Sumatra

Governments on the Indonesian island of Sumatra have banned Christians from celebrating Christmas in private homes, according to a report Thursday from International Christian Concern (ICC).

A strictly observant Muslim Indonesian man – who worked as a religious policeman enforcing adultery laws – has been publicly whipped after being caught with a married woman. He now stands to lose his job after local Islamic officials expressed a lack of confidence in his ability to discharge his duties.

A group of unmarried couples were publicly whipped in Indonesia’s religiously conservative Aceh province after they were caught behaving amorously — a crime under the region’s strict application of Islamic law.