World in Brief

An Algerian Christian’s family appealed in October to the Algerian president for a pardon, after Slimane Bouhafs was convicted of ‘insulting Islam and the prophet Mohammed’ in posts he made on social media.

Bouhafs, who converted to Christianity in 1997, was sentenced to three years imprisonment on 6 September. He had shared someone else’s media posts. The family see the presidential pardon as the only possibly solution to set their father free as he is suffering with ill health and a Supreme Court appeal would take too long to come to court.

The death of their father on 30 October brought threats of being ostracised from their village as the Christian convert children of their converted father attempted to bury him without Islamic death rites.

The Christians backed down amid rising tensions with neighbours. Fellow Christians comforted members of the family reminding them that their father was ‘already in the arms of his Father’. Many people in the area have been converted despite increased pressure from Muslims around them regarding their new faith.

Calls to ban doctors from conscientiously objecting have been met with fierce criticism in November.

A paper by bioethicists from Canada and the UK that said medical professionals should not be allowed to object to medical procedures on grounds of conscience. The bioethi-cists, Udo Schüklenk and Julian Savulescu of Queen’s University Canada and Oxford University respectively, also suggested applicants to medical school should be screened and eliminated if they cannot put aside their moral values.

After a seven day voyage from Ghana, Logos Hope’s crewmembers were excited to sail into Praia, Cape Verde in November, as it was the 100th port Logos Hope had visited.

Although the ship didn't stop for long, Cape Verde marked the 11th African country on her current tour of the continent. Logos Hope launched into active service in February 2009. 

An organisation that supports the work of the gospel in central Asia has experienced a drop of 25% in currency exchange since the Brexit vote.

In 2016 they could buy 100 Rubles to the pound. The devaluation of the pound means that they are now only able to buy 75 Rubles, with no sign of improvement.

Dutch health and justice ministers are proposing legislation for assisted suicide for those who feel their life is ‘complete’, it was reported in October.

They told the country’s parliament that those who feel their life is complete should ‘be allowed to finish that life in a manner dignified for them’. Euthanasia accounted for almost four per cent of all deaths in the Netherlands in 2015.

Around 150,000 Muslim protestors gathered in Jakarta on 4 November calling for the resignation and prosecution of the city’s Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok.

The protests, which turned violent, subsequently spread to other areas of Indonesia, forcing President Widodo to cancel a planned visit to Australia. The governor was accused of blasphemy after comments he made in an online video, comments that opponents claim denigrates the Qur’an. Ahok has apologised for any offence caused, but stressed that he did not insult the Qur’an.

Despite troubles, church membership is climbing in Indonesia’s only shari’a ruled province, it was reported in early November.

The church buildings that were destroyed a year ago by Islamic extremists and police have still not been rebuilt because of discrimination against Christians by local authorities. The churches now meet in tents, with some having amalgamated. They live in fear of further violence. Despite the rain lashing down and leaking tents dripping onto the congregation, the people are not put off and still worship together.

Three Azerbaijani Christians, accused by Iran of ‘missionary activities’, were allowed to go home on 6 November after more than four months in prison.

They were arrested in June when security agents raided a wedding party they attended during a visit to Tehran. For two months, the four men were then kept incommunicado in solitary confinement and continually interrogated, apparently in Evin Prison in Tehran. During this time, they were denied consular assistance and legal counsel.

After years of suffering for his Christian faith, Behnam Irani was finally released from prison in Karaj on 17 October.

For five years he had unjustly suffered, having been in solitary confinement for the first few months where guards used sleep deprivation as a form of psychological abuse. Much of the rest of his time inside was spent in a cell with hardened criminals. At their hands Behnam suffered physical abuse. He was also beaten by the prison guards.

Attacks by Muslim Fulani herdsmen or allied gunmen in southern Kaduna State appear to be increasingly militant, marked by greater sophistication in training and arms, sources said in early November.

Nigeria contains two of the top terrorist groups in the world. Boko Haram get the most attention and, as a result, the Fulani herdsmen have become increasingly dangerous, as their activities go mostly unchecked.

A judge who withdrew himself from Asia Bibi’s appeal hearing has now resigned from the judiciary, it was reported in October.

He had cited a conflict of interest on the day of her trial which caused him to withdraw from her blasphemy appeal, but gave no reason for his resignation from the judiciary. He had presided over the commission that probed the Gojra riots of 2009, where no-one was convicted of the many crimes against Christians. Asia Bibi’s slim hope of freedom is only likely to happen with a presidential pardon.

The city of Paranaque, known for its garbage-strewn streets and as a dirty and backward place, has been transformed through daily prayer meetings in the City Hall, it was reported in October.

Leaders declared Paranaque ‘a city dedicated to God’, and church pastors come to the City Hall at 8am each day to pray for the Mayor, other leaders and the people. Street cleanliness and public services have dramatically improved and action has been taken to fight truancy and drug abuse among the young.

A congregation of 150 mainly ethnic Nuba and South Sudanese nationals are fearful that authorities in Sudan could demolish their building at any time, it was reported in late October.

Officials notified leaders of the Presbyterian Church of Sudan (PCOS), that they had 72 hours to vacate their property. The church building, which has no formal ownership documents, is one of five that officials said were slated for demolition to make way for investor development.

A Christian nursing home in Switzerland has been ordered by the Federal Court to allow assisted suicide to take place on its premises or give up its charitable status, it was reported in November.

The home, which belongs to The Salvation Army, had previously contested a Swiss law that allows assisted suicide to take place in charitable institutions, if requested by a patient. They unsuccessfully challenged the legislation, saying that it conflicted with their religious beliefs and violated their freedom of conscience.

Children in Homs province, Syria, have been playing in a Child Friendly Space it was reported in early November.

‘Many children have been directly impacted by the violence, suffering from physical and psychological trauma and being forced to leave their homes. Children as young as seven are being recruited into the armed conflict, many suffer from increased levels of physical abuse at home, and young girls are at particular risk of sexual abuse, abduction, and exploitation’, said a worker at the centre.

The Obama administration proposed a new rule that would prevent states from defund-ing Planned Parenthood or any other family planning provider for political reasons, it was reported on 11 November.

The rule means that states cannot vote to defund Planned Parenthood because some of its clinics offer abortion services. Planned Parenthood provides contraception and infection screening alongside advice packs for areas affected by the Zika virus. The money protected by this rule cannot be used to fund abortions.

Cliff Barrows, longtime music and program director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association died on 15 November aged 93.

A Baptist minister, he had been part of the BGEA since 1949 and was best known as the song leader and choir director for the mission meetings. He was involved in this ministry for 60 years, coming to Scotland most recently in 1991 and London in 1989. He was also the host of the weekly Hour of Decision radio program in America.