In one of the great tragedies of church history, one of the most ancient Christian communities is being destroyed before our very eyes. The Assyrian, Chaldean, and Orthodox churches of Mesopotamia appear headed for a bloody end. As recently as 1970, Christians made up 5-6 percent of Iraq’s population; today, they are less [...]

The Supreme Court of India has told the Orissa state government that, if it cannot protect Christians from mob violence, then it should resign.
The Supreme Court today said it would not allow “persecution” of minorities and asked the Orissa government to resign if it was unable to protect Christians who were targeted in recent riots [...]

In a decision with far-reaching implications, a Swedish court has approved an application for asylum made by an Iraqi Christian family, despite an agreement signed by Sweden and Iraq designed to obviate such applications.
In early 2008, Sweden and Iraq signed an agreement under which the Iraqi government pledged to protect religious minorities and returning refugees [...]

In a rare legal victory, a Pakistani court has ordered police to rescue a Christian teenage girl held against her will by a Muslim woman.  Police even carried out the order.
Police carried the order out on December 13th, successfully returning Nousheen Bibi to her parents after three months as a hostage to her former employer, [...]

A Turkish colonel has been charged with dereliction of duty for failing to protect Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead outside his Istanbul office in January 2007. If found guilty, former Trabzon Gendarmerie Commander Colonel Ali Öz could be sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Several other soldiers face the same charge.
In [...]

On 19 September 2008, Dina Cohen, a 22-year-old mother living in Sderot, Israel, asked that question of the UN Human Rights Council.  Her statement is in French; an English translation is posted below.
Thank you, Mr. President.
All human lives have equal value and all innocent suffering is tragic. Permit me to present my story, in the [...]

A 17-year-old Iraqi girl who has been abused and exploited for much of her young life celebrated a very happy new year in Canada.
From a report by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHRC), datelined 31 December:
For any refugee, the chance to begin a new life in Canada is a coveted prize. But for Hiba [not [...]

An unnamed Anglican priest in the Solomon Islands was reportedly attacked and injured by a local Muslim on 16 December.  The suspect is still at large. Police say the attack was motivated by “religious differences”.
Solomon Star reports that Malaita’s Provincial Police Commander David Diosi confirms police is searching for the suspect Jack Rade - leader [...]

Since last June, two internationally renowned doctors have been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on charges of communicating with an “enemy government”. At trial yesterday, the prosecutor levied additional charges that he refused to specify, making a cogent defence impossible.
The Iranian government’s December 31 trial of Dr. Arash Alaei and Dr. Kamiar Alaei [...]

The Maldives’ Islamic Affairs Ministry gets results. Check out these two items:

Islamic Affairs Ministry asks police to ban discos for New Year’s Eve — 31 December
Low turnout at New Year Discos — 1 January

The Islamic Affairs Ministry wishes all Maldivians a joy-free New Year.
h/t: Dhimmi Watch

So says the National Society for Human Rights, an independent human rights organisation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The organisation is seeking to establish a minimum age of 15 years for girls to be married in the kingdom, the Saudi Gazette reported on Thursday.
Dr Saleh al-Khathlan, deputy chairman of the NSHR, told the paper the [...]

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has accused Korean Air Lines of sex discrimination because the airline refuses to hire male flight attendants. The company forthrightly admits that it won’t even entertain applications from men who want to be flight attendants.
Korean Air told the commission to shove off respectfully declined to comply.
Korean Air [...]

Assyrian International News Agency reports on female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kurdistan.
Sheelan Anwar Omer, a shy 7-year-old Kurdish girl, bounded into her neighbor’s house with an ear-to-ear smile, looking for the party her mother had promised.
There was no celebration. Instead, a local woman quickly locked a rusty red door behind Sheelan, who looked bewildered when [...]

On Saturday, 20 December, a sample of residents of Shiqiao, a town near Nanjing, China, received a call from the provincial Statistics Bureau and were asked questions about personal happiness and income and other fascinating stuff. The survey found that they were exceedingly happy indeed. Shiqiao residents reported a satisfaction index of over [...]

For well over a thousand years, the world of Christianity looked something like this map, a flower with three petals—Africa, Asia, Europe—centred around Jerusalem. Not until around 1500 did Christianity and Europe become synonymous: Christianity became essentially European and Europe essentially Christian. Before then, the Christian church survived and flourished in Egypt and [...]