Persecution

Human rights groups are urging Christians to continue circulating news about Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who is expected to remain in an Iranian prison for up to another year.

“[I]t is imperative that the international community remain engaged. We are confident that prayer is working,” Tiffany Barrans, international legal director of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), told The Christian Post.

Nadarkhani, an evangelical Christian, has been jailed since 2009 under apostasy charges and for evangelizing to Muslims. more >>

Christians in India are still waiting for justice three years after the massacres in Orissa in 2008, and the All India Christian Council (AICC) is demanding that more people be punished for the uncounted murders and rapes that occurred in the region.

Around 4,000 Christian homes and 400 churches were destroyed in a string of violence in the remote eastern region of India between August and September of 2008. Angry Hindus reportedly organized against Christians who were converting Indians to Christianity and urging them to leave their caste system.

Many of the Hindus that had converted were Dalits, or "Untouchables," who are the lowest caste in India and make up around one-fifth of the population. Dalits are treated as less than human, and reportedly see converting to Christianity as a way to escape their low class status. more >>

Nearly 80 Anglican clergymen were barred access to an annual retreat in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, inciting claims from the group that the government is prohibiting their freedom of religion.

The Diocese of Harare of the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) attempted to convene at a high school in Marondera – just southwest of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare – but was met by police officers who demanded the group leave the school grounds.

CPCA Bishop Nicholas Chad Gandiya said the incident was not a simple misunderstanding. more >>

The militant Islamist group, Boko Haram, has issued a chilling warning to all Christians in northern Nigeria, giving them three days to leave or face further extensive attacks.

The violence in Nigeria by Boko Haram has led to a stiff ultimatum by the group, which has warned that it is ready to confront soldiers sent to engage them under a state of emergency declared by Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan.

“We will confront them squarely to protect our brothers,” said Abul Qaqa, spokesperson of Boko Haram, according to CNN. more >>

Washington Police are closing in on what they believe is the body of a suspected shooter who gunned down a national park ranger yesterday.

The Associated Press reported today that Mount Rainier National Park was closed while nearly 200 law enforcement officials scoured the wilderness for Benjamin Colton Barnes. Barnes, a 24-year-old Iraq War veteran, allegedly entered the park yesterday morning and sped past a checkpoint where park officials ensure vehicles entering it have tire chains for snow. Two park rangers tried stopping him, only for Barnes to allegedly shoot Ranger Margaret Anderson and flee into the park.

Kevin Bacher, a parks spokesman, told AP that police helped lock down the park last night so that authorities could search for Barnes. The park housed 125 people in its visitor center basement, he added, only for police to escort them to safety earlier this morning. As an extra precaution, he said police were traveling to the park's most remote areas and warning travelers that an armed and dangerous shooter was in the area. more >>

What level of respect should the world display during a dead dictator’s memorial?

That was the challenge faced by the United Nations this week when North Korea publicly mourned its late leader Kim Jong-il on Wednesday. AsiaOne.com reported Wednesday that the U.N. lowered flags at its New York City and Geneva offices to half-mast during Kim's funeral procession. It's a common courtesy, Choi Soung-ah, U.N. spokeswoman for the Secretary-Genera, told AsiaOne, following the death of any member nation's leader.

"The Secretary-General has learned that the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong-il, has passed away," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a Dec. 19 statement following Kim's heart attack. "The Secretary-General extends his sympathy to the people of DPRK at this time of their national mourning. The United Nations system will continue to help the people of the DPRK." more >>