The entire population of Taal village in Chin State was forced to flee after soldiers ransacked homes, killed animals and destroyed valuables during a series of raids in the largely Christian region.

A local pastor called for prayer as he reported, on 6 April, the arrival of a vast swarm of young desert locusts, estimated to cover an area of 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares), in north-eastern Uganda.

Five children were among the 14 Christians, shot dead in an Islamist extremist attack on a church in Komondjari Province, south-east Burkina Faso, during Sunday morning worship on December 1st..

A Christian woman brought a landmark case in the Russian Constitutional Court in St Petersburg on 8 October when she challenged a fine of 10,000 rubles (£122; $155; €140) imposed by the authorities for allowing her house to be used by her Protestant church for worship services.