Breaking Christian News on The Gospel Herald

A long time North Korea human rights champion is unimpressed by the second-ever summit between North and South Korea slated for later this month.

Afghan troops are ready to free the remaining 21 South Koreans held by Taliban militants by force, said the Afghan interior ministry spokesman Wednesday.

Only one year remains before the much-anticipated 2008 Summer Olympics Games in Beijing and Christians worldwide have kicked off a yearlong prayer campaign for a spiritual harvest in China.

Only one year remains before the much-anticipated Beijing Olympics and Christians are preparing in advance for a spiritual harvest in China.

The families of the South Korean hostages held by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan are disappointed in the outcome of the Bush-Karzai summit, which they say made insufficient efforts to secure the release of the Christian volunteers.

The Taliban issued fresh threats to kill the remaining Korean Christian hostages and warned that the insurgents intend to continue to kidnap foreigners in Afghanistan.

Debates over Iraq and whether the United States should immediately pullout or should have even gone in the first place have raged on for years. Yet Christian leaders are increasingly calling attention to the too-often overlooked Iraqi people.

The families of the 21 remaining South Korean Christians held by the Taliban in Afghanistan visited an Islamic mosque in Seoul Saturday to plea to Muslims for help in the release of the hostages.

The heaviest monsoon rain said to hit South Asia in over three decades has killed over 1,000 people and driven some 19 million locals from their flooded homes.

Options are running out for the group of 21 remaining Korean Christian hostages - who have entered their third week of captivity. Negotiations are stalled and Afghanistan has publicly refused to submit to the Taliban’s main demand – the release of rebel prisoners in exchange for the captives.

The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) has issued an urgent prayer appeal to the global Christian community for the remaining 21 Korean hostages held by Taliban militants.

An Afghan official said 21 kidnapped South Koreans were still alive Wednesday after the Taliban’s latest deadline passed and as new reports revealed that the government was preparing to launch a rescue mission.

The body of a second South Korean Christian hostage killed in Afghanistan was found Tuesday as the Taliban’s new deadline loomed for the fate of the remaining 21 hostages.

Government officials are frantically negotiating with Taliban militants after a Korean Christian hostage in Afghanistan made the first public plea for help.

The situation of Iraqi Christians is worse than being reported and nothing is being done to help, testified the pastor of one of the largest churches in Iraq Wednesday before the U.S. government’s special religious freedom commission.

Egypt’s top religious advisor attempted Thursday to clear up controversy that had been building up this past week over his reported statement that Muslims are free to convert to other faiths.

Taliban rebels agreed to extend the negotiation deadline for the 22 remaining Korean Christians to noon Friday, said a spokesman for the militants Thursday.

The Taliban said 22 Korean Christian hostages are still alive in Afghanistan Thursday after an overnight deadline to kill them passed.

Egypt’s official religious advisor said Muslims are free to change their religion – a statement that could significantly impact the status of Muslims who convert to Christianity and the county’s Christian population in general.

The Taliban said Tuesday that talks on the fate of the 23 South Korean captives are at a critical point after the latest deadline passed quietly without a conclusion to the crisis.

As Islamist extremism grows, Christian existence in Palestinian territory is disappearing at an alarming rate, emphasized a distinguished scholar and international human rights lawyer.

An alleged spokesman for the Taliban announced Monday that the Islamic militant group has extended its deadline to free 23 South Korean Christian hostages to Tuesday evening.

Americans, overall, have a more negative view of the impact of immigrants on society in the United States than earlier this decade, according to a new Gallup Poll survey.