Samuel Smith and World Watch Monitor

Latest

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  Feb 9, 2020

  Planned Texas border wall would cut off congregants from their church, 'burden' religious practice

  Plans to build part of President Donald Trump’s border wall near a levee in Donna, Texas, are being challenged on claims that it will “burden” churchgoers by cutting them off from easily accessing their church building.

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  Feb 8, 2020

  UN stepping up response in Burkina Faso as displacement rose by 1,200% in 2019

  The United Nations will step up relief efforts in Burkina Faso amid a 1,200 percent increase in forced displacement while some are concerned that the Trump administration could reduce U.S. troops in violence-ridden West Africa despite the president’s vows to defeat the Islamic State. 

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  Feb 7, 2020

  Iranian Christian convert granted early release from prison; 2 others expected to be freed

  One Iranian Christian convert imprisoned for his faith has been released early from prison and it is expected that two more converts will also be granted an early release.

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  Feb 7, 2020

  Judge reverses convictions of aid workers who left food, water for immigrants in desert

  Four aid volunteers who left food and water for immigrants who illegally entered the country through the Arizona desert in 2017 had their criminal convictions overturned Monday by a federal judge who ruled that the government’s prosecution violated their religious freedom rights.  

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  Feb 7, 2020

  'Dirty baker's dozen': 13 companies facilitating sexual exploitation

  Major corporations and one state were listed on the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s 2020 “Dirty Dozen List” of entities that are complicit in “perpetuating” sexual exploitation in any form. 

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  Feb 6, 2020

  Judge allows Boston to ban the flying of Christian flag outside City Hall

  A federal judge ruled this week that the city of Boston, Massachusetts, does not have to raise a Christian flag at City Hall Plaza even though the city has raised flags representing other cultural and social groups, including flags indicating support for LGBT rights. 

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  Feb 6, 2020

  Iranian Christian who met with Trump details how regime shut down her family’s church

  Persecuted Iranian Christian Dabrina Bet Tamraz vividly remembers the day that her family’s church was shut down.

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  Feb 5, 2020

  United Airlines to train flight attendants to stop passengers from watching porn onboard

  United Airlines is now training flight attendants to intervene when passengers watch pornography on their personal devices as part of an effort to curb the increase of porn viewing on planes, according to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. 

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  Feb 5, 2020

  Abducted seminarian killed by kidnappers in Nigeria; 3 other seminarians released by captors

  The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) is mourning the murder of an 18-year-old seminarian abducted earlier this month along with three other seminarians who have since been released. 

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  Feb 5, 2020

  Boko Haram responsible for 59,311 orphans, 59,213 widows: Nigerian governor

  The governor of the Boko Haram-infected Borno state in northeast Nigeria has reportedly revealed that the extremist group is responsible for making tens of thousands of widows and orphans in the state as it continues its reign of terror.