News

Iraqi Christians celebrate Christmas one year after Islamic State defeat
December 26, 2018 By Faith Matters

Iraqi Christians celebrate Christmas one year after Islamic State defeat

Iraqi Christians celebrated Christmas on Tuesday amid improved security, more than a year after the country declared victory over Islamic State militants. In northeast Mosul, people attended a mass on Monday (December 24) at the Grand Immaculate Church, surrounded by blackened walls still tagged with Islamic State graffiti. Dozens of worshippers prayed and received communion, and then […]

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Britain commissions review of Christian persecution worldwide
December 26, 2018 By Faith Matters

Britain commissions review of Christian persecution worldwide

Britain has commissioned an independent review into the persecution of Christians to find practical steps to support followers of a religion that it said has been subject to a dramatic rise in violence worldwide. Some 215 million Christians worldwide faced persecution for their faith last year, it said, with Christian women and children particularly vulnerable […]

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Concerned Woman Calls Police Fearing Carol Singers ‘from Leeds’
December 24, 2018 By Faith Matters

Concerned Woman Calls Police Fearing Carol Singers ‘from Leeds’

A concerned woman fearing “up to no good” carol singers was one of several unusual phone calls received by a police force during “Mad Friday”. North Yorkshire Police shared details of the incident as part of a “tweetathon” documenting every call received between noon on Friday and 6am on Saturday, a period known to be […]

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Strasbourg Attacker Had Pledged Allegiance to the Islamic State Group
December 22, 2018 By Faith Matters

Strasbourg Attacker Had Pledged Allegiance to the Islamic State Group

The alleged gunman who shot and killed five people in a Christmas market attack this month in Strasbourg had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, an official says. The judicial official said investigators have found a video stored on a USB stick in which Cherif Chekatt had claimed allegiance to the extremist group. The […]

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Young Right Wing Extremist Can Be Identified
December 20, 2018 By Faith Matters

Young Right Wing Extremist Can Be Identified

A 17-year-old right-wing extremist can be named after he pleaded guilty to terror offences. Oskar Dunn-Koczorowski, from west London, admitted two charges of encouraging terrorism at the Old Bailey on Thursday. The charges relate to publishing messages on social network Gab in August and September. His co-defendant, Polish national Michael Szewczuk, 18, from Bramley, in […]

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Convicted Bomb-Maker Had Pictures of Muslims on Dartboard & Images of Barack Obama
December 19, 2018 By Faith Matters

Convicted Bomb-Maker Had Pictures of Muslims on Dartboard & Images of Barack Obama

A bomb-maker who had a dartboard featuring images of Barack Obama, the Duchess of Cambridge and Cheryl Tweedy has been jailed for five years. Matthew Glynn, 37, had an arsenal of weapons including Samurai swords, axes and knives at his home in Horfield, Bristol. He kept a viable improvised explosive device (IED) – which posed […]

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Neo-Nazi Couple Who Named Baby in Honour of Hitler Due to Be Sentenced
December 18, 2018 By Faith Matters

Neo-Nazi Couple Who Named Baby in Honour of Hitler Due to Be Sentenced

A neo-Nazi couple who named their baby in honour of Hitler are due to be sentenced. Adam Thomas, 22, and Claudia Patatas, 38, were found guilty after a trial of being members of the extreme right-wing organisation National Action, which was banned in 2016. The pair will be sentenced on Tuesday with three other men […]

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UK: Knife Obsessed Teenager Jailed for Possession and Dissemination of Terrorist Material
December 17, 2018 By Faith Matters

UK: Knife Obsessed Teenager Jailed for Possession and Dissemination of Terrorist Material

A knife-obsessed teenager who talked about carrying out a terror attack with a blade or acid has been jailed for three years and four months. The individual concerned, Sudesh Amman, 18, was sentenced today in the Old Bailey after he pled guilty for being in the possession of terrorist material. Some of the material that […]

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Cobblestones commemorating murdered Jews stolen in Rome
December 16, 2018 By Faith Matters

Cobblestones commemorating murdered Jews stolen in Rome

Twenty cobblestones commemorating members of two Italian Jewish families who were deported to Auschwitz or killed in Rome were dug up and stolen in the early hours of Monday in an apparent anti-Semitic attack. The bronze-capped cobblestones were embedded into the pavement outside a building in Rome’s central Monti neighbourhood that was home to the […]

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A Dutch church is holding a marathon service to block a family’s Christmas deportation
December 14, 2018 By Faith Matters

A Dutch church is holding a marathon service to block a family’s Christmas deportation

Worshippers at a church in the Netherlands have been holding round-the-clock prayer services for more than six weeks to prevent an Armenian family from being deported, hoping for a Christmas miracle. Emily Wither reports. This church service in the Netherlands has been running round the clock for more than six weeks. They’re not trying to […]

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