Egypt on Sunday, January 23, blamed a Palestinian group with links to terror group Al-Qaeda of masterminding a New Year’s church attack in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria that killed as many as 24 Coptic Christians.
Human rights officials on Saturday, January 22, welcomed a decision by India’s top court to confirm the life sentence given to a Hindu who burned to death an Australian missionary and his two young sons outside a church in eastern India over a decade ago.
Last Christmas, the Iranian government began arresting Christians, raiding and ransacking their homes as they are taken to prison and interogation.
An Egyptian court sentenced a Muslim to death for killing six Christians along with a Muslim guarding their church in a drive-by shooting more than a year ago.
After two weeks of torture, Seble Hagos Mebrahtu, 27, died in the military training center in Sawa, Eritrea, on January 1. Reportedly, Mebrahtu was refused medical treatment for malaria and died soon after. Although it was unclear as to how long she was imprisoned in Sawa, sources state she was arrested for reading a Bible in her own bedroom.
As Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit to the United States ended Friday, January 21, Chinese Christians and rights activists urged China to release jailed Christians, including a prominent human rights lawyer who defended house churches and other religious groups.
An Iranian Christian by name of Reza T. was temporarily freed from prison after posting a $15,000 bail, Worthy News has learned.
A leaked video appears to show a Cuban Communist Party official openly confirming a government strategy to target churches affiliated with the fast growing Apostolic Movement, a protestant network.
A Muslim men was awaiting execution Monday, January 17, after a court in Egypt sentenced him to death for his alleged involvement in the January 2010 killings of six Coptic Christians following Christmas mass.
Iranian Christians requested prayers Sunday, January 16, amid a new wave of arrests of Christian converts, many of them former Muslims.
An estimated 10,000 Hungarians have demonstrated late Friday against what critics describe as Europe’s most restrictive media law. Under the legislation, media in Hungary can face heavy fines and sanctions if authorities deem their coverage unbalanced or immoral.
Girls escaping deadly anti-Christian violence in India’s volatile state of Orissa face sexual after human traffickers falsely promise them a better life, human rights investigators said Friday, January 14.
Lithuania is commemorating the 20th anniversary of a deadly clash with Soviet troops that preceded its independence in 1991. The Baltic nation’s president, Dalia Grybauskaite, has urged Lithuanians never to forget the freedom battle, which killed 14 people and injured hundreds, adding that those responsible for the crackdown should be brought to justice.
A Russian report on last year’s plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others says crew members were pressured by high officials, and indirectly the head of state, to land in Smolensk, Russia despite bad weather. The twin brother of the late president Jaroslaw Kaczynski has already condemned the report.
Christians in two Indian states were still recovering of injuries and shock Tuesday, January 11, after Hindu militants attacked a church and Christians as part of their battle against the spread of Christianity among Hindus, Christians said.
Sudanese Christians have requested continued prayer amid an ongoing referendum on southern independence and reports that nearly two dozen people died in ethnic clashes near Sudan’s north-south border.
Some 50,000 people rallied in Pakistan’s largest city Sunday, January 9, to oppose changes in a blasphemy law and to praise the alleged assassin of a provincial governor who campaigned against the controversial legislation.
Up to 70 Christians have been detained in Iran as part of a government crackdown on evangelical believers, Worthy News established Saturday, January 8. Most of those behind bare are thought to be former Muslims.
Hungary, which holds the European Union presidency, Italy, France and Poland have urged the EU to help prevent more attacks against Christians.
Somalia’s minority Christians faced new challenges Thursday, January 6, after their most comprehensive Christian library was reportedly destroyed by Muslim militants who also threatened to continue killing Christians.