Asia/Pacific

By BosNewsLife Asia Service BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- In a unprecedented move, a Chinese court has agreed to hear a case filed by a pastor against government officials who prohibited worship services in his house church, observers familiar with the trial said Wednesday, December 31.

By Jawad Mazhar, BosNewsLife Special Correspondent reporting from Pakistan HANGGU, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Minority Christians and other non-Muslims faced potential persecution Tuesday, December 30, as militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda groups imposed Shariah, or Islamic law, in the Orakzai Agency tribal region of the restive Pakistani North West Frontier Province (NWFP), officials told BosNewsLife.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- Several Christian volunteers and survivors of China's worst earthquake in a generation remained missing Sunday, December 28, after Christmas Eve police raids on homes under construction in the devastated Sichuan province amid anger among authorities over the involvement of churches in relief efforts, an advocacy group said.

By Jawad Mazhar, BosNewsLife Special Correspondent reporting from Pakistan LAHORE, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christian government workers were among those recovering from injuries Friday, December 26, after a mini truck laden with explosives detonated near their homes in Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city, killing one Christian woman and injuring up to six people, officials and local residents said.

By BosNewsLife Asia Service BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in several parts of China were behind bars on Christmas Day after a police crackdown on worship services and Bible study, a Christian advocacy group said Thursday, December 25.

By Jawad Mazhar, BosNewsLife Special Correspondent reporting from Pakistan SARGODHA, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Pakistan celebrated Christmas Eve amid tight security late Wednesday, December 24, amid fears Islamic militants may try to attack churches and other Christian institutions.

BosNewsLife Asia Service BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- Chinese police and some 1,000 government supporters destroyed a large church and beat believers in China's Jiangsu province, despite court orders to protect the building, Chinese Christians said Monday, December 22.

By Jawad Mazhar BosNewsLife Special Correspondent reporting from Pakistan SARGODHA, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Pakistani police ransacked run-down homes of Christians living in a slum of Pakistan's 10th largest city and "severely tortured Christian women" leaving several of them "critically injured", local residents told BosNewsLife.

BosNewsLife Asia Service BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- Over a dozen Christians will spend Christmas behind bars in China after police raided a Christian leaders gathering in Henan privince, while in the capital Beijing two officials of the banned Chinese House Church Alliance were detained, an advocacy group and Chinese Christians confirmed Thursday, December 18.

BosNewsLife Asia Service JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BosNewsLife)-- A tense calm returned to the troubled district of Masohi in Indonesia's Central Maluku province, where angry Muslims torched churches, dozens of homes and other properties after a Christian teacher allegedly made comments insulting Islam, rights investigators said Wednesday, December 17.