A pastor in India whose family’s house was demolished a month ago was assaulted on his way home from grocery shopping by the same people who forced him to flee his village.
An evangelical church and mission group has launched rooftop services in Pakistan after authorities banned regular church meetings amid a national lockdown to halt the coronavirus pandemic. Besides providing alternative worship, the church also saved 100 Christian families from slavery in some of Pakistan’s notorious brickyards, a pastor said in an extensive interview.
A tense calm returned to the outskirts of Paris after four days of riots exacerbated by the anger of the ongoing coronavirus lockdown and police measures in France. Crowds of youths targeted riot police with fireworks and torched rubbish bins amid rising tensions. The violence began Saturday after a motorcyclist was seriously injured in Villeneuve-La-Garenne in a confrontation with police.
Hungary has condemned global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for saying that an ‘Orwellian law’ has imposed an ‘information police state’ in the country. RSF urged two United Nations rapporteurs to condemn the governments of Hungary and dozens of other nations for ‘violating the right to information’ about the coronavirus pandemic.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns of global social unrest if government measures to halt the coronavirus pandemic are seen as unfairly favoring the rich.
Israel’s High Court ruled Sunday that a petition to disqualify Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a new government was filed too early. The petition claims Netanyahu should be barred from leading the country because of the corruption charges he faces. Justice Alex Stein dismissed the petition on the grounds that President Reuven Rivlin has not asked Netanyahu to form a government coalition this time around. Nevertheless, the Times of Israel reports, the Court said the application could be renewed should Rivlin give Netanyahu such a mandate in due course.
Police in the U.S. State of Texas have been praying for a fellow officer who was rushed to an intensive care unit with the new coronavirus COVID-19.
Concerns remained Thursday over the whereabouts of a jailed Christian in China after authorities prevented his wife from sending him money and clothes, Christian activists say. Jiang Zhanchun was arrested in China’s capital Beijing last year when he and his wife discussed opportunities to be baptized with Christian leaders of a Beijing house church, according to the letter seen by Worthy News.
The country is in a near-total lockdown with residents forbidden from traveling more than 328 feet away from their homes. Health Ministry Deputy Director-General Itamar Grotto told Army Radio on Monday that Israel will probably enforce a full lockdown on Wednesday, the first night of Passover.
Police, state governments, and radical Hindu nationalist groups are joining together against Christians in India, marshaling the accusation that Christians are forcing people to convert to faith in Jesus.
The Israeli government is surrounding ultra-orthodox neighborhoods with police barricades as punishment for the unwillingness of the Haredi to abide by government regulations.
A pastor in Nepal who made sure to fastidiously follow government regulations forbidding worship services was attacked by police anyway while at home with his family, the officers taunting him and Jesus.
As countries struggle to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, a global fight has emerged over dwindling medical supplies. The tensions even led to growing competition for medical goods between the United States and its traditional European allies. Take Germany. The local government in the German state and capital, Berlin, claims that 200,000 U.S.-made protective masks bound for Germany never arrived. Authorities say the shipment was ‘confiscated’ in Bangkok, Thailand.
Christians in China have reported ongoing harassment from government authorities during the coronavirus crisis. China is ranked as one of the world’s worst countries in the persecution of Christians, according to the Open Doors USA’s World Watch List.
Protestors in Jaffa, Israel joined with a young man Wednesday who was accosted by police for defying government orders to not depart more than 328 feet from his home.
The pastor of a Louisiana church was charged Tuesday with defying state efforts to curtail the coronavirus outbreak. Tony Spell of the Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge faces six counts of misdemeanor for holding services in violation of state-wide orders to stay home and to limit essential gatherings to 10 persons. Spell has said the government is infringing on the right to religion and that he will continue to hold services.
A pastor and a team of youth missionaries from his church were abused and falsely charged in India earlier this month for providing food and clothing to the poor, in another instance of police complicity with the radical Hindu nationalist agenda.
Israel’s ultra-orthodox Haredi community is facing fines and arrests for resisting draconian government regulations that forbid prayer services and prevent a person from walking 328 feet outside their home except in emergencies.
Authorities in Africa and Europe are evacuating churches and detaining pastors as governments say they prohibit worship services to halt the spread of the new coronavirus COVID 19. Video footage obtained by Worthy News showed the head pastor of the Open Arms Ministries congregation in Ghana’s city of Kumasi taken into custody during a recent worship service. The pastor, Kofi Nkrumah Sarkodie, was rushed to a police pickup truck. Several worshippers protested the move and applauded the pastor.
A pastor in Nepal was thrown into prison for exercising his God-given authority over coronavirus after police disguised themselves as Christians in need of healing prayer.