These articles were first published in our June edition of the newspaper, click here for more.
A Christian evangelist in Uganda has been murdered by alleged Muslim attackers – who pretended to be motorcycle taxi drivers – after he preached at a Christian event. Alfred Kitenga was killed in Kawaala, Wakiso District while on his way home from the event with his wife.
Morning Star News reports that Kitenga was assaulted and stabbed at around 9:30pm by attackers who claimed to be Christians who had also been at the event.
A police force in Pakistan has opted not to rescue a 15-year-old Christian girl after a Muslim kidnapped her at gunpoint and forced her to marry him and convert to Islam. The girl’s father told Morning Star News that he reported the incident to the authorities on the same day but they wrongly registered his daughter as 17.
The attacker is believed to have taken the girl overnight and the authorities released relatives they had arrested after seeing documents claiming she had gone with him and converted willingly. Her father believes the documents are forged.
Court rulings in Germany and Austria have strengthened the rights of pro-life groups outside abortion clinics. According to Evangelical Focus, a German court reversed a ban on a pro-life vigil within 100 metres of a clinic, ruling that the law does not ban expressed opinion or disagreement with pregnant women about abortion.
Furthermore, a court in Vienna stated that peaceful, public prayer at such locations is protected by law, overturning a ban initially imposed by the police on a pro-life group’s organised prayer session outside a clinic in the Austrian capital.
A metal cross at the summit of Spain’s third-highest mountain has been cut down and removed, leaving the 3,404-metre peak without one of its most distinct features.
The Aneto Cross, which weighs around 100kg, was first erected at the summit of the Pico de Aneto in 1951, marking the highest point of the Pyrenees range. Premier Christian News reports that the cross had temporarily been removed almost three years ago for maintenance due to weather exposure. Reports suggest it will be fitted with a GPS tracker if it is found and reinstated.
The desecration by an Israeli soldier of a statue in Lebanon depicting Jesus on the cross has been criticised by Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister posted on X that he was “stunned and saddened” to learn of the action and condemned it “in the strongest terms”.
The icon had stood in a family’s garden in a village in southern Lebanon but was struck with an axe by the soldier, as revealed by Premier Christian News. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed they are investigating the matter.
Officials of the Premier League have not accepted a petition calling for it to raise the issue of United Arab Emirates (UAE) support for Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Sudan civil war with Manchester
City’s owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Over 2,500 people are believed to have signed the petition, but no representative would receive it at the league’s headquarters.
Mansour, Vice-President and Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, is allegedly a close ally of the RSF leader. CSW officials expressed disappointment that no one would accept the petition addressed to the league’s board and member clubs.
Three church members, including a pastor, have returned home following the conclusion of their three-year prison sentences. Li Jie, Han Xiaodong and Wang Qiang had been jailed on grounds of illegally raising religious funds and “suspected fraud” in a high-profile case in 2022.
China Aid reports that the Linfen Covenant Home Church co-workers were reportedly in good spirits following their release and attended a church gathering in Taiyuan the next day, despite having been arrested at a church meeting three years ago.
The Federation of Independent Evangelical Churches of Spain (FIEIDE) announced its objective to plant 100 churches by 2036 alongside several other key projects at its annual conference. These include a new financial support scheme, while its theological training school and initiatives for the young and the elderly were also discussed.
According to Evangelical Focus, around 270 people representing over 100 churches attended the event.
A pastor has been killed and more than 40 church members have been kidnapped in a brutal attack on a church service in south-western Nigeria. The incident, which took place in Ekiti state, saw five armed men enter the building and guns were fired, according to sources.
Evangelical Focus reports the authorities as saying that efforts to arrest the attackers are underway. State officials have urged locals to act cautiously, especially at night.
Around 35,000 attended a Christian event at Atletico Madrid’s stadium, which featured worship, preaching and prayer. The Change Madrid event called for all in attendance to look to Christ as Lord and Saviour, reports Evangelical Focus.
Addresses emphasised the importance of Christianity’s distinction from the ways of the world, with “unity” not equalling “uniformity”.
Luke Randall
Legislation which allowed a marriage to be annulled in Nepal if one partner had concealed a leprosy diagnosis has been repealed following a Supreme Court ruling in Kathmandu.
The Leprosy Mission celebrated the ruling as a landmark moment for Nepal, with Chief Executive Peter Waddup hoping it will reduce “stigmatisation and isolation” for leprosy sufferers.
Luke Randall