MELBOURNE, Australia (Morning Star News) – Police in Australia today arrested seven suspected Islamic terrorists after thwarting a planned bomb attack on three sites in Melbourne, including St. Paul’s Cathedral. Some 400 heavily-armed police raided homes in five of Melbourne’s northwestern suburbs. The raids reportedly culminated weeks of intensive investigations and monitoring by Victoria Police, Australian […]
Authorities Foil Suspected Islamist Terror Attack in Melbourne, Australia
Anglican cathedral among targets.
December 23, 2016 By -
Burma Armed Forces Bomb Church Building Previously Seized as Base, Sources Say
Such occupation, destruction 'routine,' USCIRF report says.
December 19, 2016 By -
YANGON, Burma (Morning Star News) – Burmese armed forces last month bombed a Catholic church building in northern Shan state that soldiers had occupied earlier in their fight against ethnic separatists, sources said. In a practice that a U.S. government report released last week described as “routine,” the Burma (also called Myanmar) soldiers occupied the church […]
Emotions Swirl as Blasphemy Trial Begins in Indonesia against Ahok
Jakarta governor in tears inside courtroom as protestors chant outside.
December 13, 2016 By -
VICTORIA, Australia (Morning Star News) – The blasphemy trial of Jakarta Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama began this morning, with the ethnic Chinese Christian breaking into tears inside the courtroom while hundreds of people protested outside. Some 2,000 police officers kept anti-Ahok and pro-Ahok protestors apart outside the heavily guarded court. Those opposing Ahok chanted, “Jail […]
Indonesia Faces Defining Moment in ‘Blasphemy’ Protests against Christian Governor Ahok
Islamic-majority ‘model democracy’ challenged by religious-based political furor.
December 1, 2016 By -
(Morning Star News) – Having concluded their investigations, Indonesian police have now named Jakarta’s ethnic Chinese Christian Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy case. The case that has produced virulent protests will now to go trial. Islamic fundamentalists are now demanding he be arrested and incarcerated, as is normally the case with […]
Pastor in China Upholds Faith after Nearly Year in Prison
Authorities strip another church leader of his position.
November 21, 2016 By -
(Morning Star News) – A pastor in southwestern China, jailed for nearly a year on fabricated charges and suffering a liver disease, focuses on trusting God in a letter of encouragement to his wife, according to China Aid. Authorities took pastor Li Guozhi, better known as Yang Hua, into custody after a raid on his […]
Church Attack in Indonesia Kills 2-year-old Girl
Convicted terrorist linked with Islamic State arrested.
November 15, 2016 By -
(Morning Star News) – A former terrorism convict with ties to the Islamic State (IS) threw a home-made bomb at a church compound in Indonesia on Sunday (Nov. 13), killing a 2-year-old girl and seriously injuring three other children, according to The Jakarta Post. Intan Olivia was pronounced dead at 3:05 a.m. on Monday (Nov. […]
Persecution of Church in China to Escalate as Zhejiang Experiment Goes National
Draft regulations on religion portend broader clamp-down.
October 14, 2016 By -
(Morning Star News) – In October 2012, the South China Morning Post ran a series of articles on China’s looming leadership transition. One line might prove prophetic, although not in the way intended: “For clues about how China’s leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping might manage the world’s second-largest economy, Zhejiang Province is a good place to start looking.” […]
House-Church Leader among Four Pro-Democracy Activists Sentenced in China
Hu Shigen given seven and a half years in prison.
August 8, 2016 By -
(Morning Star News) – Two Christians were among four activists convicted under fabricated charges of “subverting state power” in China last week. The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced house-church leader Hu Shigen, 61, on Wednesday (Aug. 3) to seven and a half years in prison on charges of “subverting state power” for his […]
Converts from Islam in Malaysia Detained in ‘Faith Purification Centers’
Violators of sharia sentenced – or arbitrarily sent – to re-education camps.
July 14, 2016 By -
(Morning Star News) – Converts to non-Islamic faiths in Malaysia can be detained for more than three months in “Faith Purification Centers.” While some converts are arbitrarily arrested and sent to the centers, detention in one of the three camps is “slowly gaining preference among sharia judges in Malaysia” as an alternative to prison sentencing, […]
Persecuted Rights Advocates in Vietnam Seek Help from World’s Democracies
Beatings, prison also constitute an attack on liberty.
June 13, 2016 By -
(Morning Star News) – In 2006, the U.S. State Department removed Vietnam from its list of Countries of Particular Concern, citing the release of religious prisoners and the easing of religious restrictions. Two months later, the United States granted Vietnam permanent normal trade status, paving the way for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization […]