Tag: Donald Trump

Trump’s Jerusalem move rejected by Arab Christian leaders, who fear backlash

December 11, 2017 Israel Bethlehem, Donald Trump, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Middle East, Palestinian Territories, Tel Aviv, West Bank

Church leaders in the Middle East have voiced grave concerns at US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. There are an estimated 200,000 Christians in the Holy Land, of whom around 50,000 live . . . Read More

‘Uncontrolled’ growth of Christianity in China ‘makes government nervous’

October 11, 2017 China China, Churches, Communism, Donald Trump, House churches, Religious freedom, Sinicisation, Xi Jinping

Group of Christians are praying together in Beijing. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China’s Communist Party is threatened by the “uncontrolled growth of Christianity” in the country –estimated by some to reach 247 million by 2030, “making it the world’s largest congregation” – and China’s thriving underground churches can therefore expect a backlash, writes Eugene K. Chow for The Diplomat. Chow describes how . . . Read More

Turkish president admits US pastor is political hostage

September 29, 2017 Turkey Binali Yildirim, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has for the first time confirmed publicly that a US pastor jailed in Turkey for the past 12 months is being held by his government as a political hostage. In a speech at his presidential palace yesterday (28 September), Erdoğan openly called on the United . . . Read More

IS guilty of genocide, says US Secretary of State

August 17, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Al-Shabaab, Andrew Brunson, Blasphemy, Donald Trump, Genocide, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Lord Alton, NATO, Pakistan, Qatar, Rex Tillerson, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taliban, Turkey, USA, Wahhabism, Yemen

The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has stressed that the actions of the Islamic State (IS) group against Christians, Yazidis and Shia Muslims constitute genocide, and also criticised America’s ally, Saudi Arabia, for religious freedom violations. Tillerson made his “genocide” comments in the preface to the State Department’s annual . . . Read More

Sudan demolishes another church, but MPs block school on Sundays

August 4, 2017 Sudan Donald Trump, Education, Justin Welby, Khartoum, Omdurman, Religious freedom, Sanctions, Sudan, Sudanese Church of Christ, USA

The Baptist Church in Omdurman that was demolished this week. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The Sudanese government demolished another church on Wednesday (2 August), the day after Members of the Khartoum state parliament rejected an order by the Minister of Education for all Christian schools in the capital to open on a Sunday. The Baptist Church in Omdurman, across the Nile, just west from . . . Read More

More Christian than Muslim refugees in US under Trump, but fewer overall

July 14, 2017 Chaldeans, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Donald Trump, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Migrants, Mike Pence, Refugees, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, USA, Yemen

Christians account for a steadily growing share of refugee arrivals in the US, Pew Research has found, although the net number of Christian arrivals may in fact be shrinking. In its review of US State Department data, published on 12 July, Pew noticed a gradual increase in the numbers of . . . Read More

‘Change your image of India from a nice backpacking trip to Taj Mahal!’

June 26, 2017 Bhopal, BJP, Donald Trump, Europe, Hindu nationalism, India, Madhya Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Pakistan, Ram Nath Kovind, Saudi Arabia

India, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan top the list of countries where religious freedom is under pressure, according to the Annual Interim Report 2017 of the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance’s, presented in Brussels last week. “Forget the image of a nice backpacking trip . . . Read More

Anger and tears as Otto ‘completes his journey home’

June 20, 2017 North Korea Donald Trump, Hyeon Soo Lim, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song, Kim Seung-mo, Otto Warmbier, Pyongyang, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, Tony Kim

The family of 22-year-old Otto Warmbier confirmed his death yesterday (19 June), just a week after he was released, in a coma, from 15 months’ detention in North Korea. In a statement, the family said it was their “sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his . . . Read More

Political stalemate holds US pastor ‘hostage’ in Turkish jail

June 2, 2017 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Binali Yildirim, Coup, Donald Trump, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Comments this week from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan increased speculation that Turkey has been holding jailed US pastor Andrew Brunson hostage since last October in order to extract political concessions from the United States. Addressing the parliamentary assembly of his ruling Justice and Development Party on 30 May, Erdoğan . . . Read More

Trump calls on Arab, Muslim leaders to end ‘slaughter of Christians’

May 22, 2017 Saudi Arabia Donald Trump, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Riyadh

U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, 21 May. He mentioned the situation for Christians in the Middle East twice during his remarks: “Numerous Arab and Islamic scholars have eloquently argued that protecting equality strengthens Arab and Muslim communities. For many centuries, . . . Read More

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