World Watch Monitor - Reporting the story of Christians around the world under pressure for their faith.

Catching Our Eye

Main suspect behind Sri Lanka Easter churches’ deaths arrested

India: Eight Christians acquitted of kidnapping and forced conversion

Sudan: Three churches burned down twice within one month

Nigeria: ‘Government is Boko Haram but without bomb’, says church leader

Christians in Africa face ‘explosion’ in violence, senior church leader says

Pakistani Christian couple acquitted of blasphemy after 7 years on death row
Boko Haram ‘flies flag 2 hours from Abuja’ warned Governor, as Nigerian captive teen turns 18
Death threats, by Islamic State in Sinai, against Egyptian Copt sons who mourn dad
‘Bring back our 112 Chibok girls – now and alive!’ Demands for closure and disclosure 7 years on
Malaysian woman wins 13 year fight for right to call God ‘Allah’

Articles

The boy is alleged to have "defamed" the Kaaba in Mecca

Facebook, juvenile, Kaaba, Pakistan

Freed on bail after 4 years in jail; no evidence Pakistani ‘liked’ blasphemy Facebook post, aged 16

A Pakistani Christian accused of blasphemy for “liking” and “sharing” a Facebook post which “defamed and disrespected” the . . . Read More

Boko Haram, China, Fulani herdsmen, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Minorities, Nigeria, Religious freedom, Turkey, Women

COVID-19 exacerbates discrimination against minority Christians globally

• Christians refused coronavirus aid in countries from India to Yemen to West Africa • COVID-19 legitimises increased surveillance and restrictions by authoritarian governments • Organised . . . Read More

Chinese woman, phone in hand, 2020

Boko Haram, China, Churches, Egypt, Fulani herdsmen, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Nigeria, Religious freedom, Turkey, Women

Church surveillance, COVID-19 controls affect China’s Christians – 1 of 5 global trends

The emergency that dominated the globe during the past year — the novel coronavirus — also dominated . . . Read More

Burkina Faso, Churches, Djibo, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Sahel, Terrorism, West Africa

Burkina Faso: Fulani pastor brings hope to stigmatised communities

The disproportionate presence of ethnic Fulani among Islamist militants wreaking havoc in the Sahel and West Africa has led to a stigmatisation of the Fulani generally, . . . Read More

Beatrice Stockli settled in Timbuktu in 2000 and was first kidnapped for 10 days in 2012

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Beatrice Stockli, Burkina Faso, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Niger

Swiss woman, hostage almost 5 years, killed by Islamist extremists in Mali

A Swiss missionary Beatrice Stockli – kidnapped from Timbuktu in northern Mali in January 2016 – was killed only weeks before other hostages were freed by . . . Read More

Italian priest Pier Luigi Maccalli, freed in Mali, worked in SW Niger till his kidnap in Sep, 2018

Catholics, hostage, Islamic extremism, Italian, Kidnapping, Mali, priest

Priest, held by Islamist extremists for two years, freed in Mali

An Italian priest abducted two years ago in Niger, close to the border with Burkina Faso, is among four hostages held by Islamist extremists who’ve been . . . Read More