LAHORE, Pakistan (BP) – A Pakistani Christian couple acquitted of blasphemy after seven years in prison should get government protection upon their release, international religious liberty advocates urge.

WASHINGTON (BP) – Countries used COVID-19 as an excuse to persecute religious minorities and sometimes blamed certain religions for the pandemic itself, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in its 2021 Annual Report.

ZAMFARA, Nigeria (BP) – A surge in school kidnappings in northwestern Nigeria is blamed loosely on bandits rather than clearly defined Islamic terrorist groups, according to news reports, but puts Christians at greater risk of harm than Muslims.

EASTERN CONGO (BP) – Spiraling Islamic terrorism that has killed more than 100 people in a two-week span in the Democratic Republic of Congo is calling renewed attention to Christian persecution there.

WASHINGTON (BP) – The United States’ newly announced ban on Chinese goods produced by government-sponsored labor forced largely on an ethnic minority group gained the praise of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Chinese government’s repression of Uyghur Muslims is a foretaste of the world’s future if there is not a change, human rights advocates warned Aug. 21 in a Southern Baptist-sponsored panel discussion.

MIDDLE BELT, Nigeria (BP) -- Nearly 150 Christians have died in a campaign of violence by militant Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria's Middle Belt since April, including 33 Christians believed to have been killed Aug. 5-6 in Kaduna State.

GAZA CITY, Gaza (BP)--The wife of a Gaza Baptist minister who went to visit her family in Jordan eight months ago cannot return home because Israeli authorities will not issue a visa, according to a report from ASSIST News Service.

Missionary hostages Martin and Gracia Burnham, missionaries in the Philippines kidnapped by an Osama bin Laden-related terror group, as they appeared in footage aired in November on TV in the island nation.

      NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A year of captivity "has taken a toll" on the health of kidnapped missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, New Tribes Mission acknowledged in a May 14 statement issued in light of various news reports about the Burnhams' well-being.
      The New Tribes missionaries were kidnapped in the Philippines by an Osama bin Laden-related terrorist group on May 27, 2001.
      The Burnhams "have suffered from malnutrition sores on their feet and mouths, malaria and wounds," New Tribes Mission stated. "This ordeal has also taken an emotional toll on them and their families."

WASHINGTON (BP)--The considerable influence of American Christians can make a difference in the lives of persecuted believers in North Korea and Sudan, participants at a May 1 summit on the issue were told.