Netherlands Slightly Reopens After Europe’s Toughest Lockdown Amid Outrage
The Netherlands’ government pledged Tuesday to ease Europe’s strictest COVID-19 measures after mounting public pressure with protests and rioting in the streets.
Christian
Iran Releasing Jailed Converts, But Exiles One
Iran has released two Christian converts who served a one-year prison sentence linked to their membership of a house church, but one of them still faces two years’ internal exile, Christians told Worthy News.
Nigeria: Government does nothing to help Christian communities after Fulani kill 45 people in one day
Fulani Islamic terrorists murdered 45 men, women and children in devastating attacks on six Christian farming villages in Nigeria’s Nasarawa state on December 18 last year, and the government has reneged on its promise to help the crushed communities, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
India: Pastor and family violently attacked in their home
Chanting “kill him, kill him,” a gang of suspected Hindu extremists brutally beat up a pastor and his family at their home in Chandauli, in India’s Uttar Pradesh state on January 14, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports. Christians have come under intensifying persecution from Hindu radicals since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.
Iran: Pastor sent back to prison for six years following Supreme Court review of charges
A pastor in Iran who was released from prison while the Iranian Supreme Court reviewed his conviction for “endangering state security” and “promoting Zionism” has been taken back to prison to serve a six-year sentence, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit against largest ‘sanctuary city for the unborn’
In a victory for the pro-life movement, Planned Parenthood has dropped a lawsuit against the largest sanctuary city for the unborn in the United States.
Federal judge blocks Biden’s enforcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees
Just over a week after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large businesses, a federal judge in Texas blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal employees Friday.
UN Protests As Yemen Air Strike Kills 70
The United Nations has condemned an airstrike that killed more than 70 people in a detention center in Yemen, a nation where minority Christians reportedly face severe persecution.
360 Million Christians Persecuted; Hungary Helps
Hungary says it has already supported hundreds of thousands of persecuted Christians worldwide as believers face the worst crackdown in modern history.
Austria Votes For Forced Vaccines; More EU States May Follow
Austria on Thursday moved closer to compulsory vaccinations, a policy that critics fear could be rolled out across the European Union.
Illinois school district approves ‘Satan Club’ for elementary school children
An Illinois school board has approved members of The Satanic Temple to lead an extracurricular “After School Satan Club” for elementary school children, Christian Headlines (CH) reports. The Satan Club was approved by the Moline-Coal Valley School District Board of Education on January 10 and is now being held on school premises at Jane Addams Elementary in Moline.
France and Sweden launch investigative team to prosecute ISIS members for crimes against Christians and Yazidis in Iraq
France and Sweden have launched a joint effort to investigate and prosecute foreign ISIS fighters who committed genocidal crimes against Christians and Yazidis in Iraq in 2014, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Open Doors Calls For Boycott China Olympics
A leading advocacy group supporting persecuted Christians has urged Americans to boycott the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
‘Afghanistan Replaces North Korea As 1st Persecution Nation For Christians’
Christian advocacy group Open Doors said Wednesday that Afghanistan had replaced North Korea as the worst country for Christians on its annual World Watch List (WWL).
India: Christians under attack in Karnataka state
Christians in India’s Karnataka state came under a surge of violent attacks by Hindu extremists during the Christmas period last month, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Joining other Indian states, Karnataka has passed a new anti-conversion law that has reportedly encouraged Hindu nationalists to attack believers they falsely accuse of forcing Hindus to convert to Christianity.
Conservative religious parents have better success at transmitting faith to their children than moderates or liberals, study finds
A new study has found that religious conservative parents have greater success in passing their faith on to their children than liberal or moderate parents do, Christian Headlines (CH) reports. Published in the journal Sociology of Religion, the study contends this outcome is partly due to conservative parents being more likely to pray and discuss God in the home.
Canada: Thousands of pastors coordinate day to preach on Christian sexuality
In a response to the passing of a new Canadian law that bans ‘conversion therapy’ for gay people, some four thousand US pastors took Sunday, January 16 as a day on which to preach coordinated sermons on Christian sexuality, Church Leaders reports. The day of preaching was triggered by fear that a similar anti-conversion therapy law could be passed in America, and that it could ultimately lead to the criminalization of Christianity there.
South Sudan Christians Displaced After Islamists Kill Dozens
Attacks by “Islamic extremists” in a border region of South Sudan killed dozens of people and left “huge numbers of Christian villagers with nothing but their clothes,” aid workers told Worthy News.
US Supreme Court to hear appeal from Christian football coach fired for praying on the field
The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Friday in the case of Joe Kennedy, a Christian high school football coach who was fired from his job in Washington state because he silently kneeled and prayed on the field after games, the Christian Post (CP) reports. Employed by the Bremerton School District, Kenney was suspended in 2015 because spectators and students could see him praying.
New study shows that reading the Bible increases hope
A recent study has shown that reading Scripture on a regular basis can substantially improve people’s sense of hope, Christianity Today (CT) reports. The study was conducted by the American Bible Society (ABS) with help from Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program.