerian penal code and the Islamic Sharia law.
A couple who spent seven years on death row in Pakistan for alleged blasphemy have been helped to escape the threat of further Islamic extremist violence and have found refuge in Europe, Christian Today (CT) reports.
A court in Pakistan on Monday sentenced Christian Ashfaq Masih to death for allegedly “disrespecting” the Islamic prophet Muhammad five years ago, the Print reports.
Christians in Pakistan are weighing their options after the Lahore High Court upheld the death sentence of two brothers, both Christians, for alleged “blasphemy” against Islam.
he US Department of State has now published its 2021 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, setting out the status of religious freedom in each country in the world, International Christian Concern (ICC reports). The USIRF report to Congress found that a number of countries with poor records on religious freedom had made significant improvements: these countries include Morocco, Taiwan and Iraq, ICC said. However, the situation is extremely severe and/or deteriorating in numerous other countries, including Pakistan and Yemen.
A mentally challenged Christian man has been released on bail after spending three years in a Pakistani jail on trumped-up charges of blasphemy against Islam, his lawyer told Worthy News late Tuesday.
India is facing major diplomatic outrage from Muslim-majority countries after top officials in the governing Hindu nationalist party made derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, drawing accusations of blasphemy across some Arab nations that have left New Delhi struggling to contain the damaging fallout.
An influential U.S.-based Christian advocacy group has urged the Biden administration to reverse its “baffling error” and add Nigeria back to its list of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC).
Young Islamic men in Nigeria’s Bauchi state set Christian homes and businesses state on fire Friday as they searched for a Christian woman rumored to have made a blasphemous comment insulting Muhammad, Morning Star News reports. The incident happened days after a mob of Islamic extremists in Soroko state murdered Christian student Deborah Emmanuel, after accusing her of insulting Muhammad in a WattsApp comment.
The wife and friends of frail pastor Zafar Bhatti, Pakistan’s longest jailed blasphemy suspect, fear he may soon be executed or die of poor health.
