Christians in Iran have challenged news reports that the death penalty for Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani has been annulled pointing out that in reality the Supreme Court appears to have added a precondition requiring him to renounce his faith or face execution, according to an international Christian rights group.
Iran's secretive supreme court has reportedly overturned a death sentence handed down to an evangelical pastor for leaving Islam, surprising trial observers who were earlier informed about an execution ruling.
A hard-line Jewish ultra-Orthodox group in Israel has launched a campaign against Christian missionaries and Jewish Christians, known as Messianic Jews, who they view as a security threat.
...continue reading this storyBaptist Pastor Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso and his wife, Yoaxis, were part of the 23 Christians detained by Cuban police in Santa Clara, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a major religious rights group.
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Chinese authorities recently expelled yet another member of Beijing's largest unregistered house churches.
Chuan Liang was the second member of the Shouwang "keeping watch" Church to be expelled from the city since authorities compelled the congregation to meet outdoors; the first expulsion came after Shouwang Church held its fifth consecutive outdoor Sunday worship service when 15 members were taken to 10 police stations across Beijing, but most were released within 24 hours.
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An Iranian pastor, convicted of apostasy and sentenced to death, may have only hours or days to live, according to a US-based Christian ministry acquainted with the facts of his case.
Three people were injured when Muslim mobs burned down eight Christian homes in the Egyptian village of Awlad Khalaf Saturday after a rumor that a house currently under construction would instead become a church.
...continue reading this storyAt least 25 Nigerians were killed Sunday when motorcyclists bombed several outdoor beer gardens in Maiduguri; although no one claimed responsibility for the bombings, local police said the attacks bore the hallmark of Boko Haram, an Islamic group fighting for the implementation of shar'ia, which prohibits alcohol.
...continue reading this storyAfghani Christians are warned of "dire consequences" should American forces leave Afghanistan, Worthy News has learned. "If U.S. troops are not in Afghanistan the Taliban will come to power," said Obaid S. Christ, an Afghan Christian exiled to India, said last Tuesday. "We will have the same situation we had in the 1990s when the Russians left Afghanistan, when we had civil war and millions killed."
...continue reading this storyAt least four incidents of Christian persecution were reported from the former Soviet country of Uzbekistan this week. According to an analysis and report researched and written by Fernando Perez for the World Evangelical Alliance – Religious Liberty Commission, a Christian woman was beaten into concussion, another woman was fined $1,465 by a court for giving the New Testament to a child, a Christian man was threatened with axe attack by a police official and another man was assaulted by police.
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