The UK launches an independent inquiry on Wednesday into the persecution of Christians worldwide after warning that the religion is being wiped out in the Middle East.
Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, said the inquiry will recommend practical steps to defend the rights of more than 200 million Christians worldwide who are at risk of persecution.
Mr Hunt cited the dwindling numbers of Christians in the Middle East as the reason to act, saying it had fallen from 20 per cent of the population of the region a century ago to five per cent today.
“Step by agonising step, we are witnessing the erosion of Christianity as a living religion in its heartland,” Mr Hunt wrote in an article for The Telegraph newspaper.
“With Christianity on the verge of extinction in its birthplace, it is time for concerted action that begins to turn the tide.”
Five countries from the region are among eleven countries where the levels of persecution against Christians are described as “extreme”, according to a watchlist published last month by Christian charity Open Doors. North Korea was listed as the most dangerous country in the world for Christians.
The five are Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Iran and Syria. Mr Hunt also cited Egypt where a suicide bomber targeted a Christian cathedral in 2017 killing 17 people.
He also told of speaking with an Iraqi doctor whose patients had threatened her with beheading when they learned that she was a Christian.
The inquiry – first mooted last month - is being headed by Philip Mounstephen, the bishop of Truro, in southwest England.
The bishop will be travelling abroad to unspecified countries as part of his inquiry, according to the Foreign Office.
Mr Hunt said that he would seek to harness the UK’s diplomatic service to promote the cause of persecuted Christians.
The UK has a chequered recent history of protecting minorities with an all-party group of MPs criticising the government’s response to the Rohingya crisis.
The MPs said that the UK did not do enough to turn international outrage over the treatment of the Muslim minority into effective action to prevent the killings, according to a 2017 report.
“I hope that at a minimum it will lead to the British government being more consistently outspoken, using its diplomatic networks to better defend persecuted Christians, ensuring our aid policy genuinely does not discriminate on religious grounds, for or against any religion,” Benedict Rogers, of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, wrote in a blog.
The Foreign Office declined to say how much the review headed by the bishop would cost but he has been asked to report back to the Foreign Secretary in April with his recommendations.
Both men are due to give further details at the launch of inquiry on Wednesday when they will be accompanied by a victim of persecution, according to officials.
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Read more:
Pope's visit speaks to a 1,400-year-old tradition of Christianity in the Gulf
Jacob’s Well: Meet the priest who protects this biblical sanctuary in the heart of the Holy Land
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The launch comes in the week that Pakistan’s top court upheld its decision to overturn the conviction and death sentence of Christian woman Asia Bibi for blasphemy.
She was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammed during a dispute with her neighbours and spent eight years on death row before being cleared.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 5
Keita 1', Mane 23', 66', Salah 45' 1, 83'
Huddersfield 0
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
The%20Sandman
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SPECS
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Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Company%20profile
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RESULTS
Light Flyweight (48kg): Alua Balkibekova (KAZ) beat Gulasal Sultonalieva (UZB) by points 4-1.
Flyweight (51kg): Nazym Kyzaibay (KAZ) beat Mary Kom (IND) 3-2.
Bantamweight (54kg): Dina Zholaman (KAZ) beat Sitora Shogdarova (UZB) 3-2.
Featherweight (57kg): Sitora Turdibekova (UZB) beat Vladislava Kukhta (KAZ) 5-0.
Lightweight (60kg): Rimma Volossenko (KAZ) beat Huswatun Hasanah (INA) KO round-1.
Light Welterweight (64kg): Milana Safronova (KAZ) beat Lalbuatsaihi (IND) 3-2.
Welterweight (69kg): Valentina Khalzova (KAZ) beat Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB) 5-0
Middleweight (75kg): Pooja Rani (IND) beat Mavluda Movlonova (UZB) 5-0.
Light Heavyweight (81kg): Farida Sholtay (KAZ) beat Ruzmetova Sokhiba (UZB) 5-0.
Heavyweight (81 kg): Lazzat Kungeibayeva (KAZ) beat Anupama (IND) 3-2.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
