World

UK and France pledge to 'step up' cooperation over Calais refugee crisis
The UK and France have pledged to "step up" cooperation to improve the situation in Calais where some 7,000 migrants have congregated at the Channel tunnel port.

UN slams France's burkini ban in damning intervention
The United Nations human rights office has urged France to repeal its "stupid" ban on burkinis, saying they did not improve security and only fuelled religious intolerance.

Pakistani Christian girl abducted, forced to convert to Islam and marry faces death threats
A Pakistani Christian woman who is deaf and dumb and was abducted and forced to convert and marry a Muslim is facing death threats after she managed to escape and return to her family.

ISIS using fake passports to send fanatics to Europe in preparation for attack, top intel official warns
It's like a report of an approaching giant storm that will inevitably hit land, with devastating results foreseen.

Fears of trafficking as police reveal 9000 child refugees are missing in Germany alone
The number of missing child refugees in Germany has doubled since the start of the year with almost 9,000 feared to have disappeared.

Christianity at risk of dying out in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, Orthodox Church leader warns
Christianity is in danger of disappearing across entire countries in the Middle East, the land of its birth, according to a senior Orthodox Church leader.

Australia: Six pastors and a nun 'arrested' after protest over Nauru detention centre
Six pastors and a nun taking part in a protest at the Australian Prime Minister's office against the off-shore detention centre on the Pacific island of Nauru have said they were "arrested" after refusing to leave.

Iraq: Displaced children taken from camps to fight ISIS
Child refugees are being recruited from camps in Iraq to fight ISIS, according to Human Right Watch.

Murdered nuns praised for lives of service to the poor
Hundreds of people turned out on Monday to remember two nuns who were murdered last week in Mississippi.

Russell Moore warns politics has become a religion for evangelicals
Politics has become a religion and a source of identity to evangelicals, Russell Moore lamented over the weekend, as he warned that the witness of evangelicalism was at risk.

Why Indian nationalists object to Mother Teresa being made a saint
In India, where Mother Teresa ministered for most of her life and founded the Missionaries of Charity order to take forward her work, her beatification is not universally welcomed.

Pray for believers from one of the world's most secret religions
Born into a religion you cannot convert to or from, Farah* met Jesus when searching for answers. Now others in her close-knit Druze community are getting to know him too.

Argentina: Mother Teresa nuns beaten and robbed
Nuns belonging to the Missionary Sisters of Charity order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta have been attacked and beaten in their home in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Pope Francis to visit earthquake victims 'as soon as possible'
Pope Francis hopes to visit the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Italy last week.

How one youth pastor is bringing hope to persecuted Christians in Iraq
The charity Open Doors is mobilising thousands of Christians worldwide to bring new hope to the desperate crisis in the Middle East.

Sarkozy vows to change France's constitution for all-out burkini ban
Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy said on Monday he would change the country's constitution to ban full-body burkini swimsuits if he is re-elected to his former role in a vote next April.