These were the first such suicide bombings since June 2019 and came on the eve of the pope’s planned visit to the country on March 5-8, a visit that now is under serious question.

An attacker armed with a knife killed three people inside a church Thursday in the Mediterranean city of Nice, French authorities said, prompting the country to raise its security alert status to the highest level.

Advocates warned that the Azerbaijani offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh could represent only the beginning of a renewed, genocidal aggression against the Armenian people.

Although Catholics comprise a small percentage of the total population in Sahel, the church is respected by the population "regardless of their faith and is seen as a neutral, objective and nonpolitical actor across the region," said the CRS report, titled "Steps Towards Peace."

Nigerian bishops have asked Catholics in their country to pray with the intention that the killings in southern Kaduna state cease.

In its recent report, the U.S.-based International Committee on Nigeria called for U.S. intervention after a terrorist group executed five men abducted while providing assistance in northeastern Nigeria.