Samuel Smith and World Watch Monitor

Latest

• 
  Aug 10, 2020

  Gunmen kill 20 in latest attack in Burkina Faso; 6 aid workers killed in Niger

  As many as 20 people were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a cattle market in Eastern Burkina Faso on Friday, as violent extremist attacks continue to increase across the Sahel region of Africa.

• 
  Aug 5, 2020

  Tropical Storm Isaias rips steeple off historic chapel in New Jersey beach town

  The strong winds from Tropical Storm Isaias, which has left millions across the East Coast without power and has taken the lives of at least eight people, knocked the steeple off of a historic chapel in Ocean City, New Jersey, on Tuesday morning.

• 
  Jul 31, 2020

  NBA accused of running 'sweat camp' in China where kids were abused: ESPN

  A new investigation by ESPN has raised questions about potential human rights abuses within the National Basketball Association-run development program in China, with one former coach accusing the program of being a “sweat camp” run by the Chinese government. 

• 
  Jul 31, 2020

  Texas CPS refuses to remove homeschool parents from abuse registry after dismissing case

  Homeschool parents in Texas are still fighting to get their names removed from the state’s child abuse registry seven months after the state’s child protective services agency dismissed their case and returned their 4-year-old son. 

• 
  Jul 30, 2020

  ISWAP executes 5 Nigerian aid workers in a video warning to Christians

  Militants aligned with the Islamic State in Nigeria have executed five aid workers, declaring in a video posted online that the killings were meant as a warning to “all those being used by infidels to convert Muslims to Christianity.”

• 
  Jul 29, 2020

  Christian groups oppose new DHS policy denying new DACA applicants: 'Unconscionable'

  Some Christian advocacy organizations have condemned the Trump administration’s announcement that it will reject new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a plan to scrap the program last month. 

• 
  Jul 29, 2020

  Anti-Christian incidents in France rose 285% since 2008: Observatory

  There’s been about a 285% increase in the number of “anti-Christian incidents” reported in France over the last decade-plus, according to the head of the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe.

• 
  Jul 24, 2020

  Iranian Christian convert loses appeal of prison sentences 18 months after arrest

  An Iranian Christian convert convicted of being a member of a “zionist” evangelical group has lost his appeal against two prison sentences he received earlier this year, according to a London-based Iranian human rights watchdog organization. 

• 
  Jul 23, 2020

  Churches sue Calif. Gov. Newsom over COVID-19 order banning in-home Bible studies

  A multicampus church has filed a complaint in federal court against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 executive order that it believes effectively bans church members from holding Bible studies and other small group meetings in their homes. 

• 
  Jul 22, 2020

  Joe Biden wants Islam taught more in schools, decries 'rise in Islamophobia'

  Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden said Monday that he wants schools in the U.S. to teach more about Islam and claimed that there is an “unconscionable rise in Islamophobia” under the Trump administration.