Kidnapped Pastor Released Unharmed in Northeast India
The Rev. Tongkhojang Lunkim was released at 1 p.m. on Saturday (March 18) after being held captive for two months by the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) in Manipur state, Northeast India.
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Nigeria Christians Mourn, 16 Killed In Cartoon Violence
Nigerian Christians on Sunday, February 19, mourned those killed in violent protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, which claimed at least 16 lives.
Pakistan Militants Attack Christians Over Cartoons
More anti-Christian violence was expected in Pakistan Thursday, February 16, as deadly protests against published cartoons of Prophet Mohammad spread across the country.
Egyptian Sisters Win Christian Identity
Two young Coptic Christian women whose father had converted to Islam when they were infants have won a court battle in Egypt to retain their official religious identity as Christians.
India: Serial Violent Attacks on Christians Leave Several Needing Hospital Treatment
Three separate attacks on Christians in Madhya Pradesh, central India, have occurred within a period of four days, leaving a number of people needing hospital treatment. Latest reports suggest that yet more attacks on Christians have since taken place in the communally tense state.
Iraq Christians Urge Western Caution After Bombs Destroy Churches, Killing 3
Iraqi Christians have urged Westerners to be carefull with public comments on Iraq after three people were killed in apparently coordinated bomb attacks against churches over the weekend, a major religious rights group said Tuesday, January 31.
British Government’s Religious Hatred Law Defeated
The British Government was considering its options Wednesday, February 1, after parliament voted against its version of a religious hatred bill, amid pressure from evangelical Christians and others who feared the law could lead to religious persecution.
UK Evangelicals Warn Of Persecution Threats in Britain
The Evangelical Alliance United Kingdom (EAUK), an umbrella group representing one million evangelical Christians in the UK, prepared Tuesday, January 24, a major campaign to “alert” believers to “the dangers of the proposed religious hatred (law) and other legislation.”
Indonesian Court Rejects Legal Intervention for Jailed Teachers
Judges at Indonesia’s Constitutional Court on January 17 ruled that the Child Protection Act is in line with the constitution and should not be amended. The Rev. Ruyandi Hutasoit had challenged Article 86 of the Act, used as the basis for sentencing Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun to three years in prison on September 1, 2005. The Christian Sunday School teachers were arrested in May 2005 after members of a local Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI or Muslim Clerics Council) in West Java accused them of trying to convert Muslim children. Judge Jimly Asshiddique said Rev. Hutasoit had no right to contest the Child Protection Act, since he had not experienced any ‘direct losses’ under it.
Nigerian Pastor Faces Arrest for Harboring Convert from Islam
For Pastor Zacheous Habu Bu Ngwenche, time is running out. In the next two weeks he may find himself back in police detention if he does not produce a convert from Islam abducted from his house by Muslim militants in September.
India Hindu Militants Attack Churches
Two militant Hindu groups struck churches in India’s Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh states and forced some believes to bow for Hindu idols states as violence against Christians spread across the country, news reports said Tuesday, December 6.
Christian Workers Attacked in Maharashtra State, India
A group of young people attacked three Christians as they distributed Christian literature in the western state of Maharashtra on Saturday (November 26). Two of the three injured were hospitalized.
House Church Leader Jailed for Three Year as Chinese President Visits UK
Pastor Cai was abducted from a bus stop and dragged into a van by three plain-clothed State Security officers on September 11 2004. According to a former fellow inmate, Pastor Cai was repeatedly tortured with electric shocks and forced to give false confessions to serious charges.
Pastor, Wife and Driver Attacked in Gujarat, India
About 30 Hindu extremists attacked a pastor, his wife and their driver in the western state of Gujarat on October 23. The three sustained internal injuries.
Uzbekistan Christian Villagers Beaten and Expelled From Homes
Former Muslim residents in a remote village of the ex-Soviet union republic of Uzbekistan are being beaten, publicly humiliated and forced from their homes and jobs for converting to Christianity, a news agency investigation religious persecution said Friday, October 21.
Eritrea Detains Hundreds of Christians in Crackdown
Over 200 evangelical Christians and members of minority churches have been detained in Eritrea this week in unprecedented coordinated raids by the African nation’s security forces, BosNewsLife learned Thursday, October 6.
Malaysian Court Says No to Change of Religious Status
Judges in Malaysia’s Court of Appeal announced on September 19 that Lina Joy, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity in the late 1980s, must apply to a sharia court for permission to legally renounce Islam.
Burma Military Closes Down Evangelical Church, Group Says
Burma’s military government has closed down a major evangelical church and movement in the capital Rangoon as part of a fresh crackdown on Christian congregations across the Asian nation, a well informed advocacy group said Wednesday, September 7.
Bangladesh Christian Aid Workers Murdered By “Islamic Extremists”
Two Christian men of a non-governmental organization in Bangladesh have been “hacked to death” and officials believe Islamic extremists were “likely” responsible for the murders, news reports said Thursday, August 4.
Indonesian Pastor Still Missing
The family of the Rev. Jokran Ratu, kidnapped four months ago on a remote Indonesian island, still does not know whether he is dead or alive. No ransom demand has been received and police have not apprehended the kidnappers.