Africa

A weekend of violence left 20 dead, seven of whom were Christians, after three artillery shells crashed into a Central African Republic church.

Amid the horrors of war and persecution in the Middle East and elsewhere, swelling ranks of displaced Christians are crying out for help even while the media spotlight often shines elsewhere.

A three-month-old rebel uprising in the Central African Republic swept into the country's capital Sunday, ousting the president and leaving ransacked Christian homes and churches in its wake.

French and Mali army troops have made key gains against Islamic rebels in northern Mali in recent days.

Fueled with hefty loads of cash gained by numerous ransoms throughout the Sahara and virtually unlimited weaponry thanks to Gadhafi's untouched storehouses of machine guns, rockets and anti-aircraft systems, Mali’s Islamists have launched a southward push on a mission to turn the entire country into a stronghold of sharia law and a haven for extremists.

Overall, persecution of Christians worldwide continues to increase. It is estimated that 100 million Christians are actively being persecuted. The level of persecution may vary from one country to another, but those persecuted suffer from interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ.

The persecution of Christians "vastly rose" in 2012 as radical Islamists consolidated power in Africa, according to Open Doors, a Christian missionary organization that publishes an annual list of offending nations.

As anger over internet video "Innocence of the Muslims" reverberates from Africa to Asia, it can be difficult to distinguish between video-inspired backlash against Christians and the longer-running pattern of pressure targeted at Christians that has existed long before the film clip hit YouTube.

For more than a month, residents in Niger have suffered deadly flooding, and officials don't expect much relief in coming days.