Today’s Headlines:

AUTHORITIES IN UZBEKISTAN STEP UP PRESSURE ON UNREGISTERED CHURCH

PRESSURE MOUNTS FOR PAKISTAN TO REPEAL BLASPHEMY LAWS

MUSLIM MOB VANDALIZES CHRISTIAN SECTION OF VILLAGE IN TURKEY

ORPHANAGE DIRECTOR IN COLOMBIA REACHES OUT TO GUERRILLAS

CHRISTIAN SCREENWRITERS GET CHANCE TO BE NOTICED IN HOLLYWOOD

Today’s Top Stories:

AUTHORITIES IN UZBEKISTAN STEP UP PRESSURE ON UNREGISTERED CHURCH

While relative calm has returned to Andijan, Uzbekistan, since military forces quelled a riot in the city last May by firing on demonstrators, killing at least 745 people, authorities are concerned about the city’s small contingent of Christians. Bakhtier Tuichiev, pastor of an unregistered Pentecostal church in Andijan, said that he and other local Protestants have been placed under secret police surveillance, and he has been threatened with arrest if he does not shut down the church. Since the Andijan crackdown, Uzbekistan has also increased attempts to isolate religious believers from the support of local and foreign journalists and human rights activists. (Forum 18 News Service)

PRESSURE MOUNTS FOR PAKISTAN TO REPEAL BLASPHEMY LAWS

While international pressure is increasing for Pakistan to repeal its harsh blasphemy laws, there has been a movement within the country in the last 18 months aimed at softening the code. Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) says the laws’ harsh penalties often fall against Christians. “Now Christians in Pakistan are saying, ‘Let’s get rid of this law. Let’s rewrite it to make it more fair.’ So it will be interesting if there’s any progress made in turning this law into a more fair law for the people of Pakistan.” Nettleton says VOM is not directly involved with the push to change the law, however, “We are directly involved with Christians in Pakistan — those who are facing persecution. We are trying to support them, and so we’re involved in a way of strengthening the church, so that whatever happens in persecution, they’ll be ready to face whatever comes their way.” (Mission Network News)

MUSLIM MOB VANDALIZES CHRISTIAN SECTION OF VILLAGE IN TURKEY

More than 100 residents of the Turkish village of Karsu last month vandalized a Christian Orthodox quarter of Altinozu after receiving reports that Christians had attacked two Muslims. The Muslim mob descended on Altinosu’s Greek Orthodox neighborhood of Sarilar shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3, chanting “there is no room for infidels here.” The vandals damaged 10 houses and injured five people, including the wife of parish leader Spir Bayrakcioglu. Cousins Mitri and Engin Keseroglu, Greek Orthodox Christians from the Sarilar neighborhood, have been charged with using razors to slash two Karsu youths in a fight earlier that evening that triggered the outbreak of violence. One of the two Muslim youths from Karsu also brandished a knife, but he was not arrested. (Compass)

ORPHANAGE DIRECTOR IN COLOMBIA REACHES OUT TO GUERRILLAS

Colombia has been locked into a long drawn out guerrilla war compounded by a major drug trafficking problem and a massive paramilitary presence, making ministry difficult, said IN Network’s Rody Rodeheaver. A 31-year veteran orphanage director is just one example of how nationals are doing “great work,” he said. In this case, it goes beyond the children. “The guerrillas respect what she’s doing because they realize that she cares. She actually shares the gospel with these guerrillas. It’s an amazing story of God using a woman in a place that is a hard place.” Most of the 25 children in the facility were orphaned either because their parents were killed by the guerrillas, or their parents are in hiding and unable to care for their children. (Mission Network News)

CHRISTIAN SCREENWRITERS GET CHANCE TO BE NOTICED IN HOLLYWOOD

First-time screenwriters with a compelling religious message will have the opportunity to get their scripts noticed by top Hollywood executives in the first biannual John Templeton Foundation Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays. Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the “right or opportune moment,” and for many up-and-coming scriptwriters, this will be the “right” and “opportune” moment to make a difference in Hollywood. Co-sponsored by the Templeton Foundation and the Christian Film & Television Commission, the top three winners will share prize money totaling $50,000. The major movie studios have promised to give a first look at the three winning scripts. Early deadline is Nov. 25, and the late deadline is Jan. 6. Winners will be announced on March 2. (Assist News Service)