World

(RNS) — Astonishingly, for three years U.S. government bureaucrats have refused to help endangered religious minority communities like Christians and Yazidis survive the genocide ISIS began in 2014. These communities stand on the brink of extinction.

CHINA (BP) -- China startled Christians by tightening its "choke-hold" on churches there in September, banning Christian education for children and unregistered church worship "as if intending to eliminate all house churches at once," China Aid told Morning Star News.

Russian officials continue to expand the implementation of last year’s new law targeting missionary and evangelistic activities, including into the region of Crimea that Russia snatched from Ukraine in 2014. Analysis by Forum 18 also shows that during the first year of the law — which went into effect on July 20, 2016 after being signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin — officials used the law in 181 cases involving 129 individuals and 52 religious communities.

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Christian agencies and churches are stepping up and coordinating their efforts to respond to the South Sudanese refugee crisis, as the number of people fleeing across the border into northern Uganda reaches 1 million.

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Peaceful voting and an impressive turnout are buoying this East African country’s clergy, who made a energetic effort to quell the often fatal violence that Kenyans fear on election days.

Roughly 40 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are currently in 50 nations, according to a United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report.

Displaced by conflict, impacts of climate change and natural disasters, most IDPs are forced to live away from their homes for several years, and some for decades.

JERUSALEM (RNS) — Archaeologists excavating in northern Israel believe they may have discovered the biblical city of Bethsaida, the hometown of three of Jesus’ apostles on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

More than 2 billion people do not have easy access to clean water and more than 4 billion lack proper sanitation, according to a joint World Health Organization and U.N. Children's Fund report.

(RNS) — Since the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic, many communities of faith have supported millions of people living with HIV and kept future generations free from HIV through their prevention efforts.

Today, communities from all faith traditions are engaged in the HIV response. Their continued leadership in ensuring respect for human dignity, justice and rights is critical.

DETROIT (Detroit Free Press) A federal judge has ruled that 114 Iraqi immigrants facing deportation can stay in the U.S. for at least two more weeks as he sorts out whether the court has jurisdiction. Supporters say the immigrants would face persecution in Iraq since many of them are Christians.