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....
Christian Teacher Killed, another Abducted along with Muslim in Northeastern Kenya
HYDERABAD, India, June 16, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Villagers in Uttar Pradesh state, India beat Christians, forced them to participate in Hindu rituals and have refused to provide them water, sources said. Four families who were attacked in Jalalabad village,...
Christians Shot to Death in Attack on Marawi, Philippines
CAIRO, June 12, 2017 (Morning Star News) – A young Coptic woman in a suburb of Cairo, Egypt remains missing after her disappearance last week from an area where Muslim attacks against Christians have surged, sources said. Suzan Ashraf Rawy, 22, left for work by foot...
Islamic Extremists in Egypt Slaughter Coptic Christians on Pilgrimmage to Monastery
ISTANBUL, Turkey, May 26, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Heavily armed Islamists in Egypt ambushed a youth pilgrimage to a monastery this morning, shooting dozens of bus passengers to death and leaving more to succumb to their wounds on a desert road. Up to 28 people have...
Terrorists Linked with Islamic State Abduct Priest in Attack in Mindanao, Philippines
MINDANAO, Philippines, May 24, 2017 (Morning Star News) – An ascendant terrorist group in the Philippines that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) yesterday wreaked violence on the island of Mindanao, kidnapping a catholic priest and 13 members of his...
Christian Killed in Islamic Extremists Attack in Northeastern Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Al Shabaab militants are suspected in the killing of two people, at least one a Christian, in a May 12 gun attack in northeastern Kenya, sources said. Five suspected rebels from the Somali Islamic extremist group...
Church Building, Pastor’s Home Burned Down in Tamil Nadu State, India, Sources Say
HYDERABAD, India, May 17, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Hard-line Hindus in southern India, upset that members of their caste-based group have become Christians, burned down a church building and the pastor’s home this month, sources said. After pastor John Muller and...
Muslim Extremists in Uganda Threaten to Kill Family of Pastor Whose Property They Destroyed
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 12, 2017 (Morning Star News) – A pastor in eastern Uganda who relocated after an Islamist attack has had to shift to yet another site, but he can only visit his family there briefly as his life is in danger, his wife said. Muslims continue to track...
Christian in Pakistan Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for ‘Blasphemy’
JUBA, South Sudan, May 11, 2017 (Morning Star News) – A pastor and another Christian serving a 12-year sentence in Sudan were freed today after they were granted a presidential pardon, sources said. The Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor had been in prison since his arrest...
Pastor in India Loses Hearing from Assault by Hindu Extremists
May 9, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Indonesia took a huge leap backwards in its reputation as a moderate Islamic democracy today when a court sentenced the Christian governor of Jakarta, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, to two years in prison for “blaspheming” the Koran....
Church Building Demolished, Two Christians Arrested in Sudan
an SCOC building on Oct. 27, 2015 without prior warning, church leaders said. Local authorities said the SCOC building was on government land, a claim church leaders adamantly denied. Karari officials in Omdurman, across the Nile River from Khartoum, reportedly...
Girl, 14, Rescued from Muslim in Pakistan Accused of Forcibly Converting Her
LAHORE, Pakistan, May 2, 2017 (Morning Star News) – A 14-year-old Catholic girl in Pakistan, taken from her family in December and forcibly converted to Islam, was rescued on Wednesday (April 26), her lawyer said. Attorney Tahir Bashir said police officer Munir Ahmed...
Police, Local Officials Complicit in Buddhist Attacks on Churches in Sri Lanka, Report Indicates
LAHORE, Pakistan, May 1, 2017 – Gruesome violence against Muslims accused of blasphemy in Pakistan has reignited calls for amending blasphemy statutes commonly used to persecute Christians. The lynching of a Muslim student over blasphemy charges at a university in...
Quashing of Childcare Facility Application in Algeria Rooted in Religious Discrimination
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria, April 14, 2017 (Morning Star News) – The social services agency of Tizi-Ouzou Province, Algeria, has denied a permit to a childcare facility without explanation, but almost certainly because of the owner’s Christian faith, sources said. The owner...
Bombings at Two Churches in Egypt Turn Palm Sunday into Scenes of Carnage
NAIROBI, Kenya, April 11, 2017 (Morning Star News) – Muslims in Zanzibar have re-opened a child abuse case dismissed more than two years ago as a pretext for jailing a pastor on the semi-autonomous island off the coast of Tanzania, church leaders said. Police in...