A series of blasts in Shiite-majority areas of Baghdad and across Iraq killed at least 73 people and wounded dozens more on Thursday, triggering fears that sectarian violence is on the rise.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on Saturday in the northern regions of the African country particularly affected by a recent wave of bloody attacks perpetrated by the Islamist sect Boko Haram.
The Nigerian government will “crush” Boko Haram, the Islamic group behind a series of deadly bombings across the country, President Goodluck Jonathan (pictured, centre) said on Saturday while visiting a church in which 37 died on Christmas Day.
At least 21 Shiites were killed and a further 100 were wounded Monday in a spate of bomb attacks across Iraq as Shiites marked the religious festival of Ashoura. The bombs targeted pilgrims in Latifiyah, Mahaweel and the capital, Baghdad.
A jury in the US on Thursday convicted Warren Jeffs, the leader of a radical Mormon splinter group, of sexually abusing teenage followers. Jeffs, who is believed to have had 78 wives, is seen by the sect's 10,000 members as God's spokesman on earth.
Indonesia has come under attack for not doing enough to protect religious minorities, particularly members of an islamic sect called the Ahmadiyah.
A human rights group says Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng was beaten after the release of a video showing him under house arrest.
And, while Thailand is locked in a border battle with Cambodia in the north, in the south Buddhist monks are coming under attack by Muslim militants seeking greater autonomy.
4,000 delegates are in South Africa this week for the 3rd World Congress on Evangelism. More than 200 countries are represented at the ten-day conference which will discuss world faith and the role of evangelism in a host of world issues. Evangelism is a religious practice that promotes the gospel using a wide variety of techniques. In France the number of evangelical churches is on the rise.
France has long had a reputation as a strike-happy country. As the government faces a new wave of protests against its planned pension reform, we look back at four decades of union action. The French finance minister wants to balance the books by 2016, but policies targeting France's richest tax payers are rejected by the opposition as contradictory. And the place where lost property is found - from umbrellas to wedding dresses, the Paris depot is something of a treasure trove...
A few years ago, Vissarion retreated to the mountains of Siberia to found his Church of the Last Testament. Since then, thousands of people have joined him. FRANCE 24 went to meet this ‘Jesus of Siberia’ and his followers, whose sectarian excesses are worrying Russian authorities.
The Church of Scientology in France has been found guilty of defrauding its followers and its leaders have been handed fines and suspended prison sentences. However, the court did not ban the organisation’s activities in France.
