World

• 

  Australian government under fire over religious protections climbdown

  Australia's Labor government has come under fire from both sides of the ideological divide after comments earlier this month that indicated it was abandoning its controversial proposal for a Religious Discrimination Act.

• 

  Christian group condemns Nicaragua's crackdown on civic organisations

  The consequences of Nicaragua's ongoing attack on independent organisations is "impossible to quantify", Christian Solidarity Worldwide has said.

• 

  Pope Francis expresses concern over Ukraine's ban on Russian-linked church

  Pope Francis has expressed concern over a newly passed law in Ukraine that bans groups with historic ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, seeing it as an attack on religious freedom.

• 

  Pope Francis meets Italian man freed after 33 years in prison for wrongful triple murder conviction

  Pope Francis held a private meeting on Friday with Beniamino Zuncheddu, an Italian man exonerated earlier this year after spending 33 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. The encounter took place in the library of the Apostolic Palace.

• 

  First Bible translation for indigenous ethnic people groups completed in Colombia

  The Colombian Bible Society has unveiled the first complete translation of the Bible into an indigenous language - Wayuunaiki, which will serve two indigenous ethnic groups in Colombia.

• 

  Egyptian man allowed to list Christian faith on ID card a decade after clerical error

  After over a decade of persistent denial of his religious identity, an Egyptian Christian man has successfully corrected the religious affiliation on his identification documents, marking a significant victory for religious freedom in Egypt.

• 

  Christian parents regain custody of three girls in Pakistan

  In rare case, judge allows children to talk with parents.

• 

  Ukraine's ban targeting Russian-linked faith groups raises religious freedom concerns

  Even some supporters of Ukraine see the ban as an overstep in the name of national security, a violation of religious freedom and a potential risk to continued foreign military aid.

• 

  Nicaragua forces 1,500 churches, non-profits to close

  The Nicaraguan government has canceled the legal registration of 1,500 nonprofit organizations, including churches, intensifying a years-long crackdown in this Central American nation. A notice in the government Gazette, La Gaceta, claimed these groups were non-compliant with financial reporting requirements spanning one to 35 years.

• 

  Nearly half of world's migrants are Christian, Pew Research shows

  The world's 280 million immigrants have greater shares of Christians, Muslims and Jews than the general population, according to a new Pew Research Center study released on Monday.

• 

  Christians in Pakistan 'terrified' of more violence

  Christians in Pakistan are living in fear of more violent attacks a year after a wave of severe anti-Christian persecution.

• 

  Christian charity reaches milestone in combating blindness in Rwanda

  CBM UK has announced the successful end to their three-year See the Way project, saying that they had been able to raise £845,000 in donations from supporters, pushing the final total over £1.8 million after it was matched by the UK government, as part of the UK Aid Match scheme.

• 

  Nigeria continues to tolerate terrorism, USCIRF States

  Nigeria's government at federal and state levels continues to tolerate attacks by non-state assailants who justify violence on religious grounds, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

• 

  Religion, prayer most important in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, least important in Western countries

  Europeans are least likely to say that religion is very important in their lives, compared to other parts of the world, and only 42 percent of Americans claim that religion is personally crucial to them.

• 

  Christians in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine face increasing persecution

  The non-profit organisation says the scale of the hostility is reminiscent of Soviet-era repression, with imprisonment, torture, and murder all on the rise.