Around 1,000 people joined silent protests on the same evening. “The fate of those persecuted for their faith should not leave us cold”.

Persecution rising toward levels under Chairman Mao. “The days are coming when whole Christian families will find themselves unable to access not merely transport, but schools, hospitals, bank loans and jobs”, a source says.

A letter was delivered to the ambassador “in favour of religious freedom in Algeria and in support of the evangelical churches in that country”.

Civil society reports estimate that in 2017 alone at least 50 individuals were imprisoned on charges of blasphemy, with at least 17 facing possible death sentences.

False blasphemy charges can be devastating for the entire family: ‘My life is ruined without him,’ says Zafar’s wife Nawab Bibi.

Gunmen opened fire during the worship service. This is the fourth attack against Christian communities in the last eight months.

Police detained students and church leaders during a meeting  of the Ethiopian Fellowship of Evangelical students in Debark and pressured them to sign an agreement to never meet again in the city.

Open Doors UK displayed 16,000 squares of fabric at Westminster Abbey, “to amplify the voices of persecuted Christian women and to have a lasting impact on UK government policy”.

Police registered a report against the Hindu extremists but have taken no action. Another report was registered against the pastor and seven family members.

As part of a larger prison sentence delivered in 2013, Ebrahim Firoozi, 33, was sentenced to two years in exile in Sarbaz, a frontier town on the Iranian-Pakistani border known for its isolation and prevalence of Islamic militant groups.

This year International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is on November 10th. One out of every nine professing Christians face persecution, isolation and violence worldwide.

Police have bowed to political pressure from the assailants to make no arrests and have stopped investigating.

The Luhansk People's Republic (Ukraine) has banned all Protestant worship, and believers try to meet in small gatherings. Uzbekistan raids worship services that have not been approved by the authorities.

Police use force to eject Christians resisting in protest. The closures this week bring to 15 the number of worship buildings sealed since the government launched a campaign againt churches.

Armed herdsmen stormed the community and shot indiscriminately into houses, forcing residents to flee into bushes surrounding the village.

It is not clear from the video, temporarily posted on YouTube, when the two men were executed. Their identities were confirmed by a Church of Christ in Nations pastor.

“The government has passed laws that blatantly violate religious freedom”, Swiss Christian NGO HMK says. Christian natives and foreigners have been arrested because of their faith.

In a major speech in 2016, President Xi Jinping called for the ‘sinicization of religion’. For the Chinese Communist Party, the rise of religion, especially Christianity and Islam, represents an existential threat to its political health.

The place of worship in the city of Boghni was used by two Protestant communities. Around 380 members are affected.

The US President presents a plan that includes the creation of “a coalition of businesses for the protection of religious freedom”.

Boko Haram has killed an estimated 35,000 civilians. The insurgency that began in Maiduguri, Borno state increasingly struck Christian educational institutions, health facilities and worship sites.

Hindu extremist threats have driven a pastor in Nepal into hiding following a leak onto social media of a restricted audience-interview he gave on his journey to Christ.

The extremists demanded that at least one of the Christian organizers should be beaten to death, to teach them a lesson.

Police officials assured church leaders that they were aware of Hindu extremist opposition to Christianity, but they gave no indication of investigating and putting an end to it.

August 22 is the International Day commemorating the victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief. More than 4000 Christians were killed in 2018 because of their faith.