Christians faced increased hostilities in Sudan over the past few weeks, culminating in an attack on a Christian compound in Khartoum by a throng of Muslim extremists armed with clubs, iron rods, a bulldozer and fire.

Breaking down the compound wall with a bulldozer, the assailants set fire to the Gerief West Bible School and the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) building; they also damaged three other places of worship and other buildings in the same compound.

A group of Islamic radicals have been charged with planning to kidnap a French judge.

The head of France’s Central Directorate for Domestic Intelligence (DCRI), Bernard Squarcini, said on Saturday that those arrested the previous day were French nationals involved in “warlike training, linked to violent religious indoctrination”.

Early morning attacks in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state on Sunday left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed.

The attack on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church 2 was carried out by area Islamic extremists alongside members of the Boko Haram sect, with the church building and surrounding houses bombed.

Five Muslim men from Derby, UK, have gone on trial for allegedly handing out leaflets calling for gay people to be killed in the first ever prosecution under new legislation making such actions a hate crime.

They are accused of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Islamic extremists threw acid on a church leader on Christmas Eve shortly after a seven-day revival at his church, leaving him with severe burns that have blinded one eye and threaten sight in the other.

On Oct. 15, area Muslim leaders declared a fatwa against him demanding his death.

In yet another Muslim attack on free speech the offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo have been destroyed by a petrol bomb — a day after it named the Prophet Mohammed as its “editor-in-chief” for this week’s issue.

The fiercely anti-clerical magazine said the move, which included renaming the publication “Sharia Hebdo”, was intended to “celebrate” the victory of Islamist party Ennhada in Tunisia’s election.

One of the first women to be arrested for breaking France’s burka ban today announced that she was standing for President.

Her campaign will be bankrolled by a number of influential pro-Islam support groups and influential millionaires.

Muslim extremists have sent text messages to at least 10 church leaders in Khartoum saying they are planning to target Christian leaders, buildings and institutions.

Church leaders said they fear more persecution as they and their flocks become targets of local Islamists.

Muslim extremists with the alleged help of Nigerian army personnel killed 24 Christians this month in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, area sources said.

Plateau Gov. Jonah Jang called for immediate withdrawal of the Nigerian army because, he said, Muslims in the army have taken sides with Islamist assailants.

An Indonesian man wounded when Muslim hate criminals attacked members of his minority Islamic sect was sentenced Monday to six months in jail, more than some of the actual attackers who were caught on video.

It is part of a pattern of abuse against followers of the Ahmadiyya sect.

When Dani bin Misra was released from prison last week after serving just three months for smashing in the skull of a member of a Muslim sect, this conservative Indonesian town let out a triumphant cry. “He’s a hero!” Rasna bin Wildan said of the teenage killer.

A law has come into force in Belgium banning women from wearing the full Islamic veil in public.

As of Saturday, any woman wearing the face-covering burqa or niqab in public risks a fine of 137 euros ($197) or up to seven days in jail.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that communities should be able to prevent the construction of mosques in their neighborhoods.

Cain said his view doesn’t amount to religious discrimination because he says Muslims are trying to inject Shariah law into the U.S.

Enraged Muslims burned down several Christian-owned homes, surrounded a church and threatened to kill a priest last week in two unrelated incidents in Upper Egypt.

Salafis have made a series of attacks and threats against Coptic Christians since the fall of the Hosni Mubarak regime on Feb. 11.

As she lay on the ground after being shot and then slashed with a machete by Muslim extremists, Dune James Rike looked into her husband’s tear-filled eyes and asked, “Is this the end between us, so we shall not be together again?”

Pastor James Musa Rike told Compass he held the hands of his dying, 35-year-old wife and told her, “Hold on to your faith in Jesus, and we shall meet and never part again.”