Nigerian forces have launched their biggest offensive against Boko Haram since the Islamist group’s deadly insurgency began in 2009. President Goodluck Jonathan last week declared a state of emergency in the Northern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where the militants pose the greatest threat.

Kidnapped. Raped. Starved. Tortured. Jailed. These are typical experiences of many Eritrean Christians who flee persecution in their homeland only to suffer unimaginable horrors in their quest for freedom.

UK: Woolwich terror murder bears hallmarks of al-Qaeda teaching;
UK: Christianity in Britain declining 50% faster than thought;
USA: Islamic body to complain after two Minnesota women jailed for funding jihad;
USA: North Carolina passes bill to prohibit Islamic law;
Spain: New law bans “Christmas” and “Easter” in Asturias region;
UK: New generation of Islamic radical speakers target UK universities.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has criticised the State Department’s inaction regarding countries identified as “egregious religious freedom violator[s]” and called on President Obama to make a “clear, direct and specific” response.

The independent federal advisory body monitors religious freedom abuses around the world and each year produces a report...

A Christian father of three was killed and a Christian teenager left in a coma in the second of two church attacks in Egypt last week.

Sedky Sherif (36) died in the violence that broke out in the Dakhela district of Alexandria on 17 May.

Christians in the Central African Republic (CAR) are being targeted by Islamist militants who seized control of the country in March; they are being tied up, beaten and forced to hand over money to save their lives.

A pastor in CAR said that “a reign of terror” is being conducted against Christians by the Seleka rebels who took over the country in a bloody coup on 24 March.

India: Families driven out of their homes for leaving Hinduism to follow Christ;
Pakistan: Church building and other Christian property damaged in blast;
Turkmenistan: Christians fined for banned literature; told to read the Quran.

Barnabas Fund partners in Syria are reporting an urgent need for medicines as the sick struggle to get even the most basic drugs and hospitals in some places have the capacity to treat only the war-wounded.

Most pharmaceutical factories have been destroyed and medicine storehouses robbed by opposition fighters; the drugs are then sold abroad.

Barnabas Fund’s International Director, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, here shares first-hand accounts from Syrian Christians who he met last week in Lebanon.

I have just returned from Lebanon, where Barnabas Fund had brought together a range of Christians from different parts of Syria, each with their own heart-breaking story to tell about how the conflict...

UK: Fear of racism in analysis of Oxford grooming case betrays young girls;
US: Cheerleaders win right to display Bible banners;
Germany: Demand for government to make "Islam equal to Christianity";
US: German home school family loses asylum case;
US: Muslim books put in libraries nationwide.

A Hindu nationalist party, which supports extremist groups that attack and harass Christians, has lost control of Karnataka state, India, in a crushing election defeat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has been at the helm of the southern state since 2008 but saw its share of the vote slashed by 13.9% in the poll on 5 May.

A 24-year-old Christian teacher in Egypt detained over allegations that she defamed Islam during a school lesson has gone on hunger strike.

Demiana Ebeid Abdelnour, who teaches social science in Luxor, was arrested on 8 May after the parents of three children accused her of insulting Islam and Muhammad.

Saudi Arabia: Two men jailed over case of woman convert to Christianity;
Iraq: Convoy of governor’s advisor on Christian affairs hit by suicide bombing;
Indonesia: Christians protest against religious freedom award for president.

A Christian prisoner in Iran who is in a critical condition suffering internal bleeding has been denied proper medical attention.

Vahid Hakkani, who has been detained in Shiraz since his arrest in February 2012, has been told by prison doctors that he urgently needs surgery, but officials have failed to arrange his transfer to a hospital.

An extensive survey of Muslims conducted in 39 countries throughout the world has revealed a broad desire for the implementation of sharia law. Those questioned also expressed an extremely high level of support for the freedom of non-Muslims to practise their faith. This is granted by sharia to Christians and Jews, but only on condition that they submit to demeaning and discriminatory dhimmi regulations.

Barnabas Fund has received requests for prayer and practical help from Christian leaders in Bangladesh as the Church is endangered by a violent uprising by Islamists who are demanding that the country become an Islamic state.

Christian homes have been torched and churches threatened as increasingly volatile protests have rocked the country.

US: Concern grows over pressure to restrict religious freedom in the military;
US: City apologises to arrested evangelists;
Sweden: Court slashes sentence in “honour-killing” case;
UK: Birmingham "has become a byword for Islamic extremist terror";
Ireland: Muslim radical causes controversy after refusing to condemn Boston bombers.

Azerbaijan: Christians win appeal against heavy fines for unregistered religious activity;
Sudan: Christian workers interrogated, threatened with being buried alive ;
Egypt: Church attacked over alleged conversion of Muslim woman to Christianity

At least five people were killed and around 60 wounded in the bombing of a new church in Tanzania during a service to mark its official opening.

An explosive device was thrown into the church compound in Olasti, a predominantly Christian suburb of Arusha, on Sunday (5 May).

A pastor in Indonesia is facing assault charges after his beleaguered church was attacked by a mob of Muslim extremists; a human rights group has supported him.

Police on 20 March named the Rev. Palti Panjaitan as a suspect in an assault case relating to an incident that took place when the congregation of his church in Bekasi, West Java, was attacked during a meeting.

Barnabas Fund is privileged to support a flourishing Christian school in Beit Jala, Bethlehem, which is so popular that every year more children want to attend.

St Aphrem’s is a remarkable work of God’s grace: an unashamedly Christian school in an area with a Muslim majority where Islamism is growing steadily.

As violent Islamism poses a growing threat to post-Arab Spring Libya, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, reflects on its growing power and menacing implications for Christians in North Africa and beyond.

Reports of raids on church services in Kazakhstan, restrictions on meetings and on sharing one’s faith, and censorship of religious literature contradict the president’s claim that the country has religious freedom.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev claimed on 17 April that “Kazakhstan is an example to the world of equal rights and freedoms for all citizens”...

UK: Terror gang jailed for plotting suicide bombings in Birmingham;
US Administration accused of banning references to Islamic extremism;
Belgium: New legislation removes Christianity from public life;
US: Islamic radical threatens Virginian high school;
UK: Trio jailed for preparing acts of terrorism.

Morocco – Fatwa calls for the death penalty for those who leave Islam;
Somalia – Christian widow whose husband was killed for his faith shot dead;
Iraq – Kurdish pastor released after nearly two years in prison.

A Sudanese government minister has announced that no new licences will be granted for church buildings, in the latest of a series of moves that have put pressure on the vulnerable Christian minority.

Al-Fatih Taj El-sir, the government minister who oversees religious affairs, explained the decision by saying that no new church buildings are needed...

Barnabas Fund is continuing to support impoverished and helpless Egyptian Christians with essential supplies as their country’s political crisis continues unabated.

For many years our dedicated partners on the ground have been supplying our disadvantaged brothers and sisters with food and other basics.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, reflects on the prospects for Syrian Christians as their country continues to be torn apart by civil war.

As Syria’s Christians reel under ever-increasing pressure from Islamist militants, the kidnapping of two senior church leaders has vividly underlined their perilous position. Their future, within Syria or even in neighbouring countries, appears increasingly bleak.

Boston bomber reveals motive "to defend Islam from attack";
Authorities investigate root of Boston bombers’ radicalisation;
Local mosque has historical link to extremism;
Canada: Two “religiously strict” men behind foiled al-Qaeda-supported plot to derail train;
Canada: Fourth high school graduate named in terrorism investigation;
UK may withdraw from European rights convention over Abu Qatada.