Africa

By BosNewsLife Africa Service ASMARA, ERITREA (BosNewsLife)-- Security forces in Eritrea have detained dozens, mostly elderly, Christian women in the capital Amara as part of a crackdown on evangelical activities, an advocacy group said Monday, December 7.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos ABUJA, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- A Christian school girl in Nigeria spent Easter as a hostage of Islamist militants after she refused to convert to Islam, while extremists killed more than a dozen people during the holiday, BosNewsLife learned Monday, April 2.

HARARE, ZIMBABWE (BosNewsLife)-- Aid workers expressed alarm Friday, November 17, about the plight of "hungry Christians" in Zimbabwe after the military staged a takeover amid growing pressure on President Robert Mugabe to resign.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service LUXOR, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- An Egyptian court has fined a Coptic teacher for "insulting Islam" and proselytizing at her primary school, adding to concerns among rights activists about the alleged growing persecution of devoted Christians in the country. The court in the ancient southern city of Luxor ruled that schoolteacher Dimyana Abdel-Nour must pay a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($14,300), though she escaped prison.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service JOS, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- Funerals were underway Friday, April 16, in a Muslim-dominated northern Nigerian state for a pentecostal pastor and his wife who were reportedly hacked to death and burnt to ashes by Muslim assailants.

By BosNewsLife African and Middle East Services with additional reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos TRIPOLI/CAIRO (BosNewsLife)-- There is concern about Libya's tiny Christian community amid reports that hundreds of anti-government protesters have been killed as demonstrations spread to the northern African nation's capital Tripoli.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Francis on Monday, September 8, expressed his condolences  for the violent deaths of three elderly Italian nuns in Burundi, underscoring the dangers of missionaries working in the region.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting from the Middle East, Asia and Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BEIRUT/CAIRO/ISLAMABAD (BosNewsLife)-- Christians across the Muslim world faced turmoil Friday, September 14, as deadly protests against an anti-Islam film spread across the Middle East, Africa, and south and east Asia.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with additional reporting by BosNewsLife's Paul Jongas in Nigeria ABUJA, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- Dozens of students, including Christians, have been killed by Islamic militants in northeastern Nigeria, leading missionaries told BosNewsLife Wednesday, October 3.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service ZANZIBAR CITY, TANZANIA (BosNewsLife)-- Leaders of Christians in Zanzibar, Tanzania's semi-autonomous archipelago, have appealed for more religious freedom in the heavily Islamic region, after Muslim extremists allegedly destroyed at least two church buildings, while elsewhere believers were detained or harassed.