Chinese Christian Rights Lawyer 363 Days Missing
A Chinese Christian human rights lawyer was missing for 363 days Tuesday, February 2, but an advocacy group said it now believes he is still alive.
Human Rights
Cuba Pastor Remains Behind Bars After Losing Appeal Right
There was international disappointment Monday, February 1, that the leader of a growing network of independent churches in Cuba has been denied the right to appeal his six-year prison sentence by the Supreme Tribunal in Havana.
Supporters Detained Missionary Release Freedom Balloons For North Korea
Supporters of American Christian missionary Robert Park, who is believed to have been detained in North Korea, launched hundreds of balloons on New Year’s day with texts calling for freedom in the isolated nation.
Nobel Prize Winner Wiesel Concerned About Hungarian Extremism
Nobel Peace Prize winner, author and activist Elie Wiesel has urged Hungary to consider banning Holocaust denials to improve its image abroad and has expressed concern about growing extremist parties in the country and Europe.
NEWS ALERT: China Sentences 10 Christian Leaders To Prison, Labor Camps
China has sentenced 10 Christian leaders to long prison terms and forced labor camps as part of a wider government crackdown on unauthorized worship services, Worthy News learned Saturday, December 5.
Iran Closes Friday Church Services, Detains Pastor
Iran’s government has ordered one of the country’s largest Protestant churches to halt Friday services, while a pastor remains detained for protesting plans to “impose the reading of the Koran” on Christian children, Worthy News monitored Monday, November 9.
Millions Pray For Persecuted Church
Millions of Christians from Vancouver to Vladivostok were praying Sunday, November 8, for persecuted Christians, amid reports of increased repression in several countries around the world.
Armenia, Turkey Sign Landmark Accord Despite Tensions
The former Soviet republic of Armenia and Turkey have signed a historic accord on normalizing relations after a century of hostility.
Iranian Women Demand Release Christian Converts
Women dressed in white have gathered outside the Iranian embassy in London as part of a prayer vigil to highlight the plight of two female Christian converts from Islam who have been held at Evin Prison in Teheran “without charge”for the last six months, organizers said.
EU Ambassadors Discuss Belarus Threats To Close Megachurch
European ambassadors to Belarus have met with the leader of New Life Church in the capital Minsk to discuss “threats” by authorities to “destroy” one of the country’s largest evangelical churches by confiscating its building, a former cowshed, church officials said in a statement obtained by Worthy News Thursday, August 27.
BREAKING NEWS: Prominent Vietnam Pastor Flees Encircled Home; Wife Beaten, Dissidents
A prominent Mennonite pastor and religious rights advocate has escaped from his besieged home in central Vietnam after “several months of police encirclement” to seek “help, food and medication” for his children and frail wife, who has been abused by police, dissidents said in messages obtained by BosNewsLife Monday, July 20.
100,000 Protest Detention Chinese Christian Lawyer
A petition calling for the release of a prominent Christian human rights lawyer, which was signed by some 100,000 people around the world, has been delivered to the Chinese embassy in Washington and the U.S. State Department, organizers said Friday, July 17.
Int’l Journalists Federation Condemns Murder Russian Rights Activist
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday, July 16, “strongly condemned” the murder of Natalya Estemirova, a prominent journalist and human rights activist who was found dead in Ingushetia, following her kidnapping the previous day at her home in Grozny, the Chechen capital.
China Arrests Overshadow Release Of Long-Time Prisoner
News that China released a Christian woman after serving over two and a half years in prison for protesting the destruction of a mega-church has been overshadowed by the ongoing detention of Christians in a similar case, Chinese Christians and rights investigators said Wednesday, June 24.
BREAKING NEWS: Hungary’s Far Right Party Enters European Parliament (UPDATE)
Hungary’s main far-right party, accused by rights groups of spreading anti-Semitic views and hatred towards the country’s up to 800,000 Gypsies, known as Roma, has received three seats in the European Parliament, official results showed.
Hungary’s “Anti-Roma, Anti-Jewish” Party Marching To Europe (Special Feature)
Lawyer Krisztina Morvai is a beautiful blond mother who smiles on campaign posters of the far-right party, the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik). However the red, lipstick smile, of Jobbik’s primary candidate for the European Union Parliament soon disappears when asked about her views on Hungary’s estimated 800.000 gypsies, who prefer to be known as the Roma, and Jewish people.
BREAKING NEWS: Burma Army Attacks Christian Orphanage; Many Flee
A Christian-run orphanage in Burma near the border with Thailand has been attacked by the Burmese army, amid a fresh crackdown on the predominantly Christian Karen people in the area, officials and children told Worthy News Friday, June 5.
Concern Over China’s Christian Prisoners On 20th Anniversary Of Tiananmen Square “Massacre”
Christian leaders and rights advocates have expressed concerns over the situation of Christian prisoners and other reported human rights violations in China, and urged Washington increase pressure on Beijing, 20 years after the Tiananmen Square “massacre”.
NEWS ALERT: Belarus Evangelical Church Faces Imminent Eviction By Security Forces
There was uncertainty about the future of one of the largest evangelical churches in Belarus Tuesday, June 2, after authorities ordered it to abandon its building in the capital Minsk.
Christians Among Executed, Tortured People in Philippines
A Protestant pastor who says he was tortured while being detained in the Philippines has warned of widespread killings and other attacks against church members in the Asian nation.