Today’s Headlines:

SUNDAY RAIDS BECOMING THE STANDARD WITH UZBEK POLICE

SYRIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST KIDNAPPED, BEHEADED IN IRAQ

SALVATION ARMY WINS LONG STRUGGLE WITH RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT

NEW WEBSITE MATCHES CHRISTIAN VOLUNTEERS WITH ORGANIZATIONS

Today’s Top Stories:

SUNDAY RAIDS THE RECENT STANDARD WITH UZBEK POLICE

Police in Uzbekistan seem to be favoring Sunday morning worship services as a prominent time for raids. In recent weeks, three separate raids took place in the capital of Tashkent and the nearby town of Angren. The first took place on September 24 when two church members were fined at a Baptist church in Tashkent midway through the services. Again on October 1 in Angren nearly 50 members of a registered Pentecostal church were taken to the police station after their Sunday service was raided. The same Tashkent Baptist church was raided a second time on October 8 along with a Protestant church in northwest Uzbekistan in the city of Nukus in the Karakalpakstan region where all Protestant activity is banned. In a separate incident, professional dancer Zamira Shirazova was dismissed from the same region’s folk group under accusations of “taking part in a religious sect.” (Forum 18 News).

SYRIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST KIDNAPPED, BEHEADED IN IRAQ

On Wednesday night, October 11, Syrian Orthodox priest Father Boulos Iskander, 59, was found beheaded and dismembered in a suburb of Mosul, Iraq. Iskander was abducted on Monday, October 9 and a $350,000 ransom demanded from his family. The kidnappers agreed to reduce the sum to $40,000 if the priest’s church publicly rejected Pope Benedict XVI’s comments from last month. To meet the demands, the St. Ephram parish posted 30 large signs around Mosul separating itself from the Popes comments. The family managed to raise the ransom money. However, Iskander’s body was discovered the next day and his remains were brought to a local hospital. (Assist News Service)

SALVATION ARMY WINS LONG STRUGGLE WITH RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT

After a seven-year struggle with the Russian government, the European Court of Human Rights delivered an important victory to the Salvation Army. On October 5, the court unanimously ruled the Russian government infringed on the rights of Salvation Army’s Moscow branch by rejecting its re-registration as a local religious organization. The court said the government had violated the ministry’s religious freedom by violating its right to “manifest one’s religion in community with others” without state intervention. The Salvation Army had operated in Russia since 1992, was turned down for re-registration in February of 1999. The Moscow Justice Department said Salvation Army’s Moscow branch operated as a subordinate to a foreign religious organization. In court later, the branch was accused of being a paramilitary organization because its members wear uniforms and carry out services. The European court awarded the Salvation Army the equivalent of slightly more than $12,500 to be paid by the Russian government. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice said, “The decision sends a strong message that religious freedom is an integral and important aspect of the European Charter of Human Rights.” (Baptist Press)

NEW WEBSITE MATCHES CHRISTIAN VOLUNTEERS WITH ORGANIZATIONS

TechMission has launched a new free website designed to match hundreds of thousands of volunteers with Christian volunteer opportunities in urban ministries and short-term missions. Called ChristianVolunteering.org, the site allows users to type in their zip code to find a list of volunteer opportunities nearby. Searches can also be framed by interest area or skill sets. Organizations can post their opportunities for free. Opportunities are also listed for virtual volunteering where people can work from home by providing services at a distance. Examples of this include accounting, graphic design, computer programming, grant writing, translation, legal support and online tutoring. Research shows faith-based volunteers represented over 34.8 percent of all volunteers in 2005. Last year the leading secular Internet volunteer matching service (VolunteerMatch) placed over 475,000 volunteers in 37,000 nonprofit organizations with the volunteer time valued at $232 million.(Christian Newswire)