Global: Other elections to be held before 7 May
On the 7 May the United Kingdom will hold Elections for the House of Commons, but seven other countries will also be holding parliamentary elections between now and then: Finland with election for Parliament on 19 April; Haiti has an Election for Chamber of Deputies on 24 April; Anguilla with election for House of Assembly on 25 April; Togo has an election for President on 25 April; Benin an election for National Assembly on 26l; Kazakhstan holds an election for President on 26 and Tanzania has a Referendum on 30l. For further Insights into how to pray for these and other elections in 2015 click the ' 'More' button below.
Global: Other elections to be held before 7 May
On the 7 May the United Kingdom will hold Elections for the House of Commons, but seven other countries will also be holding parliamentary elections between now and then: Finland with election for Parliament on 19 April; Haiti has an Election for Chamber of Deputies on 24 April; Anguilla with election for House of Assembly on 25 April; Togo has an election for President on 25 April; Benin an election for National Assembly on 26l; Kazakhstan holds an election for President on 26 and Tanzania has a Referendum on 30l. For further Insights into how to pray for these and other elections in 2015 click the ' 'More' button below.
Pakistan: Police torture Christians to extract confessions
One hundred and eleven Pakistani Christians were arrested in March following the lynching of two Muslim men wrongly thought to be involved in killing 17 Christians and church bombings. 30 prisoners have now been released and International Christian Concern announced on Tuesday that the 30 men and boys had been subjected to torture and merciless beatings by police officers in an attempt to extract confessions out of them. Many of the detained were innocent. In early April, 16 Christians were indicted for the murder of the two Muslim men and 12 indicted for damage to state property. This incident is the tip of the iceberg of the discrimination and persecution that religious minorities endure - from indentured servitude, forced conversions to kidnapping for ransom. The most recent atrocity happened last weekend when a 14-year-old Christian boy was beaten and set on fire after answering truthfully when he was asked by Muslim men if he was a Christian. See:
Cuba: No longer on terrorism list, but still persecuting Christians
In January Christian Today reported that violations of religious freedom are increasing in Cuba, with incidences becoming more violent. Protestant pastors are arbitrarily detained or beaten and churches are being demolished. Everything is monitored, the Cuban Government has complete control over telephone lines and internet connection. Pastors or church officials who try to send information out are doing that knowing that the government's going to know about it - and their actions will produce repercussions. Unregistered churches can experience anything from the confiscation of property to the demolition of the church building. This week Cuba welcomed a US decision to remove it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism after Mr Obama met Cuban President Raul Castro last week. This move officially changes the way the US government has viewed Cuba since 1982. Many are now hoping the trade embargo against Cuba will end. See also http://www.christiantoday.com/article/religious.freedom.worsening.in.cuba.there.is.a.crackdown.happening/46769.htm
USA: More protests against police violence
Protesters in several US cities blocked highways and swarmed police precincts in demonstrations against fresh cases of police violence towards unarmed black men. Most recently 250 activists marched across New York's Brooklyn Bridge carrying placards that stated, ‘Stop murder by police’ and ‘Stop killer cops.’ At least 12 people, some schoolchildren, were arrested following a scuffle with police. Los Angeles police arrested 15 protesters from a group of nearly 100 after they stopped on Metro Rail tracks and ignored orders to disperse. In San Francisco 100+ protesters surrounded a police station and disrupted a meeting at City Hall. In Oakland, demonstrators massed outside the Police Department and swarmed onto Interstate 880. These are but a few of the reported incidents following the 4 April fatal shooting of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man shot in the back by a white police officer in South Carolina.
Turkey: Refugees prompt the need for church building
In February this year we reported Turkey getting its first Christian TV station and in a season of fear for many Mideast Christians, Turkey has approved its first new church in 92 years to meet the needs of the Syrian Christian refugee community. The state will fund the construction and according to officials, this will be the first church constructed in Turkey since the creation of the republic in 1923. Pope Francis applauded Turkey for their acceptance of Christian refugees during his November visit to the country and also encouraged religious coexistence between the Muslim majority and minority Christian faiths within the country. See also: http://www.news.va/en/news/revisiting-the-highlights-of-pope-francis-visit-to
India: Police attack Christian missionaries
A group of 20 Christian missionaries were wounded by police officers because of their missionary work in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan. The attack took place on 26 February and has recently become widely publicised amidst concerns of ongoing religious violence and persecution against Christians in the largely Hindu nation. ‘We were made to get out of the police van by being kicked and then, inside the police station, the police lined us up and hit us with belts on our hands and wrists’ The missionaries arrived from Hyderabad and began distributing Christian leaflets in Jaipur. They were met with some hostility so they left. However, when they returned to where they were staying they found that someone had called the police and they were arrested. This incident comes on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, ‘We consider the freedom to have, to retain and to adopt a religion or belief is a personal choice of a citizen.’
Nigeria: Election campaigns almost divided Lagos
Lagos’ Governor Babatunde Fashola said on Tuesday that the 2015 general election campaigns almost divided Lagos along ethnic line and civil service administration. This comment came as the Lagos State Governor-elect, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, urged the civil servants in the state to continue giving support to his incoming team in order to continue the work in the state. Fashola said that the task ahead is daunting both at the national and state level and noted that 2015 election campaigns recorded unprecedented hype compared to previous elections in the country. ‘I have been involved in four elections, but in none of those elections have I seen a campaign that tried to divide our public service. I have never seen posters in front of the state secretariat that distorted the reality of our condition in service’.
Global: Other elections to be held before 7 May
On the 7 May the United Kingdom will hold Elections for the House of Commons, but seven other countries will also be holding parliamentary elections between now and then: Finland with election for Parliament on 19 April; Haiti has an Election for Chamber of Deputies on 24 April; Anguilla with election for House of Assembly on 25 April; Togo has an election for President on 25 April; Benin an election for National Assembly on 26l; Kazakhstan holds an election for President on 26 and Tanzania has a Referendum on 30l. For further Insights into how to pray for these and other elections in 2015 click the ' 'More' button below.
Another migrant tragedy, 400 people died
Four hundred migrants drowned in the Mediterranean in the latest migrant tragedy taking place inside the European borders. On Monday, the Italian navy said that it managed to rescue 144 people. Survivors said the boat was carrying about 550 people who wanted to enter the European Union through Italy. The survivors were brought to a southern Italian port on Tuesday morning, the International Organization for Migration and the charity Save the Children reported. Most of the migrants were sub-Saharan Africans. ‘There were 400 victims in this shipwreck, which occurred 24 hours after their vessel left the Libyan coast,’ Save the Children said in a statement, citing survivors. ‘There were several young males, probably minors, among the victims’ and also children among those rescued'. IOM spokesman in Italy, Flavio Di Giacomo, told AFP that the Italian authorities are ‘continuing to investigate in order to understand how the shipwreck happened.’