Today’s Headlines:

NEW CUBAN LEGISLATION LEADS TO CLOSURE OF 3 HOUSE CHURCHES

DEM. REP. OF CONGO HOME TO ‘WORLD’S DEADLIEST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS’

SEMINARY IN RUSSIA FEARS LOSS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS

Today’s Top Stories:

NEW CUBAN LEGISLATION LEADS TO CLOSURE OF 3 HOUSE CHURCHES

At least three Protestant churches have been forcibly closed down in Cuba after legislation on house churches was announced in 2005. The legislation was announced in April 2005 after Pope John Paul II’s funeral and required all house churches to register with the authorities. Stuart Windsor, national director of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said, “We learned of these church closures, confiscation and demolition with deep concern. We are calling on the international community to strongly discourage the Cuban government from taking any more measures that would restrict the rights of the Cuban people to meet and worship together. In addition, we call upon the Cuban government to return those buildings that have already been confiscated, allow for the reopening of those that have been shut down, and authorize the reconstruction of the church that has already been demolished.” (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)

DEM. REP. OF CONGO HOME TO ‘WORLD’S DEADLIEST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS’

A story in The Christian Post, citing a study published by Britain’s leading medical journal, indicates that the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has suffered from back-to-back wars and years of corruption, is home to the world’s deadliest humanitarian crisis. The study shows that nearly 4 million people died from 1998 to 2004 with 38,000 people dying each month — a rate 40 percent higher than the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of deaths result from preventable diseases rather than directly from war violence. “Less than 2 percent of the deaths were directly due to violence,” said Rick Brennan, health director of the International Rescue Committee. “However, if the effects of violence — such as the insecurity that limits access to healthcare facilities — were removed, mortality rates would fall to almost normal levels. It’s a sad indictment of us all that seven years into this crisis ignorance about its scale and impact is almost universal.” (Religion Today)

SEMINARY IN RUSSIA FEARS LOSS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS

The Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary in Russia (supported by OMS International) is asking people to pray as the government continues to curb religious freedoms in the country. J.B. Crouse, the former president of OMS, said Russia has started cutting back on foreign missionary visa requests as two missionary couples were recently denied visas. Crouse is concerned that the situation could worsen if the government disallows foreigners from sponsoring students. The seminary’s associate provost, Sasha Tsutserov, says 95 percent of all of the school’s graduates are in ministry. “They go and plant churches, they join mission groups, they go to the places where [you could not go] because Russia alone covers 11 time zones. It’s a huge land.” (Mission Network News)