World in Brief

A Christian man and his son have been attacked by a Muslim man in Giza, Egypt.

Joseph Israel and his son were attacked by Ahmad Mouhammad outside Mr Israel’s wine shop. Mr Mouhammad attacked both with a knife before some of Mr Israel’s Muslim neighbours intervened and beat the assailant badly. Mr Mouhammad, Mr Israel and his son are currently in hospital receiving medical treatment for their injuries. Journalist Nader Shokry suggested that these attacks are the result of hate speech and sectarian incitement by local Islamist preachers.

A rocket attack has killed two people and injured 12 more at the crowded inauguration ceremony of a church in Syria.

Video footage shows a large explosion taking place directly in front of the Greek Orthodox Hagia Sophia Church in Al-Suqaylabiyah, near the city of Hama. The church also sustained serious damage. Syrian state media attributed the bombing to unspecified ‘terrorist organisations’, believed to be members affiliated with Turkish-backed non-state actors.

Severe persecution of Hmong Christians is now taking place in Nghe An Province, central Vietnam. Officials are now vying with each other to create ‘Christian-free zones’ and operate ‘with no conscience or humanity’, local Christian leaders say.

The authorities are putting immense pressure on animist relatives to drive Christians from their homes, exiling them from family, livelihood and community. Some have been forcibly separated from spouse and children, home and fields, sometimes even their wedding rings, if they persist in their faith.

According to a YouGov survey of 1,000 Danes, 73.1% now see religion as a source of conflict. And only 8.4% believe religion leads to peace, while 18.5% did not know.

The question put to the representative group by researchers was ‘in general, do you think religion is the way to peace or conflict?’ Several experts commented that the result was cause by lack of knowledge and fear of religion in general.

The number of abortions in Poland in 2021 was a tenth of those in previous years, according to Ministry of Health data.

After the Constitutional Court ruling of January 2021, which banned almost all abortions, only 107 legal abortions were performed in the country last year. Of those, 75 were due to a high probability of severe and irreversible impairment of the foetus or an incurable disease threatening its life. Pro-life activists are pleased with the figures but say ‘the biggest problem is illegal abortions using abortion pills’.

The International Religious Freedom Report of the United States Embassy in the Dominican Republic reveals that in 2008 evangelicals made up just 12% of the population. But by 2020 they had reached 26%, or over 11.3 million people.

Conversely, many are abandoning Roman Catholicism, the country’s official religion. A few decades ago over 90% of the Dominican population identified themselves as Catholic, now it is less than half.

An advocate group for atheists, agnostics and nontheists is demanding an investigation into an Alabama teacher for incorporating a colouring-book picture of Jesus and Bible passage into a lesson plan.

Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation expressed concern that she ‘taught students about Jesus Christ and Easter, and also provided students with religious colouring-book pages to take home.’ The page featured a picture of Jesus Christ, with the words ‘Jesus is alive’ and a reference to Mark 16:6.

Twenty-four of the 34 provinces in Muslim-majority Indonesia impose repressive dress codes for women and girls, including Christians. Many who do not comply face consequences and bullying.

‘Nearly 150,000 schools in those provinces currently enforce mandatory hijab rules. In some conservative Muslim areas, even non-Muslim girls have also been forced to wear the hijab,’ according to Human Rights Watch. Millions of girls and women in the Southeast Asian archipelago have to wear hijabs, the female headdress covering hair, neck and chest.

US Olympic gold medallist Sydney McLaughlin gave God the credit as she broke her own world record in the 400-metre hurdles at the World Athletics Championships at Eugene, Oregon. She won Olympic gold at Tokyo last year.

On Instagram she posted: ‘So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most’ –Hebrews 4:16.’ She also declared: ‘Praise. His. Name.’

Portuguese prosecutors have launched ten separate inquiries into alleged child sexual abuse by Catholic Church clergy, the first such moves since the commission to investigate accusations was established.

It has collected around 350 testimonies since starting its work in January, saying that number was ‘just the tip of the iceberg’. The majority of the alleged crimes were committed decades ago, and may no longer be investigated under Portugal’s statute of limitations, but the commission has submitted 17 testimonies to public prosecutors.

Three Christians have been killed in an attack on four homes in the village of Jan-glenphai, Sagaing Division.

In the same region, a church used as a refugee camp was raided by military forces, while another was bombed and money taken from mission boxes, offerings and tithes. And in Thatlang, in neighbouring Chin State, two churches were burnt down. This brings the total number of destroyed churches in the locality to 12 since February 2021, when the military seized power. The ongoing attacks are leading to the displacement of more Christians.

The United Nations says growing violence by Islamic State-affiliated insurgents in the northern parts of Christian-majority Mozambique has internally displaced more than 784,000 people.

The UNHCR said it is ‘concerned with the volatile security situation in Cabo Delga-do, especially recent attacks in historically safe districts’. Islamic extremists have been exploiting a crisis in the coastal province of Cabo Delgado in the country’s northeast. A civil war started in 2017 over the area, which is rich in gas, rubies, graphite, gold, and other natural resources.