Two Christian men were flogged by a Sharia law officer Monday for the criminalized offenses of drinking alcohol and gambling in Indonesia’s province of Aceh, the Christian Post reports. Aceh is the only province in Indonesia with the “legal right to apply Islamic law in full.”
A new bill introduced to Congress would ban biological males from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, Christian Headlines reports. Proposed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the legislation would clarify that the athletics clause found in Title IX of The Education Amendments of 1972 refers only to biological sex and does not include gender identity.
A court in Somaliland on Wednesday extended the detention of four Christians for evangelism in the self-declared republic, which is mainly Muslim, trial observers told Worthy News.
A US federal court has permanently blocked New York’s highly contested COVID-19 restrictions on indoor worship, the Christian Post reports. Tuesday’s ruling by District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto follows a temporary block on the restrictions that were issued by the US Supreme Court in November.
Evangelicals in France are concerned a proposed law designed to end Muslim separatism and curtail Islamic extremism could end up infringing on Christians’ right to freedom of worship as well, Christianity Today reports.
Thousands of Christian villagers have reportedly fled bombardments in Myanmar since the coup that ousted the nation’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on February 1.
A new census shows that the number of Protestants in Mexico now exceeds 10 percent of the predominantly Catholic population, Christianity Today reports. Mexico has historically been dominated by the Catholic Church and ranks as one of the most strongly Catholic countries in Latin America.
The government of Eritrea has released 70 Christians who had been in prison for between two to twelve years without trial, International Christian Concern reports. However, rights advocates do not believe this action by the military dictatorship signals a change in its abusive stance toward Evangelical Christians.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) has threatened court action unless city council officials in Aberdeen, Maryland stop opening meetings with Christian prayer, the Christian Post reports.
Hindu nationalists carried out another attack on Christians in southern India on January 31, International Christian Concern reports. Six of the twenty-eight Christians who were injured in the attack in the Ramnagara District of Karnataka required hospital treatment.
Denmark may introduce a new law requiring all sermons given in a different language to be translated into Danish and submitted to the government for approval, Christian Headlines reports. Although the proposed legislation is intended to deal with radical Islamist groups in the country, it has caused concern among Christians across the country.
The Nigerian government executed six Christian soldiers on trumped-up charges in Abuja last month, a civil rights lawyer has told the Christian Post. According to Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chair of the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, the soldiers were framed for a crime committed by one of their superiors.
Islamic terrorists are believed responsible for the murders of over 100 people in DR Congo last month, and a large number of those murdered were from Christian communities, International Christian Concern reports. Known for deadly violence, the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group is believed to have intensified its targeted attacks on Christians.
The US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled Tuesday that Indiana’s Jackson County courthouse is not violating the constitution by displaying a nativity scene at Christmas, the Hill reports. The 7th Circuit decision reversed last year’s District Court ruling that the display apparently endorses Christianity and has no secular purpose.
Unidentified arsonists in western Kenya burned five church buildings and threw feces at their smoldering ruins last month, Morning Star News reports. All of the crimes were carried out from January 20 to January 24 in Otamba village, in the Nyaraibari Chache area of Kisii County.
As Islamist violence against Christians in Nigeria continues unabated, Fulani Muslim herdsmen recently killed two clergymen and burned down a Christian conference hall in the country’s Middle Belt, Morning Star News reports. The chairman of the Niger state Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Mathias Echioda, told Morning Star News: “There’s the urgent need for Nigeria’s government to put an end to these barbaric acts.”
A new poll shows that a majority of millennials and Generation Z in the US support various restrictions on abortion, Christian Headlines reports. Conducted by the advocacy group Students for Life, the survey found that “more than 7 out of 10 expressed support for limits on abortion.”
A Christian father of four has been sentenced to five years imprisonment in Algeria for allowing a cartoon of Muhammad on his social media account in 2017, International Christian Concern reports.
A new survey reveals that some pastors worry their church may not survive the COVID-19 pandemic because of financial pressures, Christian Today reports. Titled “Something other than a Building,” and compiled by Churches in Ireland and Queen’s University, Belfast, the survey shows finances have been a source of anxiety for most of the pastors who participated.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday he was considering reimposing sanctions against Myanmar after the military seized power in a coup.