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A bomb exploded in a Yemeni court on Wednesday, May 14, wounding several people in the same place where a suspected al-Qaida militant was condemned to death last week for killing three U.S. missionaries, security officials said. The explosion ripped through the courtroom in Jibla, 125 miles south of the Yemeni capital of San'a, the Associated Press reported. A judge was among those injured. Witnesses said they saw victims being taken away in ambulances. It was not immediately clear if anybody was killed. Security officials surrounded the court building Wednesday and cordoned it off. Police said they detained a man in connection with the explosion. On Saturday the court condemned to death Abed Abdul Razak Kamel, 30, after convicting him of the Dec. 30 shooting deaths of three missionaries at the Southern Baptist-run hospital in Jibla. Yemeni security officials have said they believe Kamel belonged to a terror cell linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. (Assist News Service)

BUDDHIST MONKS IN SRI LANKA THREATEN METHODIST CHURCH

The Minneriya Methodist Church in north-central Sri Lanka has been meeting for more than 10 years, growing steadily in this predominantly Buddhist city. To accommodate growth, the church began construction on a new building. On April 28 a mob led by local monks threatened to destroy any new construction, as well as threatening the pastor, Oscar Fernando. Despite a restraining order against the members of the mob, the monks warned Fernando on May 3 that they would assault anyone who gathered for worship the next day. Thankfully nothing happened, but there are still concerns for their safety. The Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka urges believers to pray for Fernando and the members of the church, and for an end to the continuing threats and acts of violence. (Voice of the Martyrs)

CHRISTIAN BROADCASTER BEGINS AIRING PROGRAMS LOCALLY IN SRI LANKA

Even though Christians only make up about 8 percent of the population in Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist nation, their faith often draws fire from the government. However, Back to the Bible's James Kanaganayagam believes changes are taking place as a result of people's prayers. "Now we're able to get onto the local FM stations to broadcast our Christian programs, which we were unable to do earlier," he says. "In that sense there has been an opening over the last couple of years for us to minister in a greater way than we did in the past." While gospel broadcasts are available to 19 million people on the island nation, persecution increases tensions. "The government is still a secular government and upholds the right of all religions. But there are places where there is growing opposition to the church," Kanaganayagam says. "Because of the community, very little seems to be done to confront those who are harassing the church." (Mission Network News)

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AT RISK IN AFGHANISTAN AS EXTREMISM GROWS

An independent panel warned Tuesday, May 13, that religious freedom in Afghanistan is perilously at risk unless the U.S. government presses for greater human rights protections. In its annual report to Congress, the president and the State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said Afghanistan could again become a repressive Islamic state unless Washington intervenes. "There are indications that Afghanistan is being reconstructed -- without serious U.S. opposition -- as a state in which an extreme interpretation of sharia (Islamic law) would be enforced by a government which the U.S. supports and with which our nation is closely identified," the nine-member panel warned. The panel called for increased security to guarantee human rights as well as secular courts to prevent "misguided judicial activism" and a commitment to make sure "punishments such as flogging, amputation of limbs and death by stoning are banned." The commission also rebuked Saudi Arabia, one of America's closest allies in the Middle East, for restricting non-Muslim faiths and faulted the State Department for not pressing for reforms. The commission, which was chartered by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, monitors religious freedom issues and advises the government on ways to weave those concerns into foreign policy. (Religion Today)

* HCJB World Radio is bringing words of hope and encouragement to people across Afghanistan via radio. Together with partners, Christian broadcasts go out via AM in four of the country's major languages, Dari, Hazaragi, Turkmen and Uzbek.

TEEN ABDUCTED BY MUSLIM NEIGHBOR IN EGYPT REGAINS FREEDOM

A Christian teenager abducted by a Muslim neighbor has been restored to her family following the unprecedented intervention of the Egyptian Under Secretary of State for the Interior. Niveen Malak Kamel, a 17-year-old girl from Klosna village in the Samlout district of El Minia, 145 miles south of Cairo, was abducted by a fellow villager, reported the El Kalema Centre for Human Rights in Cairo. When her family approached local law enforcement authorities for help in securing her release, they were informed that no action would be taken since Kamel had allegedly converted to Islam. However, such a conversion would have been illegal since Egyptian law states that minors cannot change their religion. Egyptian sources say that many Christian girls have been abducted in recent years, and in each case local authorities have refused to take action. Kamel's release was unprecedented and follows decisive intervention by the Under Secretary of State for the Interior, General Habib El Adly. (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

ARSON SUSPECTED IN BURNING OF MYANMAR MISSION LEADER'S HOUSE

The home of a mission leader in Myanmar (Burma) was burned to the ground in late February, states a recently received report. The leader said he was sure the fire was set by "enemies of the gospel." The incident is a symptom of growing turmoil in Myanmar with many Christians becoming victims of the fray. The leader and his family were asleep when a neighbor's yell awakened them. Because the front porch was ablaze, they escaped through the back door. "Without the back door, we all would have perished," the leader said. The 73-year-old leader's sons were able to push the mission jeep that was sheltered in a lean-to of the building to safety. Persecution is becoming more widespread in the predominantly Buddhist nation. The leader said it's not unusual for arsonists to destroy church buildings and Christians' homes. The country is ruled by a military junta that targets Christians for forced labor while depriving them of government subsidies. Despite the opposition, the churches are growing. Indigenous ministries reach out to isolated tribes, translating the Bible into their languages and planting churches, as well as training tribal leaders to minister to their own people. The leader also directs a Bible correspondence ministry with more than 4,000 students. (Missions Insider)

CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT BOY SCOUT GROUPS IN IRELAND AGREE TO MERGE

Despite misgivings expressed by the country's Roman Catholic bishops, Ireland's two separate Boy Scout organizations -- one historically Catholic, the other historically Protestant -- have voted to merge. Scouting Ireland was started in 1908 as the Dublin City Boy Scouts, becoming the Irish Free State Scout Council in 1921. It was perceived as having a predominantly Protestant membership, and in response the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland was set up in 1927. It has always operated under the auspices of the Catholic bishops. The two organizations have long had a close working relationship, formalized in 1965 by the formation of the Federation of Irish Scout Associations. Formal negotiations about a merger began in May 1998. The chief Scouts of the two organizations welcomed the votes as the "foundation for a new century of scouting for all young people in Ireland regardless of race, color or creed." In a letter to the national secretary of the Catholic Scouts, Bishop John Magee of Cloyne said that the bishops had discussed the merger proposal at their spring meeting in March, at which they "articulated serious misgivings." (Religion Today)

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