Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which continues to hold close ties with the country's presidency and parliament, recently spoke out against a United Nations declaration aiming to protect women's rights, saying the measures proposed in the declaration would contribute to the "disintegration of society."

"This declaration, if ratified, would lead to complete disintegration of society, and would certainly be the final step in the intellectual and cultural invasion of Muslim countries, eliminating the moral specificity that helps preserve cohesion of Islamic societies," the conservative Islamic political party said in a 10-point memorandum posted on its official website Thursday.

The Muslim Brotherhood went on to argue that the title of the declaration, "End Violence against Women," is misleading because it "aims to destroy the family." more >>

Muslim mobs upset over an alleged derogatory comment about the prophet of Islam burned down more than 180 Christian-owned houses and shops and at least two church buildings here on Saturday (March 9) after authorities told police to "let them vent their grief and anger," officials said.

Lahore's impoverished Joseph Colony looked like a war-ravaged town by Saturdaynight. There were no reports of casualties, but the site was reminiscent of the destruction in Gojra in 2009, when eight Christians were burned alive, 100 houses looted and 50 homes set ablaze after a blasphemy accusation.

"The police let our homes burn and be vandalized … a heavy price to pay when you are a Christian in Pakistan," an area resident identified only as Shaukat told Morning Star NewsSaturday night as he walked dingy streets littered with burnt furniture and appliances, smoke billowing from small houses while firemen continued to put out blazes. "The entire locality was left to the mobs just because a Christian happened to get involved in a dispute with a Muslim." more >>

Ahead of International Women's Day on Friday, Christian relief organization World Vision hosted Humaiya Akhter, a 16-year-old girl from Bangladesh, at a United Nations event in New York City addressing child marriage.

Akhter, who hails from the village of Tajpur, located in the Joypurat district of Bangladesh, has become an outspoken advocate against child marriage, as her native country sees 66 percent of females married before they turn 18.

Akhter spoke with The Christian Post regarding her fight to end child marriage while attending the United Nations event for the World Vision report "Untying the Knot: Preventing Violence Against Girls by Ending Early Marriage." more >>

A court in Egypt has quietly found two Coptic Christian boys guilty of "showing contempt for Islam" but only remanded them to the custody of their parents, an attorney for one of the children said.

In a case of alleged blasphemy that inflamed passions in provincial Egypt, a judge in Beni Suef, 62 miles south of Cairo, ruled the two boys guilty of desecrating pages of the Koran in spite of conflicting statements by the accuser and doubts about the functionally illiterate boys' capacity to identify Koranic verses, attorney Karam Ghoubrial said.

The judge cited the boys' age in the light sentence; they were 9 and 10 at the time of the Sept. 30 incident. By issuing a guilty verdict in near secrecy on Feb. 4 – the ruling came to light only the past week – and declining to hand down prison time or a fine, the judge seems to have averted foreign criticism while quelling the anger of Muslim villagers. more >>

In Mubi in northeastern Nigeria, Christians do not dare step out of their homes after 8 p.m., church leaders say. And many Christians are too afraid of Islamic extremist attacks to attend church services.

This month suspected members of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram killed eight members of a Church of the Brethren (Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria, or EYN) congregation outside Mubi, among others – the latest in a series of attacks in or near the town in Adamawa state bordering Cameroon.

"The crisis has created a lot of hardship for Christians, as even movement to eke out a living is restricted," said the Rev. Daniel Yumuna, a district secretary of the EYN. "Businesses of our church members have all collapsed because they face attacks regularly, and living generally has been made very difficult here not only for our church members but for all other Christians in this part of the country." more >>

Suspected Islamic extremists in Somalia shot a Christian to death this month on the outskirts of the coastal city of Kismayo, sources said.

Two masked men killed Ahmed Ali Jimale, a 42-year-old father of four, on Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. as he stood outside his house in Alanley village, near a police station, they said. The killers were suspected to be members of the Islamic extremist Al Shabaab, a rebel militia ousted from the area four months ago but still engaging in hit-and-run tactics. A few of the four rival clans in Kismayo, 328 miles southwest of Mogadishu, are said to be housing members of Al Shabaab.

A businessman, teacher and medical consultant well-known in the area, Jimale ran a pharmacy in Kismayo. He would give private lessons on medicine and first aid, and as an underground Christian – as are all Christians in Somalia – he highlighted the teaching with discussions comparing the Bible and the Koran, sources said. more >>