Rights groups, including Release International, are warning that the persecution of Christians in Afghanistan will likely intensify now the Taliban have taken power and the US and NATO have withdrawn, Christian Today (CT) reports. The Afghan church had been driven underground by Islamic apostasy laws even before the Taliban takeover, but the situation is now reported to be “dire.”
Two US Supreme Court have stated that a defamation lawsuit by D. James Kennedy Ministries (DJKM) against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) offers the Court an opportunity to review its controversial landmark defamation ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), Fox News reports. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch are calling for the Supreme Court to hear the case specifically in order to revisit the high standard of “actual malice” that was set in 1964, and which they say has rendered it excessively difficult for plaintiffs to prove libel.
Afghanistan’s Islamist militant Taliban group pledged Monday that it would “respect the rights of women” if they respect its strict interpretation of Islam. “They can work and have education within Islamic law,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid during his group’s first press conference since taking control over Afghanistan.
The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan and local Christian pastors facing the threat of intensified bloody persecution are standing in faith while calling on the worldwide Body of Christ for prayer. “God has a purpose and a plan,” an Afghan pastor told International Christian Concern (ICC).
Hungary and Bulgaria broke ranks with the European Union on Monday as the only EU states not to sign a declaration calling for all Afghans wishing to leave to be allowed to do so.
As the death toll of Haiti’s devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake rose to more than 1,400, Christians were among those mourning victims.
Heartbreaking reports emerged Monday of Islamist Taliban fighters going house-to-house to find people who supported the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.
Three Christians have been imprisoned in India’s Uttar Pradesh state after Hindu extremists beat them up and accused them of unlawfully converting people to Christianity, Morning Star News reports. Persecution against Christians in India has greatly intensified since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) has sent a team of chaplains to the English city of Plymouth to offer prayer and counseling to residents devastated by Thursday’s mass shooting there, Christian Today (CT) reports.
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) on Friday reinstated Timothy Christian Schools’ recognition status after having revoked it for non-compliance with the state’s universal indoor mask mandate, the Daily Herald reports. Updating its health policy to comply with the mandate, Timothy Christian said it had not outrightly rejected Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s school mask order, but had been conducting “due diligence” to assess its legality.
Continuing its policy of “Sinicizing” the church and country, China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) arrested four house church school teachers in Wuhu, Anhui Province earlier this month, and charged them with conducting “illegal business operations,” International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. China now ranks 17 on the US Open Doors 2021 Watch List of top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
As the death toll of western Haiti’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake rose to 1,300, churches struggled to provide hope and relief to a wounded nation.
Minority Christians and supporters of the U.S.-led military coalition such as translators were among Afghans facing executions after the Islamist militant Taliban group took control over Afghanistan.
British police have revealed the identity of a gunman saying Jake Davison killed five people, including a young girl, in Plymouth late Thursday.
Dozens of devoted Christians have fled their homes in southeastern Bangladesh after militant Buddhists damaged their church, church sources say.
Jews and others believing in Jesus as the Messiah reportedly face attacks in southern Israel by followers of a strict Orthodox sect. Details of the incident in Arad emerged Thursday, with rights investigators blaming the Gur Hasidim group.
Three elderly “semi-retired pastors” have been arrested in Eritrea’s capital Asmara apparently, for their faith in Christ, an advocacy group said late Thursday.
Britain and the United States have agreed to send thousands of troops to help evacuate their citizens as the Islamist militant Taliban group moves towards control over Afghanistan.
As Taliban fighters were edging closer to Afghanistan’s capital Thursday, the United States was preparing to evacuate the U.S. embassy in Kabul.
As Fulani jihadists continue their sustained campaign of terror attacks against Christians in Nigeria, they have now attacked and destroyed a Christian orphanage in the country’s Plateau state, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.