On a recent visit to Egypt, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toured a towering new cathedral. He praised the authoritarian government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for supporting Egypt's Christian minority. But that is not the whole story in this majority Muslim nation. In some parts of Egypt, the government will not grant permits for churches. And tens of thousands of worshippers are left to pray in the street. NPR's Jane Arraf reports.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP #1: (Foreign language spoken).
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: It's Sunday morning, and the Mar Gerges church in the town of Tayeba is almost full. It's a Coptic Orthodox service - three hours long. Children dart in and out. There are stained glass windows casting rainbow-colored light on the worshippers. Men are on one side, the women on the other. Most of the men wear galabayas - the long robes of the countryside. Their hands, raised in prayer, are weathered from working in the fields. A lot of the families in the battered, wooden pews have come from surrounding towns and villages, where their churches are closed.
“ISIS bride Shamima Begum has been stripped of her British citizenship after showing no remorse for joining the terror group.”
Her lawyer Tasnime Akunjee stated that her family is considering “all legal avenues to challenge the decision.” At whose expense? And now the family has launched its battle, vowing to “take Home Secretary Sajid Javid to court.”
Javid has “warned he will not hesitate to prevent the return of Britons who travelled to join ISIS.” Kudos to Javid. This should be a policy followed by every Western nation, out of concern for the safety of its citizens. Policymakers should keep in mind the people whom the Islamic State beheaded, raped and tortured.
Islamic State down to less than 1% of original caliphate: U.S.-led coalition
AFP
An armored vehicle drives in the front line village of Baghouz in the countryside of the eastern Syrian Deir Ezzor province, on the border with Iraq
BEIRUT - Recent gains by Kurdish-led forces in Syria have shrunk the Islamic State group’s “caliphate” to less than one percent of its original size, the U.S.-led coalition said on Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, the coalition’s deputy commander, described the size of the last patch of land held by the jihadists as “now less than one percent of the original caliphate.
Saudi women's rights activist is being tortured in 'palace of terror,' brother says
By Tamara Qiblawi, CNN
Jailed Saudi activist Loujain Alhathloul
(CNN)The brother of jailed Saudi activist Loujain Alhathloul has detailed in a CNN opinion piece the abuse his sister has allegedly endured in prison.
In the article, Walid Alhathloul writes that during a recent visit by his parents to see Loujain she told them she was regularly whipped, beaten, electrocuted and sexually harassed in a basement she called the "palace of terror."
Alhathloul was arrested in May 2018, along with 10 other women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia. Her family, Saudi activists and Human Rights Watch have alleged in recent months that she and other female detainees have been tortured and sexually harassed in prison.
MINYA MANSHIYET ZAAFARANA COPTS ATTACKED, CHURCH CLOSED
13-01-2019 05:48 PM
Nader Shukry
In the wake of an attack by the Muslim villagers of Manshiyet Zaafarana in Minya, some 250km south of Cairo, against the village Copts, the police closed down the only church in the village which is home to some 1,000 Copts.
The Bishopric of Minya and Abu-Qurqas headed by Bishop-General Anba Macarius, issued a statement on the matter. Under the title: Explanation regarding the problem at the church of Mar-Girgis (St George) at Minshiyet Zaafarana, the statement said the attack took place on Friday 11 January 2019, at 1:30pm [indicating that the attack took place following Muslim Friday noon prayers when worshippers sentiments are inflamed against Copts, and are rallied to attacks them for what is perceived as non-Islamic actions].
Rahaf al-Qunun: Saudi teen granted asylum in Canada
Media captionThe #SaveRahaf campaign went viral after Rahaf started tweeting about her plight for asylum
A Saudi woman who fled her family and became stranded at Bangkok's main airport is flying to Canada after being granted asylum status.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, had been trying to reach Australia via Bangkok, but was initially told to return to Kuwait, where her family were waiting.
Saudi Arabian girl, 18, barricaded in Bangkok hotel claiming she can’t go home because parents will KILL her for renouncing Islam
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun fled her family on Friday hoping to seek asylum abroad
By Neal Baker and Aletha Adu
7th January 2019
A SAUDI Arabian teen has barricaded in her Bangkok hotel and claims she can't go back to the desert kingdom because her parents will kill her for renouncing Islam.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, ran away from her family while they were on a trip to Kuwait three days ago.
She tried to flee to Australia via Bangkok in hope of seeking asylum - but she was chased by Saudi officials who seized her passport.
Rahaf said she was detained after leaving her plane in Bangkok and told she would be sent back to Kuwait.
Knifeman ‘shouts Allah’ as he stabs three people including police officer in Manchester
Kate Buck
Monday 31 Dec 2018 10:35 pm
A knifeman allegedly shouted ‘Allah’ as he stabbed three people with a ‘long kitchen knife’ at Manchester Victoria Station, witnesses have claimed
British Transport Police said that one of their officers had been stabbed in the shoulder and a man and woman had been taken to hospital with knife injuries.
Hundreds of Egyptian Christians protest at police killing
MINYA: Hundreds of Coptic Christians on Thursday attended the burial of a father and his son who were killed by a police officer in Egypt's Minya province, amid cries for the state to provide more protection.
The Copts, who make up around 10 percent of the population, have long complained of discrimination. They have also frequently been attacked by Islamist militants who see them as infidels, prompting authorities to place armed guards outside churches and monasteries.
مطرانية المنيا تكشف حقيقة مقتل قبطيين على يد شرطي أمام كنيسة “نهضة القداسة”
2018-12-12 (08:10 PM)
نادر شكرى
كشفت مطرانية المنيا وأبوقرقاص، التابعة لنيافة الأنبا مكاريوس أسقفها، حقيقة مقتل قبطيين على يد شرطي، مساء اليوم، أمام كنيسة نهضة القداسة الإنجيلية.
وذكرت في توضيحها :بينما كان كلٌّ من عماد كمال صادق (الشهير بعماد المقدس – ٤٩ سنة)، ومعه ابنه ديفيد عماد (٢١ سنة)، يقومان برفع أنقاض منزل مقابل لكنيسة نهضة القداسة بشارع الصرافة، في إطار عملهم في المقاولات بمدينة المنيا.
وعلى خلفية خلاف بينهما وبين حارس الكنيسة منذ الأمس ويدعى ربيع مصطفى خليفة، قام الأخير بإطلاق النار عليهما حوالي الساعة السادسة من مساء اليوم ١٢ ديسمبر ٢٠١٨م، فقتل الاثنين، وتم نقلهما إلى المستشفى العام بالمنيا، وتم القبض على الشرطي المتهم، وتقوم الأجهزة الأمنية الآن باستجوابه.
Parents were 'dismissed as racist' by school officials when they complained about 6ft 1ins Iranian migrant posing as a 15-year-old who appeared in their children's classroom
A pupil at Stoke High School in Ipswich was accused of pretending to schoolboy
Migrant from Iran known as 'Siavash' was said to have posed as 15-year-old pupil
Parents shared pictures of similar looking man with same name on social media
Pictures emerged from a Facebook account of moustached man drinking beer
A couple of weeks after the start of this term, pupils at Stoke High School in Ipswich were told that a new boy was joining their GCSE class.
His name was Siavash, and he had quite a life story: Born in Iran, the teenager had been forced to flee the Middle Eastern theocracy in mysterious circumstances, and had since managed to cross Europe, with only a younger brother for company.
Having arrived in the UK – it’s not clear how – the duo promptly claimed asylum, declaring themselves to be 15 and 12 years old respectively.
Around the same time, they appear to have come to the attention of a refugee charity, which helped to house them in Suffolk, where there is a small but well-established Iranian immigrant community.
Like any unaccompanied child refugees, the boys were informed that, should they remain in full-time education, they’d be looked after by the local authority until reaching the age of 25.
A pupil at Stoke High School in Ipswich posted a Snapchat image of a fellow student in his maths class with the caption, ‘how's there a 30-year-old man in our maths class?’
Human rights defenders draw a negative balance to the situation of Copts in Egypt.
By Michael Leh
October 24, 2018 1:10 pm
When Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited the Christmas Mass in Cairo's Nativity Cathedral in Cairo, he made himself affable to the faithful. Whether the situation of the Copts has really improved, wants the Human Rights Committee of the Bundestag at ... Photo: dpa
When Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited the Christmas Mass in Cairo's Nativity Cathedral in Cairo ... Photo: dpa
The Human Rights Committee of the Bundestag travels to Egypt in November. Before that, the Bundestag Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development in Cairo will look at the situation on the Nile. It will also be about the distress and hardships that the Christian Copts in Egypt are exposed to. Against this background, the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM) together with the "Evangelical Alliance" now informed in Berlin about the situation of the Copts. She also invited experts: the chairwoman of the Human Rights Committee of the Bundestag, the FDP member Gyde Jensen, as well as the president of the "European Union of Coptic human rights organizations" from Switzerland, Medhat Klada.
For the Christian minority in Egypt, regulations and bureaucracy have caused issues for years. Across Egypt, over 3,500 churches are presently in the process of being licensed; some have waited for over 20 years. In January, the government announced that Christians will be allowed to continue meeting in unlicensed churches pending the process. But in the Luxor governorate region alone, a Coptic diocese faced the forced closure of its eighth church due to pressure from mobs. All these churches were in the process of being officially approved by the government.
Suicide bomber who killed 22 in Manchester Arena was rescued by British navy in Libya
British bomber Salman Abedi had been visiting Libya during a year off before university.
Salman Abedi caught on CCTV travelling to the Manchester Arena.
Image: GMP
THE SUICIDE BOMBER who killed 22 people at a pop concert in Manchester was rescued by the British navy from conflict-ridden Libya three years earlier, it was reported today.
Salman Abedi, a British man of Libyan heritage, was among 110 Britons and their families evacuated by the ship HMS Enterprise and taken to Malta in August 2014, the Daily Mail newspaper said.
Egypt: Mob attack encouraged by police promise ‘No church will be allowed here’
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 has learnt from local sources.
Several other villages in Minya have been attacked by mobs over the last few months, protesting against Coptic churches. (World Watch Monitor)
The only church in Ezbet Sultan Pasha village, where about 20 percent of the population is Christian, was built in September 2016. Apart from masses and prayer meetings, St. Karas the Anchorite Coptic Orthodox Church also held Sunday school classes and housed a nursery.
Christians attacked for allegedly comparing Jesus to Prophet Muhammad
Fri 13 Jul 2018
By Eno Adeogun
A Coptic Christian community in an Egyptian village has been attacked over an alleged Facebook post that compared the Prophet Muhammed to Jesus Christ.
Muslim villagers reportedly accused 35-year-old Abdo Adel of publishing a post on his Facebook page that was an insult to Islam.
A local source that wanted to remain anonymous told World Watch Monitor that Christians in Menbal - 225km south of Cairo - were afraid to leave their homes despite security forces patrolling the streets since the unrest began on Monday.
Egypt: Copts attacked after Facebook post ‘showing contempt of Islam’
July 11, 2018 By World Watch Monitor
An attack by a Muslim mob on Copts in a village in the Egyptian governorate of Minya on Monday (9 July) has left the Coptic community holed up in their houses, while security forces patrol the streets.
A local source told World Watch Monitor the situation is still very tense in the village of Menbal, 225km south of Cairo, which was also home to Gaber Mounir Adly, one of the 21 menbeheaded by Islamic State in Libya in 2015.
