Judge in Pakistan Urges Parliament to Prosecute Blasphemy Cases under Terrorism Laws
LAHORE, Pakistan, August 18, 2017 (Morning Star News) – In an expanded order to remove “blasphemous” content from social media in Pakistan, a high court judge included a recommendation that Parliament include terrorism charges against those accused of blasphemy. Last...
Pastors in India Put Trust in God amid Persecution
HYDERABAD, India, August 16, 2017 (Morning Star News) – As two Hindu extremists gripped his hands while others beat him last week in northern India, Pastor Amar Stephen was asking God to forgive them. “Some attackers were holding both my hands so I couldn’t move,...
Herdsmen in Plateau State, Nigeria Quietly Seizing Christians’ Property, Pastors Say
JOS, Nigeria, August 14, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacks on predominantly Christian Berom farmers in Plateau state, Nigeria amount to “economic terrorism,” Christian leaders told Morning Star News. While Plateau state officials say “relative...
Christian Rights Activists in Vietnam Charged with Serious ‘Crimes’
August 11, 2017 (Morning Star News) – After 19 long months of investigative detention following his Dec. 16, 2015 arrest, renowned human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai was finally charged with a crime on July 30. Vietnamese authorities charged Dai, 35-year-old legal...
Kidnapped Pastor in Nigeria Released from Five Days of Captivity
JOS, Nigeria, August 10, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Suspecting corrupt police and accusing the Nigerian government of failing to contain a rash of kidnappings, Christian leaders announced that a pastor abducted last week was freed on Wednesday (Aug. 9). The Rev. Jen...
Fulani Herdsmen Kidnap Pastor in Plateau State, Central Nigeria
JOS, Nigeria, August 8, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Armed Fulani herdsmen on Friday (Aug. 4) kidnapped a pastor as he and his driver were traveling in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, the wounded driver told Morning Star News. The Rev. Jen Tivkaa Moses and his driver,...
Christians Killed, Injured in Church Shooting in Southern Nigeria
JOS, NIGERIA, August 6, 2017 (Morning Star News) – At least 11 people were killed in an attack on a Catholic church service in southern Nigeria today that apparently was rooted in a conflict with a relative of one of the parishioners, authorities said. At least 18...
Police Disingenuous in Hindu Extremist Assault on Pastors in Tamil Nadu, India, Sources Say
HYDERABAD, India, August 1, 2017(Morning Star News) – Hard-line Hindus used steel rods and a butcher’s knife to attack a father-son pastoral team in Tamil Nadu state, India, injuring the brain tissue of the elder clergyman, sources said. In Thyagaraja Nagar, in the...
Calling Worship ‘Unlawful Assembly,’ Police in Uttar Pradesh India, Arrest Six Christians
JERUSALEM, July 31, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Two Christian prisoners in Iran recently went on hunger strikes to protest increasingly harsh treatment of those arrested for house-church activities. Since June 2016, courts in Iran have given 11 Christians prison...
Christian Student Killed in Spate of Boko Haram Attacks in Northeast Nigeria
JOS, Nigeria, July 20, 2017 (Morning Star News) Among several Boko Haram bombings that have put northeastern Nigeria on edge this year was a suicide attack on Christian student organization quarters that killed a Christian student, sources said. Ambore Gideon Todi, a...
Pastor in Punjab State, India Shot Dead
HYDERABAD, India, July 17, 2017 (Morning Star News) – A pastor in northern India’s Punjab state was shot dead in front of his church premises two months after Hindu extremists took offense at a gospel event celebrating his church’s 25thanniversary, sources said....
Print all In new window Islamists in Pakistan Accuse Christian Minor of Blaspheming Islam’s Prophet
LAHORE, Pakistan, July 17, 2017 (Morning Star News) – A A member of an Islamic extremist group in Pakistan has accused a Christian minor of blasphemy after the boy had an argument with a Muslim, sources said. Hina Shafaqat, mother of 17-year-old Shahzad Masih,...
Harsh Punishments Meted Out to Christians in Iran as Tehran Sends Chilling Signal
JERUSALEM, July 13, 2017 (Morning Star News) – The latest in a string of harsh sentences against church leaders in Iran has been handed down to four Christian converts for promoting Christianity, according to human rights activists. Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, along...
Christians in Coastal Kenya Fearful after Slaughter of 13 Non-Muslims
NAIROBI, Kenya, July 12, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Al Shabaab militia over the weekend killed 13 non-Muslims, mostly Christians, in coastal Kenya, sources said. Village Muslims in the Pandanguo settlement of Lamu County helped Islamic extremists from the...
Pakistan’s Calculated Spin on Apparent Killing of Chinese Evangelists
July 11, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Islamabad’s claim that “violations” of business visas contributed to the murder of two Chinese evangelists last month served key government purposes. Lee Zing Yang (Li Xinheng is said to be the more accurate rendering), 24, and Meng...
Converts in Iran Await Verdict after Delays
ISTANBUL, Turkey, July 3, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Four Iranian converts facing the possibility of up to six years in prison on charges of “acting against national security” are awaiting a verdict expected to be issued soon after numerous delays, according to human...
Hindu Extremist Attack in Odisha State, India Ends in ‘Agreement’ Stopping Worship Services
HYDERABAD, India, June 30, 2017 (Morning Star News) – After an attack in eastern India in which a Christian was seriously injured, police and Hindus this month created an “agreement” – without participation of church members – effectively halting worship services,...
Christians Taking Children to Camp in India Charged with Kidnapping, Forced Conversion
LAHORE, Pakistan, June 27, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Hospital officials are trying to pressure family members of a Christian who died from lack of treatment to drop charges against them by ordering their arrest, sources said. A court in Pakistan has ordered police to...
Pastor Jailed in Burma Falls Ill
of a civilian couple who had complained to army officials about the destruction of their house, but military officials released the couple and detained the clergymen, sources said. Normally suspects can be held for only 28 days without trial under Burmese law, the...
Christian Father of 2-Year-Old in Pakistan Jailed on Flimsy Blasphemy Charge, Brother Says
LAHORE, Pakistan, June 19, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Amid a government campaign in Pakistan against “blasphemous” content online, a Christian was arrested on Friday (June 16) when a Muslim accused him of blasphemy after a dispute over a repair bill, sources said....