World in Brief

Barnabas Fund received an award in late March from the Assyrian Universal Alliance, in recognition of its support for refugees in Australia.

‘The Friend of Assyria’ award was presented by the leader of the opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales. It recognised the many lives saved through ‘Operation Safe Havens’ and was in appreciation of the charity’s advocacy for internally displaced Christians. Barnabas Fund has now supported over 1,500 Iraqi and Syrian refugees to settle in Australia.

An Australian MP begun new efforts in April to persuade his government to formally recognise as genocide the killing of Christians and Yazidis by IS in Iraq and Syria.

Christian MP Michael Sukkar is proposing the motion. He said: ‘The persecution and attempted genocide of Christians and other minorities in the Middle East has been occurring for centuries. It has now reached its zenith with the bloodthirsty and barbaric IS attempting to wipe all Christians and Yazidis from the Middle East.’

Two assistant pastors arrested by the Burma army were jailed without trial for more than three months, it was reported in April.

Pastors Dom Dawng Nawng Latt, 65, and La Jaw Gam Hseng, 35, were arrested in December after helping local journalists cover military conflict in northern Shan state, eastern Burma (Myanmar). This is where a Church building was bombed by Burma army jets in November. The pastors deny charges of unlawful association with an armed ethnic group.

The Muslim Seleka movement has killed about 50 people in the Central African Republic, according to eye witness reports in late March.

Prosper Tchoulekrayo, who escaped from Yasseneme village, said that the attackers, “fired indiscriminately on the inhabitants.” Another resident corroborated the report, saying: “The provisional toll of the attacks in the predominantly Christian communities of Agoudou Manga, Yasseneme and Ngouyanza is at least 50 dead. Dozens more have been injured.”

Ireland must loosen its abortion laws and replace them with rules more ‘respectful to women's rights’, the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner said in March.

A referendum on weaker abortion laws could be held if a citizens' assembly set up by the government recommends it in a decision expected in coming weeks. At present abortion is allowed only if a mother's life is in danger.

The Dutch health council recommended in late March that the law covering human embryos be changed to allow the creation of embryos for research.

Currently, embryos can be used for research purposes if they are left over after fertility treatment but they cannot be created specifically for use in science. The health council said fertilising eggs to create embryos for researching serious hereditary illnesses under strict conditions will not conflict with respect for life.

The governor of Borno state in north-east Nigeria has begun fulfilling his promise to rebuild churches destroyed in attacks by Boko Haram Islamist militants, it was reported in March.

Borno is one of twelve states in the country to have implemented elements of sharia law. The rebuilding of churches has focused on the town of Lassa in the mainly Christian southern part of Borno state.

Around 100 Pakistani Christians from Lahore, Multan and Sialkot converged in Sialkot on 1 April to demand justice for Tania Mariyam, who was murdered in January.

The protest was organised by the British Pakistani Christian Association. Despite evidence to the contrary, police initially registered her death as a suicide. 12-year-old Tania was found dead in the Upper Chenab Canal, with signs of a possible rape.

Pro-life supporters in Romania took to the streets in March to call for the Government to reform the country’s abortion law.

Police estimated that 2,000 people took part in a march in the capital city of Bucharest, with further rallies taking place in 300 cities and towns across Romania and neighbouring Moldova. Romanian law currently allows abortion on demand up to 14 weeks into a pregnancy.

A Bill to legalise assisted suicide was struck down in New Mexico after cross-party opposition in March.

The New Mexico Senate voted 22-20 against the Bill, with seven Democrats joining the Republicans who opposed the measure. The practice remains punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Under the Bill, the person making the request for assisted suicide would have had to be deemed in the final stages of a terminal illness before they were allowed to self-administer lethal drugs.

The American Bible Society released its annual ‘State of the Bible’ survey in April, which showed that Americans are concerned about the erosion of morality.

The study showed that 81 per cent of Americans say morals are declining, but only about one in five Americans are actively reading and studying the Bible. The survey involved telephone and online questionnaires of around 1,000 US adults. It also revealed that nearly six out of 10, or 58 percent, wish they read the Bible more.