Asia	
	    
    
		Chinese officials demolish megachurch and arrest leaders
			  	Chinese Christians in Anhui are said to be ‘outraged’ after their state-registered megachurch was demolished and their pastors arrested. Demolition work (pictured) began at Funan County Christian Church on Friday, partway through a…			  
			  
			  
		  Vietnam: Phuc, poverty and prayers
			  	Prime minister Phuc has asked the public security and foreign ministries to investigate the trafficking of Vietnamese citizens into foreign countries after 39 people died in a refrigerated truck in Essex. Vietnam’s UK…			  
			  
			  
		  Syria: al-Baghdadi’s ugly legacy
			  	In 2014 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and that the world’s Muslims owed him their allegiance as ‘Caliph Ibrahim.’ It was an attempt to establish Islamic sovereignty across…			  
			  
			  
		  Lebanon: demonstrations - PM resigns
			  	Protesters have paralysed Lebanon, blocking roadways, closing schools and shutting banks nationwide. Emergency reform measures and an offer of dialogue with protest representatives by the president failed to defuse anger or move the…			  
			  
			  
		  Global: polio in 2019
			  	World Polio Day was on 24 October. Global polio numbers have fallen over decades, but new outbreaks continue to raise questions about eradication efforts in countries where humanitarian access is a problem. The…			  
			  
			  
		  Syria: unsung heroes
			  	The Free Burma Rangers (FBR) deliver emergency medical assistance to sick and injured internally-displaced people, and train teams in frontline medical treatment, humanitarian relief and reconnaissance techniques. On 21 October one ranger wrote,…			  
			  
			  
		  Israel: political deadlock
			  	After the election last month, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had 28 days to secure the 61 seats necessary to achieve a functioning majority government by building support from smaller parties in the Knesset.…			  
			  
			  
		  Tajikistan: a transformed life
			  	Alexey, a middle-school dropout, first went to the missionaries’ church for food when he was a homeless beggar. When he got a job and could feed himself, he stopped attending church. He met…			  
			  
			  
		  Syria: orphans of the Caliphate
			  	The families of suspected IS militants are being held at a number of camps for displaced people in northern Syria. Al-Hol camp houses almost 70,000 people, of whom 11,000 are foreign nationals; 94%…			  
			  
			  
		  Turkey: deporting Christians
			  	At a UN summit on religious freedom, Donald Trump praised President Erdogan. But since 2016 Turkey’s Protestant community of mostly Muslim converts, meeting in 150 Christian fellowships, report an increase of crimes against…			  
			  
			  
		  
 
				     
				     
				     
				     
				     
				     
				     
				     
				     
				    