Turkey: Pastor awaits hearing verdict
JOS, Nigeria, March 29, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Christians in Kaduna state, Nigeria suspect Muslim Fulani herdsmen were behind the kidnapping of eight Christians from a bus in the southern part of the state on Friday (March 26). The members of the Redeemed...
Christian’s Five-Year Prison Sentence for Facebook Post Upheld in Algeria
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria, March 23, 2021 (Morning Star News) – A judge in Oran, Algeria on Monday (March 22) upheld a five-year prison sentence for a Christian convicted of reposting a cartoon of Islam’s prophet on his Facebook account three years ago, sources said. Farid...
Life Sentence for Christian in Pakistan Changed to Death Penalty
NEW DELHI, March 23, 2021 (Morning Star News) – A mob armed with axes and thick wooden batons in central India disrupted a home worship service and beat and threatened Christians for leaving their ancestral tribal religion this month, sources said. Eight Christians...
Legacy of a Hard-Working Fighter for Religious Freedom
COCHABAMBA, Bolivia, March 18, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Until her death last month at the age of 63, Bolivian attorney Ruth Montaño had done perhaps more than any living person to advance the rights of religious minorities in her Andean homeland. A specialist in...
Iran: Prison terms expected to start soon
HYDERABAD, India, March 17, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Homeless since relatives attacked her for failing to respect their tribal rituals last month, a Christian mother of three young children in eastern India sought help from police. The next morning, Feb. 10, an...
Christians Falsely Charged in Central India, Sources Say
NEW DELHI, March 5, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Two pastors and a friend falsely accused of fraudulent conversion in central India were released on bail last week after spending a month in jail, sources said. Hindu extremists in Madhya Pradesh state had pressured...
Two Christians Sentenced to Prison and Heavy Fine in Algeria
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria, March 4, 2021 (Morning Star News) – A court in Algeria has convicted and sentenced in absentia a pastor and another Christian to two years in prison and a heavy fine, accusing them of “shaking the faith” of Muslims with Christian literature at...
Algeria: Pastor faces prison term
NEW DELHI, March 3, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Armed Hindu extremists in Madhya Pradesh, India disrupted worship services at two churches on Feb. 7, beat congregation members and pressured police to arrest more than 20 Christians on suspicion of forcible conversion,...
Iran: Ebrahim Firouzi released on bail
HYDERABAD, India, March 1, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Local officials and other tribal animists in a village in eastern India locked council doors, tied up pastor Lakshman Oraon and beat him for more than an hour, but he kept praising God, he said. “I did not shout or...
Christian Mother in Uganda Hit with Acid for Her Faith, Sources Say
NAIROBI, Kenya, February 26, 2021 (Morning Star News) – A Christian couple visiting a young mother at her home in eastern Uganda last month decided to pray for her before leaving – triggering an immediate response from her Muslim husband. “In the middle of the...
Islamist Terrorists in Nigeria Threaten to Execute Pastor
JOS, Nigeria, February 25, 2021 (Morning Star News) – A pastor abducted from northeastern Nigeria by Islamic extremist militants reportedly says in a video that they will kill him on Wednesday (March 3) if their ransom demands are not met. In the video sent to...
Herdsmen Kill Church Elder, Abduct Three Other Christians
JOS, Nigeria, February 23, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen killed a church elder and abducted three other Christians in northwest Nigeria on Feb. 16, sources said. Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot dead Mati Sani, a 65-year-old elder with the Evangelical Church...
Christian Leader in Sudan Detained, Blindfolded and Beaten, Sources Say
JUBA, South Sudan, February 22, 2021 (Morning Star News) – A Christian leader in Sudan was detained and beaten on Friday (Feb. 19) for speaking out against the burning of a church building, sources said. Masked men believed to be national security personnel seized...
Muslim Fulani Kill 11 Christians, Wound Two, in North-Central Nigeria, Sources Say
JOS, Nigeria, February 19, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot four Christians to death on Sunday (Feb. 14) in north-central Nigeria, following the killing of seven other Christians earlier in the month. Muslim Fulani herdsmen ambushed the four...
Father Recovers Custody of Kidnapped and Forcibly Converted/Married Daughter
LAHORE, Pakistan, February 18, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Asif Masih beamed with joy to have his 12-year-old daughter back home on Tuesday (Feb. 16) in Faisalabad, Pakistan following her alleged kidnapping and forcible conversion and marriage to a 45-year-old Muslim....
Another Church Building Set Ablaze in Sudan
JUBA, South Sudan, February 18, 2021 (Morning Star News) – The ninth church building in two years to be set ablaze in Sudan was torched last month, sources said. Suspected Muslim extremists set fire to the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) building in the rural Tambul...
Two Christians Studying Bible in Park Charged with Blasphemy in Pakistan
LAHORE, Pakistan, February 16, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Police in Lahore, Pakistan have charged two Christians with blasphemy after Muslims objected to their Bible study in a park, the attorney for one of the accused said. Haroon Ayub Masih, 26, and friend Salamat...
Iran: Ebrahim Firouzi imprisoned after exposing harassment
February 12, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Renowned French film-maker, journalist and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, hardly a right-wing “Islamophobe,” is among those who have made reports that indicate funding from Islamist organizations abroad is behind the...
Turkey: Upcoming hearing for pastor facing deportation
HYDERABAD, India, February 9, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Police in southern India have filed false charges against a church pastor after tribal animists assaulted him for his faith so severely that he was hospitalized for two days, sources said. The pastor and three...
Police Hamper Prosecution of Accused Killers of Christian, Sources Say
LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Suspects in the killing of a young Christian man in Pakistan a year ago have been freed on bail due to police connivance and are issuing death threats to pressure relatives to drop the case, sources said. Muslim land-owners upset...