Christian girls and women are “doubly vulnerable”, says Open Doors. “Preventing women from freely raising their children as Christians is an effective means of controlling the Christian population”.

“Most Somali Christians are underground believers. We are a persecuted community”, explain the leaders of an online community of believers in the country.

Police officers entered New Life Church in Minsk to evict the building. The evangelical community had supported pro-democracy protests. “If one member suffers, all suffer”, evangelical denominations say in a joint statement.

Vijayesh Lal, leader of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, says Christians are making a difference in times of Covid-19: “Local churches are providing relief to their neighbouring communities”.

A website aims to help the 130,000 Hong Kongers expected to arrive in the UK this year to get settled. They see it as an “opportunity for the church to show Jesus' hospitality”.

An interview with Salah Chalah, President of the Eglise Protestante d’Algérie. “2020 was a very difficult year for us Protestants, who have been deprived of our places of worship - until today”.

In a written statement to the UN Human Rights Council, the WEA also addresses the deteriorating environment for religious minorities in India and the incitement to violence of anti-conversion laws.

In a letter sent in December, three UN Human Rights Council special rapporteurs asked the government to stop the “intimidation and discriminatory treatment” of Protestants.

General Sigit Prabowo, a Pentecostal Christian, was unanimously approved by the parliament, despite opposition of Islamic groups. He promises to create “a trustworthy police and fight extremism”.

The library has been established by the Bible Society Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. “We hope it will be a symbol of Christian unity and learning”, they say.

A Korean Christian and three nationals have been accused of fraudulent conversion attempts while distributing food to people in need.

“We thought Covid-19 was going to minimize the effect of persecution, but it has been the opposite. Persecution has increased”, says the director of Open Doors Spain. The organisation releases its annual World Watch List.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction through an audio message. Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a state school in North West Nigeria.

In 1870, an American missionary founded the first Baptist church in Madrid. Swedish missionaries started work in the Mediterranean region. “We can only thank God for his faithfulness”, the Evangelical Baptist Union of Spain says.

A report of the Korea Future Initiative (KFI) presents well-documented violations in North Korea. Investigators conducted 117 interviews with survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators.

Violence keeps escalating despite the pleas of evangelical leaders who denounce lack of effort by the Nigerian government to free church members.

Mainline Protestant and Catholic churches in Pakistan have decided to petition courts against forcible conversion of underage girls.

A Pew Research analysis combines data of a dozen of trusted sources. It concludes that “most of the 56 countries with high or very high levels of government restrictions on religion are in the Asia-Pacific region or the Middle East-North Africa region”.

An Iranian Christian who fled his country continued to receive threats from his countrymen in Spain, where the authorities have not granted him asylum after 16 years. “I have confidence in God”, he says.

The agreement will be extended for 2 years. “It does not address all the open questions that still concern the church, but just the topic of episcopal appointments”, The Holy See admits.

Last July the EU announced the appointment but the position is still vacant. “Promoting freedom of religion is essential to address global challenges”, 49 MEPs say in a letter to the EU.

“She was apparently killed by the Islamist terrorist organization JNIM", Swiss authorities said in a statement. Beatrice Stöckli had already been abducted and released in 2012.

Hindu extremists falsely accuse a pastor and four other Christians of eating cow beef.

At the United Nations Human Rights Council, the World Evangelical Alliance denounced “arbitrary procedures” which send Christian asylum seekers back to countries where they could face persecution.

Most of them are members of Baptist and Pentecostal churches. They were fined for distributing literature on the street and for organising non-authorised religious gatherings.