A car bomb attack has killed at least 11 civilians in Jableh, a government-held coastal town. Thirty-five others were also injured by the blast in a commercial area crowded with people near the municipal stadium, a news agency said.  There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Last May, 45 people died in the town in attacks claimed by IS that targeted President Bashar al-Assad's minority Alawite sect. Footage from the scene of Thursday's attack broadcast by state television showed charred, mangled cars, damage to shops, and pools of blood on the road. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, put the death toll at 15.  See also:

A report by the Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News showed that persecution worsened in 2016, with a steep rise in organised, government-sponsored anti-Christian campaigns on radio and television, combined with a vicious crackdown on Farsi-speaking fellowships. Dozens of house churches have been investigated, meetings interrupted and members arrested, interrogated and imprisoned. Records show that 92 Christian converts from Islam are currently awaiting trial, although the real number is likely to be far higher. The report also mentioned a number of well-known Iranian Christians being deliberately defamed, portraying them as morally and financially corrupt. Publication of Bibles and Christian literature in the country is banned, whilst there is subsidising of the publication of works which give a false and negative image of Christianity. Lift up in prayer all Christians held in prison. Pray that the authorities in Iran will not see Christians, including converts from Islam, as a threat but rather as a valuable part of Iranian society, and that government efforts to discredit and suppress Christianity will prove futile.

Kong Hee, City Harvest Church Pastor, wants to ignite a revival among Muslims in Indonesia. ‘What a big harvest field Indonesia is. The number of Christians has grown from 1.3 to 24 million in the past forty years, making up around 10% of the country's population. Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion and second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia. With such a ripe harvest field, it is so necessary for church-building work to be done in this wonderful nation, and that is why I love doing missions in Indonesia,’ the pastor posted to Facebook. Kong Hee has been travelling throughout Southeast Asia recently - seeing miracles and healings break out as he laid hands on people. With his sights set on Indonesia, he is fervently praying for Muslim conversions. "During my 5 days at Bandung last week I ministered at El-Shaddai Creative Community (ECC). The pastors are Revs Nala and Evie Widya. In the 1980s, Nala was a champion cycling athlete, but an accident almost cost him his life and he had to retire. The loss for sports was a gain for God's kingdom when Nala became a pastor. I first met Nala in 2003 when ECC had only 150 members. Now, they are 2,000 strong and rapidly growing through actual soul-winning!" Kong wrote. Muslims are rapidly converting to Christianity around the world, according to several reports.

The son of a murdered Pakistani politician is facing death threats from Islamists because he supported an imprisoned Christian woman who is on death row. Human rights activist Shan Taseer asked for people to support Mrs Asia Bibi, over Twitter this week. Bibi has been sentenced to death, accused of "insulting" Islam after she defended her Christian faith. Muslims in Pakistan are now accusing Taseer of blasphemy against Islam. His father, Salman Taseer, was a Pakistani politician who was killed by one of his own bodyguards for opposing the country's blasphemy laws in January 2011. Shan Taseer's Twitter account can no longer be seen, but tweets with hashtags supporting him are spreading from different accounts.