Coptic Christians attending a funeral service Sunday for four Copts killed two days earlier in an anti-Christian rampage were in turn attacked themselves by at least 200 Muslim rioters.

The incident, which started with a few dozen men pelting the mourners with stones, quickly escalated into a massive attack against Christians at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia area of Cairo involving firearms, flash-bang grenades, tear gas, fire bombs and other improvised weapons, besides cars set ablaze.

A Morning Star News reporter observed that police took more than an hour to respond, and when they arrived, they did nothing to stop the attack. Instead, most stood and watched men throw rocks at the Christians gathered at the gates of the cathedral compound or hurl stones over walls at the Christians trapped inside. more >>

Bangladesh authorities have arrested a fourth atheist blogger and charged him with defaming Islam, as part of an effort to clamp down on religious offenses over the Internet.

"(Blogger) Asif Mohiuddin has been arrested on charges of hurting religious sentiment through his writings on blogs and Facebook," a police spokesman said, according to ZeeNews.com.

Mohiuddin, 29, is a prominent figure in Dhaka, the capital, and was viciously attacked by Islamists in January, who stabbed him repeatedly when he was leaving work one night, and left him fighting for his life. more >>

In the wake of recent accusations of racism, Lego has decided to pull its Jabba the Hutt-themed toy set, but has argued that its decision to discontinue the toy was not based on criticism, but rather the company decided to swap the toy for more current, updated models.

"A few media have reported that the product is being discontinued due to the mentioned criticism. This is, however, not correct," a statement released by the Denmark-based global toy company reads.

"The LEGO Star Wars product Jabba's Palace 9516 was planned from the beginning to be in the assortment only until the end of 2013 as new exciting models from the Star Wars universe will follow," the statement adds. more >>

After eight years of indecision, the Egyptian government has approved the international NGO registration of Coptic Orphans, a nonprofit organization focusing on relief efforts for paternal orphans and their families.

"Despite whatever circumstances held our application in limbo during previous years, Egypt government's approval is a confirmation of what we have been saying all along: that Coptic Orphans works for the betterment of all Egypt," Coptic Orphans founder and Executive Director Nermien Riad said in a statement emailed to The Christian Post.

Orphans initially filed an application for official NGO recognition in 2005, but due to miscommunications among government officials and Egypt's media, it did not receive approval for eight years. more >>

The Libyan embassy located in Cairo, Egypt, has re-opened days after protests over the death of an Egyptian Christian in a Libyan prison rocked the country's capitol.

The embassy originally announced its plans to temporarily close on Saturday, citing safety reasons. 

 "The embassy suspended all its consular and citizen services because [our] Coptic brothers demonstrated," embassy media adviser Abdul Hamid al-Safi told Reuters. more >>

A Christian ministry worker who encourages and equips believers and the local church inside Pakistan to face persecution, said that the recent rioting against a Christian colony in Lahore, in which 150 homes were burnt, was further evidence of increased Islamization in the country.

"The event did not come as a surprise to the residents of the area called Badami Bagh, in which there is a smaller colony called the Joseph Colony where Christians live," Hana, whose real name was not given for her protection, told The Christian Post earlier this week.

Even though Pakistan's National assembly condemned the action, Hana said it will take more than a proclamation by the government to help curb the problem. more >>