Asia

Chinese officials demolish megachurch and arrest leaders

01 Nov 2019
Chinese Christians in Anhui are said to be ‘outraged’ after their state-registered megachurch was demolished and their pastors arrested. Demolition work (pictured) began at Funan County Christian Church on Friday, partway through a…

Vietnam: Phuc, poverty and prayers

31 Oct 2019
Prime minister Phuc has asked the public security and foreign ministries to investigate the trafficking of Vietnamese citizens into foreign countries after 39 people died in a refrigerated truck in Essex. Vietnam’s UK…

Syria: al-Baghdadi’s ugly legacy

31 Oct 2019
In 2014 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and that the world’s Muslims owed him their allegiance as ‘Caliph Ibrahim.’ It was an attempt to establish Islamic sovereignty across…

Lebanon: demonstrations - PM resigns

31 Oct 2019
Protesters have paralysed Lebanon, blocking roadways, closing schools and shutting banks nationwide. Emergency reform measures and an offer of dialogue with protest representatives by the president failed to defuse anger or move the…

Global: polio in 2019

31 Oct 2019
World Polio Day was on 24 October. Global polio numbers have fallen over decades, but new outbreaks continue to raise questions about eradication efforts in countries where humanitarian access is a problem. The…

Syria: unsung heroes

25 Oct 2019
The Free Burma Rangers (FBR) deliver emergency medical assistance to sick and injured internally-displaced people, and train teams in frontline medical treatment, humanitarian relief and reconnaissance techniques. On 21 October one ranger wrote,…

Israel: political deadlock

25 Oct 2019
After the election last month, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had 28 days to secure the 61 seats necessary to achieve a functioning majority government by building support from smaller parties in the Knesset.…

Tajikistan: a transformed life

18 Oct 2019
Alexey, a middle-school dropout, first went to the missionaries’ church for food when he was a homeless beggar. When he got a job and could feed himself, he stopped attending church. He met…

Syria: orphans of the Caliphate

17 Oct 2019
The families of suspected IS militants are being held at a number of camps for displaced people in northern Syria. Al-Hol camp houses almost 70,000 people, of whom 11,000 are foreign nationals; 94%…

Turkey: deporting Christians

17 Oct 2019
At a UN summit on religious freedom, Donald Trump praised President Erdogan. But since 2016 Turkey’s Protestant community of mostly Muslim converts, meeting in 150 Christian fellowships, report an increase of crimes against…
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