World in Brief

A Canadian man in his early 20s was so unhappy with a high car insurance quote that he legally switched his gender from male to female, the Daily Mail reported in July.

The 24-year-old resident of Alberta boasted that changing his gender on paper saved him nearly $1,100 (£650) a year. The man told a news outlet: ‘I have taken advantage of a loophole… I’m a man, 100%. Legally, I’m a woman.’

Chadian authorities installed a sultan in the south Moyen-Chari region in June, increasing fears of further marginalisation among the Christian and Animist population.

Chad, like Nigeria, is roughly divided between a broadly Muslim north, and a broadly Christian and Animist south. A sultan traditionally holds spiritual authority over his subjects, as well as a leadership role.

In May, Trans World Radio started broadcasting the Spanish language version of The Word For You Today (TWFYT) in Cuba, after switching on the most powerful transmitter in the Western hemisphere on the island of Bonaire.

TWFYT’s Director of Global Development Phil James said in July: ‘Many Christians in Cuba don’t have access to a Bible. Today, pastors will write sermons based on what they have heard on the radio or have read in the devotionals.’

A Muslim mob attacked the homes of Christians in the Egyptian village of Menbal on 9 July after a member of the Christian community was accused of insulting Islam on social media.

Police arrested 90 Muslims and charged them with mob violence, inciting sedition and attacking police. Abdu Adel Ayad, a 40-year-old Christian from the village, was detained by police on 6 July. He is accused of ‘disdaining Islam’ by posting a link on Facebook comparing Islam to other religions.

A mob attacked a church in Minya, Egypt, on 13 July protesting against its legalisation and received a police officer’s approval, World Watch Monitor reported.

Local Muslims started a demonstration in front of the church after Friday noon prayers on 6 July, then a week later a bigger mob gathered in front of the church and started pelting it with stones and bricks, along with a house next to it that belonged to a Copt.

The northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is emerging as a new centre of anti-Christian violence as politicians use a fundamentalist form of Hinduism to intimidate minority communities, it was reported in July.

According to a religious freedom NGO, Uttar Pradesh experienced the highest number of violent attacks against Christians in any state – 26 – in the first half of 2018.

Micheál Martin, the leader of Irish party Fianna Fáil, suggested in July that he will help the government to prevent delays in introducing abortion legislation this year.

Pro-abortion parliament members (TDs) claimed that others are deliberately wasting parliament time by discussing road safety laws. Meanwhile, two directors of the International Women’s Health Coalition are calling for Ireland’s legislators not to allow medical professionals to conscientiously object to abortion. They said that to do so would ‘ultimately endanger and discriminate against women’.

More than 200 people gathered in Lebanon in June for this year’s Middle East Consultation at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary.

During the event, a Langham Literature in Disorienting Times: book The Church Leading Prophetically Through Adversity was launched, the outcome of last year’s consultation. The book inspires Christians worldwide to stand alongside people living through trauma and to challenge everyone to ask what they should be doing to encourage transformation of societies to the glory of God.

A Christian was sworn in as Malaysia’s top judge on 11 July.

Tan Sri (Sir) Richard Malanjum, 65, has been appointed Chief Justice of the country’s Federal Court and is thought to be the first Christian to hold the post. Before promotion to the Federal Court in 2015, he was chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, which together comprise East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Sarawak is the only state in Malaysia where Christians are more numerous than Muslims.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, challenged the British Government on 17 July on how much it is doing to help end violent attacks on Christians in Nigeria.

Speaking in a House of Lords debate on Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram, Archbishop Welby voiced his ‘deep concern’ about a spate of attacks on more than 230 people in Plateau state in June. The compound of the Archbishop of Jos was recently attacked and one of Archbishop Welby’s friends was killed.

A church in Pakistan was forced to approach the Deputy Commissioner of Police in the area in July for permission to use their own building.

Their church was banned for any kind of church services two years ago after Christian music and prayers emanating from the building caused severe offence to local Muslims. The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) has started a petition calling on the government of Pakistan to allow Christians to worship with freedom in their country.

Many abortions are taking place every day in Sri Lanka, media reports said in July.

To mark World Population Day, the Sri Lanka Health Ministry’s Family Health Bureau and the Health Promotion Bureau held a news conference where it was disclosed that 1,000 abortions are taking place in Sri Lanka on a daily basis. The majority are among women aged around 35, but a large number of abortions involve teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19.

Authorities in Khartoum, Sudan handed back a church building in June that they had padlocked four years ago and threatened to seize.

A church leader involved in the return of the Khartoum Christian Center building, owned by the Sudan Pentecostal Church, said that national security officials called him and other church members and returned it to them. Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services had closed the church in 2014 amid a wave of church closures and expulsions of South Sudanese Christians.

The US imposed sanctions on Turkey’s justice and interior ministers on 1 August over the continued detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson.

Mr Brunson was moved from Kiriklar prison to house arrest after a court ruling on 25 July. He has been held for nearly two years over alleged links to political groups. Mr Brunson, from North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for 23 years. The next hearing is scheduled for 12 October.

In further anti-Christian hostilities in eastern Uganda, Muslims knocked a pastor unconscious at a debate, Morning Star News reported in July.

Also, threats by Muslims in Mazuba village, Namutumba District, stopped worship services in a half-constructed church building and encouraged the pastor to send his children to another town. ‘The church members are now living in great fear for their lives and have stopped attending church services,’ Pastor Maseruwa Budallah said.

A paedophile group in the US is trying to destigmatise paedophilia by calling themselves ‘Minor-Attracted Persons’ (MAPs) rather than paedophiles, LifeSiteNews reported in July.

The group, The Prevention Network, created its own version of the rainbow flag to coincide with Gay Pride month in July. Homosexual groups have criticised the move, as the Prevention Network is claiming to be part of the LGBT community.

Hormone therapy for people attempting to ‘transition’ from male to female carries major health risks, a new study published in July suggested.

Published by the American College of Physicians, it indicated that men who took female hormones for two years were over five times more likely to develop a potentially dangerous clot than men who didn’t. The academic journal is one of the most widely quoted and influential medical journals in the world.

Uzbekistan added two new restrictive requirements for religious communities to seek legal status, it was reported in July.

This is despite being against the country’s binding international human rights obligations. Religious communities seeking registration must now fulfil restrictions which appear at present impossible. Officials have refused to explain why the government, instead of abolishing restrictions, has increased them. Many religious communities are afraid to seek legal status, even if they are not in principle opposed to seeking state registration.