World in Brief

The Bill to allow Belgian children of all ages to access euthanasia is being opposed by people all across Europe, via a petition organised just hours after the Bill was voted through in mid-February.

Although there are concerns that it will produce a constitutional crisis if the Bill isn’t signed by the Belgian monarch, the aim of the petition is to protect the vulnerable.

Chinese Pastor Zhang Shaojie’s trial date, which had been set for February 21, has been ‘indefinitely postponed’, according to lawyers quoted by China Aid.

Previously moved from January 28 and then from February 12, his lawyer was notified of the most recent postponement by text message just three days before the scheduled date. No reason was given for the postponement, but it is thought that the court is awaiting instruction from their superiors.

In mid-February, a Protestant pastor received a citation to present himself to state security after his detention a few days before.

The Rev. Santi Pérez was detained as he visited former prisoner of conscience, Jorge Luis Garcia Pérez, to pray for him as he was carrying out a hunger strike. Government officials said: ‘We don’t want you praying for anyone here’.

More than 100 Bibles have been sent to seafarers in the Falkland Islands thanks to donations to the Bible Society, it was reported in late February.

Hundreds of sailors and fishermen visit the Lighthouse Seamen’s Centre in the capital, Stanley, each year and Port Missioner, Betty Turner, says that they are desperate to receive Bibles. ‘I could give away an endless number of Bibles,’ she says. ‘Many are committed Christians but come from poor countries and can’t afford their own.’

Church leaders in India are alarmed over a dramatic increase in attacks on Christians in the state of Andhra Pradesh where, since early 2014, one pastor has been murdered, others beaten, and churches have been demolished.

The All India Christian Council documented 72 incidents of anti-Christian violence and hostility in Andhra Pradesh in 2013, nearly double the 39 recorded in 2012. As India’s fifth-most-populous state, it has the country’s highest rate of anti-Christian incidents.

On February 22, Pastor Behnam Irani had surgery and is now recovering in hospital.

The pastor had been suffering from severe bleeding due to stomach ulcers and colon complications, which at one point caused him to lose consciousness. He was returned to Ghezal Hesar Prison after the successful operation.

In February, Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev, a retired Presbyterian pastor, was given a four-year suspended prison term for harming the health of a church member, even though that church member has repeatedly insisted to state authorities that her health was not harmed.

He also has to pay his alleged victim large ‘moral damages’ of 2 million Tenge, US$10,800.

In Central Kenya in February, 300 bishops marched to a governor’s office to protest against a new Bill that could see clergy charged for preaching outside their churches.

The bishops, who say they represent as many as 1,200 churches within Nyeri County, marched to the governor’s office to protest against the Nyeri County Finance Bill, which includes a section on charging preachers for speaking in public.

It was reported on March 10 that an Egyptian Christian, who was shot in Benghazi on March 2, remains close to death in a hospital in Egypt.

Salama Fawzy Tobia, aged 23, was attacked by gunmen while he was unloading fruit and vegetables at a stall and shot at least once in the head. Following initial treatment at a hospital in Benghazi, his family then transported him by road to Egypt from Libya after the Egyptian government refused to use a military plane to fly him home.

On February 11, 25 Protestant families had their water and electricity supplies disconnected and were effectively put under house arrest, because of their refusal to participate in traditionalist Catholic religious ceremonies.

One person was arbitrarily detained by village authorities and imprisoned for more than 24 hours after he attempted to reconnect his water while under the supervision of state officials and police. This follows an escalation of discriminatory behaviour towards the group of Protestant Christians since 2010.

A pastor was killed and a church set on fire in Nigeria after the body of a six-year-old girl was discovered near his home on February 4.

After alerting the police to the body, a mob of around 2000 attacked him. Local authorities confirmed that the incident had taken place, saying that it was the act of ‘irresponsible individuals’ and that they were sure the pastor had not been responsible for the girl’s death, saying he could not have been ‘so dumb to commit the act and leave the body beside his house’.

Five people were injured when a grenade was thrown into a church in the southern Philippines on February 5, days after the government signed a peace deal with Islamic insurgents.

The attack on the church in Zamboanga happened while a group of senior citizens was meeting there. Four of them and a passer-by were wounded.

The website ‘Looking for God’ has registered its two millionth unique visitor in February.

‘Unique’ means that even if an individual visits the website several times it only counts as one visitor. The official population of Poland is 38 million and the figure gives some indication of the effectiveness of this medium for reaching people.

The Spanish Government has reformed its abortion law, simultaneously rejecting an anti-life opposition motion, it was reported in late February.

The Bill will reassert the termination of an unborn child as a crime, but decriminalise abortion in the case of rape or when there is a proven risk to the physical or psychological health of the mother.

Grounds of conscientious objection for medical staff involved in terminations will be maintained.

16% of those assisted to die by right-to-die organisations such as Dignitas did not register an underlying cause for their decision. This seems to be suggesting an increasing number of people are simply becoming weary of life, a report in mid-February has shown.

Women, those with no religious affiliation and those who are highly educated, divorced or rich, are more likely to end their lives in this way, according to a study conducted by researchers in Switzerland.

Bomb attacks on the island of Zanzibar targeted Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, on February 24 and an Evangelistic Assemblies of God Tanzania (EAGT) church the day before.

Two bombs were detonated remotely at the Anglican church. The EAGT church explosion occurred as the service was ending and it is unclear if anyone was injured.

Protestant Pastor Orhan Picaklar was informed on February 3 that what he called ‘ugly slanders’ against his character and conduct have been officially dropped by the Turkish prosecutor investigating his case.

The ruling, which said there was insufficient evidence against the pastor, was issued on January 13, but he only learned of the decision when he received a mailed copy of the official’s four-page ruling three weeks later.

The US State Department announced its disappointment after North Korean officials rescinded for a second time an invitation to discuss the release of Kenneth Bae, it was reported in early February.

Bae, was arrested in November 2012, operates a tourist company in Washington state where some Christian groups provide aid to North Korean refugees. It is stated that Bae has made a number of trips to North Korea to assist orphaned children.

A young Christian man jailed for ‘propaganda against the state’ was welcomed back home by his family and community on February 2.

Chu Manh Son (25) was released, having served his full 30-month prison sentence. He will now spend another year under house arrest.

The conviction of a well-known Christian lawyer and activist has been upheld on appeal on February 18.

Sentenced in October to two and a half years in jail on trumped-up tax evasion charges, the lawyer staged a hunger strike for 17 days before the hearing. He was protesting against the prison authorities’ refusal to allow him access to a Bible and to legal texts to help him prepare for the appeal.