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12/09/2018

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22/05/2018

Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night, May 22, came from a goal down to beat Nigeria 3-2 in a friendly match

- Spanish striker Fernando Torres scored against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in his last game for the Europa League champions in Uyo

Nigeria will face DR Congo in another friendly match which will be played in Port Harcourt on Monday, May 28

Spanish and current Europa League champions Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, May 22, defeated the Super Eagles of Nigeria 3-2 in a friendly encounter played in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.

But the Spanish side had to come back from a goal down against Nigeria in front of their faithfuls thanks to the second half superb goal scored by Fernando Torres.

Super Eagles started the match impressively as Samad Kadiri had a good chance to score after a glorious pass from Musa Muhamed, but he was unable to beat Atletico goalie Oblack.

in the 8th minute, Atletico Madrid got their own chance when Kevin Gameiro's shot missed the target.

Nigeria scored their goal in the 31st minute through a superb shot from Kelechi Nwakali as Oblack had no answer for the strike.

But Atletico Madrid responded almost immediately through Angel Correa who was wonderfully set up by Thomas Partey as the first ended 1-1.

Atletico Madrid introduced Fernando Torres in the second half, and the Spaniard almost scored with a superb shot which was blocked by Nigerian goalie Olufemi Thomas.

Torres who was playing his last game for Atletico Madrid eventually scored for his side in the 64th minute to give the Spanish side the lead in Uyo.

But Nigerian striker Usman Mohammed restored parity for the Super Eagles when he dribbled all Atletico defenders to score an excellent goal which received standing ovation from fans.

Borja Garces who came on in the second half broke the hearts of the Super Eagles fans when he scored the winner for Atletico Madrid as the match ended 3-2 in favor of the Europa League champions.

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Earlier, NAIJ.com had reported how Spanish giants Atletico Madrid announced a 20-man squad that faced the Super Eagles of Nigeria in a friendly match that was played in Uyo on Tuesday, May 22.

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06/05/2018

Increasing Memorial Partakers
Watchtower long said selection of the 144,000 anointed class closed in 1935. Since then, the number of anointed Jehovah's Witnesses began decreasing as they passed away. In 2007, it was admitted there is no Scriptural basis for the doctrine of 1935, after which memorial partakers have been on the increase.
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The doctrine regarding the 144,000 is vitally important for Jehovah's Witnesses, as this small figure represents the total number of humans that will be allowed into heaven as the ruling class. Those of the 144,000 alive on earth today are referred to as the Remnant. [1] From these are chosen the Governing Body that lead Jehovah's Witnesses during these "Last Days."
The Remnant are the only ones that are allowed to partake of the bread and wine at the annual memorial of Jesus' death, [2] despite this being in flagrant disregard of Jesus, who said everlasting life is contingent on partaking of the emblems in remembrance of him.
John 6:53-57 "Accordingly Jesus said to them: "Most truly I say to YOU,
Unless YOU eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, YOU have no life in yourselves . He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day; for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in union with me, and I in union with him. Just as the living Father sent me forth and I live because of the Father, he also that feeds on me, even that one will live because of me."
It was taught that the full number of the 144,000 had been chosen by 1935.
"But it seems that in the mid-1930's, the full number of the 144,000 was basically completed." Watchtower 1996 Aug 15 p.31
After this doctrine was introduced by the Watchtower leaders in the 1930's, the number of Jehovah's Witnesses claiming to be of the anointed started to decline.
The decreasing number of the remnant was used as proof that Armageddon is about

23/04/2017

- Two scientists have launched a project aimed at finding a living relative of Jesus Christ
- They are using the latest technology to extract the genetic makeup of John the Baptist, Christ's cousin
- Their investigation is covered in a History Channel documentary
Two scientists have launched an ambitious and unprecedented project aimed at finding a living relative of Jesus Christ.
George Busby, an Oxford University geneticist, and Pastor Joe Basile, a biblical scholar, have travelled to Israel and the Black Sea in their quest.
They are reportedly using the latest technology to extract the genetic makeup of John the Baptist, who is believed to be Christ's cousin.
George Busby is part of the team trying to find Jesus Christ's DNA
The two scientists will extract the genetic makeup from several artifacts, such as the Shroud of Turin, which is said to have been used to wrap the body of Jesus, and a set of bones believed to belong to John the Baptist.
In an article explaining their mission, Busby said: “ If we find other relics purported to be from John the Baptist, or a close relative of Jesus, then we could use genetics to compare the two to see if they are likely to have come from the same or related people."
READ ALSO : Historians consider possibility that Jesus had a brother named James
The Shroud of Turin is said to have been used to wrap the body of Jesus
However, Busby said they are under no illusions of immediate success in their mission because they expect significant challenges, including the degradation of DNA over time.
READ ALSO : W**d nuns: Check out sisterhood that makes healing ointments from cannabis plants (photos)
Their investigation is being covered in a documentary on the History Channel and has reportedly drawn interest from religious faithfuls.
The Shroud of Turin carries an imprint some believe is the face of Jesus

19/04/2017

- A man of God has shocked many after he burned thousands of Bibles on Easter Monday
- The pastor claimed the Bibles were 'misleading' his congregation as they have been heavily edited
NAIJ.com gathered that Pastor Aloysius Bugingo, of the House of Prayer ministries, Kampala, Uganda, set tongues wagging after he ordered members of his congregation to gather thousands of Bibles.
Bugingo set the Bibles on fire after claiming that the various versions of the Bible have been heavily edited, and were 'misleading' his congregation.
His actions were heavily condemned by fellow Christians, some even claim he might face punishment from God.
READ ALSO: Man attacked by flying snake while enjoying his motorbike ride (photo)
Pastor Bugingo.
READ ALSO: This Kenyan man is dating 7 women and he's about to get caught
The preacher's church is attended mostly by Makerere University students and the congregation boasts of a total number of about 6,000 people.
Apart from burning the King James Version, the pastor who also owns Salt FM and TV station, set other versions including the New Testament and the Good News Bible on fire, after claiming to have omitted some verses.
READ ALSO: I met with Jesus Christ and his disciples in Dubai bar - Kenyan music star reveals (photos)
Thousand of Bibles go up in flames after Bugingo set them on fire.
Some of the lines that have been tampered with in the translations according to Pastor Bugingo, are those which talk about fasting and the Lent period.
He also claimed the King James Bible version contained the word 'Holy Ghost' more times than it did the word 'Holy Spirit'.
READ ALSO: Kenyan man allegedly speaks from the grave two weeks after burial
See the picture of the Bibles before they were set on fire:
Some of the Bible versions that were burned included the King James Bible, Good News Bible and New Testament translation.
Na wa o!

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16/04/2017

Afghanistan's strategic landscape is changing as regional powers forge links with the Taliban and vie to outdo each other in what's being seen as a new "Great Game".
Fifteen years after the US-led intervention in Afghanistan, competition for influence - reminiscent of that rivalry between the Russian and British empires in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, and that during the Cold War in the 1980s - is intensifying, complicating an already precarious security situation.
Suspicion and mistrust remain the biggest obstacle to stability in strategically-located Afghanistan, which has the potential to destabilise the wider region.
Pakistan, considered the main supporter of the Afghan Taliban, has been accused of playing a double game. But Afghan and Western officials as well as Taliban sources have also spoken about the Taliban's clandestine links with Iran for the past few years.
And recently it emerged that Russia's ties with the Taliban were warming too.
In December the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Nicholson, criticised Russia and Iran for establishing links with the militants, which both countries have confirmed.
The US has also pursued contacts with the Taliban in recent years but those efforts have not brought peace. Several regional powers, most notably Russia and Iran, criticise the US and its allies for "failing" in achieving its original objectives of eliminating violent extremism and drugs in Afghanistan.
Three major factors have contributed to the shifting of regional alliances:
the emergence of so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan;
changes in the approach of the new Afghan government;
and tensions between the US and regional players such as Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan.
Fears over Islamic State
The emergence of IS in Afghanistan - the group announced the creation of its Khorasan Province branch in January 2015 - provided Russia and Iran with the opportunity to make "contacts" with the Taliban.
The US's decreasing military role in Afghanistan and a resurgent Taliban had contributed to creating a sense in regional capitals that Afghanistan's fate was up for grabs. The political infighting in the central government in Kabul also raised concerns about political stability both inside and outside the country.
Over the past two years, alarm in Russia and former Soviet Central Asian republics grew as militancy spread to northern Afghan provinces close to their borders as well as to China's Xinjiang region.
Conspiracy theories in Russia, Iran and China paint IS as an American or Western creation aimed at destabilising their countries.
The emergence of IS posed a serious challenge to the supremacy of the Taliban but also encouraged Iran, China and Russia, who were fearful of IS expansion, to review their policies and open dialogue with the Taliban.
Russia's Taliban 'channels'
Softening its approach towards the Taliban is a dramatic and unexpected shift for Russia.
Moscow has for years opposed the Taliban, calling them terrorists, and supported the anti-Taliban "Northern Alliance" in the Afghan civil war of the 1990s.
But faced with a common enemy in the shape of IS, Russia has changed its mind.
In December 2015, a senior Russian diplomat declared that "the Taliban interest objectively coincides with ours" in the fight against IS and that his country and the Taliban "have channels for exchanging information".
Taliban sources also confirmed that the group's representatives met Russians inside Russia and "other" countries several times over the past two years.
But Moscow's current assertiveness in Afghanistan can also be seen as a tactic to put pressure on the US and to enhance its role and regional influence.
Taliban contacts with Russia and Iran might also help Pakistan to distribute and dilute the international pressure it is under for hosting the Afghan Taliban leadership.
Iran and the Taliban make up
Shared animosity towards IS has also brought the Sunni Taliban closer to their historic nemesis, Iran, a Shia powerhouse, whose clerical regime had previously viewed the Afghan Taliban as a major threat.
Like Russia, Iran supported the anti-Taliban groups in the 1990s. Tehran also co-operated with the US-led international coalition to topple the Taliban regime in late 2001. But, at the same time, Taliban sources say Iran sent them a message that it was willing to support them against the US.
When the Taliban insurgency gained momentum in Afghanistan, Iran publically supported the US-backed Afghan government but reportedly kept a link to the Taliban alive. Since the emergence of IS (which considers Shia to be infidels), the Tehran-Taliban relationship has deepened.
A delegation from the Afghan Taliban's political office in Qatar visited Iran in mid-May 2015 where the two sides discussed, among other things, ways to counter IS in Afghanistan.
The Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was reportedly on his way back from Iran when he was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan's Balochistan province in May 2016.
Afghanistan's 'imbalanced' foreign policy
The foreign policy of the Afghan government established in September 2014 has also altered political calculations.
Hawks in Russia, Iran and China consider President Ashraf Ghani's government with suspicion and see it as too weak to deal with the multiple security challenges it faces.
They also view Mr Ghani as too close to the US compared with his predecessor, Hamid Karzai.
And some of Mr Ghani's decisions have raised eyebrows in regional capitals.
Soon after taking office, he said that improving relations with Pakistan was a top priority. While ignoring India, Pakistan's arch-rival but Afghanistan's traditional ally, the new president made several positive gestures to appease Islamabad. But that rapprochement ended within a year and Kabul and Islamabad reverted to hurling accusations at each other.
Mr Ghani then revived Afghanistan's close relationship with India and on a few occasions seemed to be taunting Pakistan while speaking in India.
His government also pledged support for the Saudi-led military coalition against Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen. That gesture was not received well in Tehran.
These rivalries underline the nature and scale of possible troubles ahead.
The Taliban as Trojan horse?
The Afghan Taliban had been largely dependent on their support base in Pakistan, a country where their leadership is allegedly living. Fears are now growing in Afghanistan that the Taliban are being used as a Trojan horse by state actors in three main ways:
to put pressure on the Afghan government and its US/Nato allies;
to increase the influence of individual countries;
and to outdo one another in a regional competition.
The Taliban see their expanding regional portfolio and diplomatic push as evidence of their "legitimate struggle" - in some ways more important for them than material assistance.
The price the Taliban ask has generally been for these countries to help them rid Afghanistan of foreign forces. In return the Taliban offer the following assurances:
not to allow IS to establish a base in Afghanistan;
to prevent foreign militants from using Afghanistan against these states;
to keep their war focused on Afghanistan.
So where will a new 'Great Game' lead?
Major regional players seem to have realised that they cannot rely on the US alone to sort out Afghanistan and stabilise the wider region. They are keen to make themselves much more relevant and are looking to play a more assertive role. They also insist that their "contacts" with the Taliban are aimed at promoting regional security.
Afghanistan has been the scene of foreign interventions for a long time. The British and Russian Empires jockeyed for control during the 19th and early 20th Centuries. In the 1980s the US-led Western alliance helped Pakistan provide weapons and funding to Afghan mujahideen fighting to end Soviet occupation.
Recent developments show the extent of a new "Great Game" taking shape.
And once again Afghan civilians are caught in the crossfire.
The past few decades have shown that no country has the means to impose its will in Afghanistan on its own, but many actors have created disorder.
Because a big part of the chaos in Afghanistan is rooted in the wider region, the solution needs co-operation and a wider consensus. One positive outcome of the shifting regional alliances might be a more inclusive approach towards stabilising Afghanistan and its neighbourhood.
Many Afghans are hopeful that Russian leader Vladimir Putin and incoming US President Donald Trump will improve bilateral relations, with a positive impact on the situation in Afghanistan.
For many decades during its recent past, when it was left alone, Afghanistan was one of the most peaceful and stable countries. History shows that what Afghanistan needs is less foreign interference, not more of it.

16/04/2017

A US military strike with a weapon known as the "mother of all bombs", or MOAB, killed 36 Islamic State (IS) group militants and destroyed their base, the Afghan defence ministry says.
The most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever used by the US in combat was dropped on IS tunnels in Nangarhar province.
No civilians were affected by the explosion, the ministry said.
The US military said the bomb was used purely on tactical grounds, "the right weapon against the right target".
A statement on the IS-supporting Amaq news agency denied there were any IS casualties in the bomb strike.
Read more:
How powerful is 'mother of all bombs'?
What will Trump do about Afghanistan?
How successful has IS been in Afghanistan?
Chief Executive of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah confirmed that the attack had been carried out in co-ordination with the government and that "great care had been taken to avoid civilian harm".
In a press briefing on Friday, Gen John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said: "We have US forces at the site and we see no evidence of civilian casualties nor have there been reports."
The Afghan defence ministry said the bomb struck a village area in the Momand valley where IS fighters were using a 300m-long network of caves.
It said the 21,600lb (9,800kg) bomb also destroyed a large stash of weapons.
Presidential spokesman Shah Hussain Murtazawi told the BBC that IS commander Siddiq Yar was among those killed. Mr Murtazawi said the IS fighters in the tunnels had "come from Pakistan and were persecuting people in the local area".
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb was dropped by plane in Achin district on Thursday evening local time, the Pentagon said.
More than 9m (30 ft) in length, it was first tested in 2003 but had not been deployed in combat before.
Gen Nicholson said it was "the right time to use the GBU-43 tactically".
He added: "Let me be clear - we will not relent in our mission to destroy [IS in Afghanistan]... There will be no sanctuary for terrorists in Afghanistan."
Achin district governor Ismail Shinwary told the BBC that Afghan special forces, with the help of American air support, had begun anti-IS operations in the area 13 days ago.
He said IS targets had been bombed regularly but "last night's bombarding was very powerful... the biggest I have ever seen".
Nangarhar Provincial Governor Gulab Mangal said IS fighters had used the complex to "kill people and hold important meetings".
Massive blast area - Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence correspondent
The clue is in the ungainly name - the MOAB or GBU-43/B massive ordnance air blast is the US military's most destructive conventional (that is non-nuclear) bomb.
It is a huge weapon and is GPS-guided. It was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft - the US Special Forces variant of the Hercules transport. The weapon is carried on a special cradle inside the aircraft from which it is extracted by a parachute.
Its principal effect is a massive blast over a huge area. It is a larger version of weapons used during the Vietnam War.
The Trump administration's policy towards Afghanistan remains under consideration but the use of this weapon sends a powerful signal that IS is top of the administration's target list wherever its offshoots may be found.
A member of an anti-IS group in the area who gave his name only as Mohammad told the BBC he was at a checkpoint 1km from the bomb strike.
He said: "We were eating dinner when we heard a big explosion, [I] came out of my room and saw a mountain of fire... the area was full of light with the fire of the bomb."
He said all civilians had left the area since the start of the anti-IS operation.
President Donald Trump called the strike "another successful job".
The BBC's Jill McGivering says it remains unclear what President Trump's Afghan strategy will be - he has talked in the past about the need for the US to get out of nation-building and may be keen to extricate himself from this long-running and expensive conflict.
But, she says, he has also expressed determination to stop the spread of IS.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai vehemently condemned the attack, saying on Twitter it was "not the war on terror but the inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country as testing ground for new and dangerous weapons".
Syria error
IS announced the establishment of its Khorasan branch - an old name for Afghanistan and surrounding areas - in January 2015. It was the first time that IS had officially spread outside the Arab world.
It was the first major militant group to directly challenge the Afghan Taliban's dominance over the local insurgency.
However, experts say it has struggled to build a wide political base and the indigenous support it expected. It has steadily lost territory and fighters to US air strikes and an assault by Afghan forces on the ground.
Estimates about IS's numerical strength inside Afghanistan vary, ranging from several hundred to a few thousand fighters. US forces say their number has been cut in half since early 2016 due to military operations.
The MOAB strike followed last week's death of a US special forces soldier fighting IS in Nangarhar .
The news also came hours after the Pentagon admitted an air strike in Syria mistakenly killed 18 rebels.
It said a partnered force had mistakenly identified the target location as an IS position, but the strike on 11 April had killed rebels from the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are backed by Washington.

16/04/2017

The UK has been bombing so-called Islamic State targets in Iraq since 2014 and in Syria since the year after.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) does not release statistics on the number of bombs dropped, but does release weekly
updates of operations in the region.
BBC analysis shows UK forces have dropped bombs on 69 of the 99 days of 2017 to 9 April.
In that time, at least 216 bombs and missiles have been dropped by the Royal Air Force.
The total number is likely to be higher as MoD updates sometimes do not specify the number of bombs or missiles used in a strike.
Where the number was not known, the BBC presumed one bomb was dropped.
The most commonly used weapon is the Paveway IV precision guided bomb. At least 129 have been used against IS targets by the RAF this year.
Through Operation Shader, the RAF is supporting Iraqi ground forces as part of a US-led international coalition.
The current focus of the battle against IS, which the MoD calls Daesh, has been for control of Mosul. It has been held by IS militants since 2014 and is the jihadist group's last major urban stronghold in Iraq.
An MoD update from 6 April details a strike against a "Daesh motor team" in north-western Mosul, where a Brimstone missile was used to destroy the target.
Islamic State and the crisis in Iraq and Syria in maps
Iraqi security forces hold defensive line in Mosul
The RAF flight then tracked a truck "carrying a terrorist team who had been planting b***y traps" before scoring another "direct hit" on the moving vehicle.
Meanwhile in Syria, RAF Typhoons have been supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The RAF in action
The Ministry of Defence published footage on 18 March of RAF Tornados destroying a building in Syria.
At the time, the MoD said: "A Daesh headquarters was identified at a small building five miles east of Raqqa, this was destroyed by a direct hit from a Paveway IV released by a Tornado flight."
This strike came shortly after the US sent 400 Marines to Syria to support allied local forces in their assault on the IS stronghold of Raqqa.
Weaponry
The Paveway IV is a precision laser-guided bomb known for its accuracy and relatively low cost, with each costing £22,000
Dual-mode Brimstone missiles - which cost more than £100,000 - are 1.8m long and are rocket-propelled. They are often used against moving vehicles and multiple targets
The Hellfire is an air-to-ground missile carried by unmanned aircraft and used in precision strikes
Exact numbers of casualties from the conflict with IS are not available. The RAF says it takes all steps to minimise civilian casualties.
The UK parliament backed British participation in air strikes against IS in Iraq back in September 2014.
Just over a year later in 2015, MPs
authorised air strikes against IS in Syria.
The UK has conducted more than 1,200 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since it became involved - more than any other coalition country bar the United States.
In 2016 alone, the US dropped 12,192 bombs in Syria and 12,095 in Iraq, according to the American think tank Council on Foreign Relations.
The UK is part of the Global Coalition, a body of 68 partners from across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas which has committed to defeating IS using military action among other tactics.

16/04/2017

Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has announced a three-month state of emergency after attacks on two Coptic churches that left at least 44 dead.
The measure allows authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people's homes. It needs to be approved by parliament before it is implemented.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the blasts in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday.
The group has targeted Copts in Egypt recently and warns of more attacks.
Mr Sisi made a defiant speech at the presidential palace after a meeting of the national defence council to discuss the explosions.
He warned that the war against the jihadists would be "long and painful", and said that the state of emergency would come into force after all "legal and constitution steps" were taken. The majority in parliament backs Mr Sisi.
Egyptian Copt: 'I feel so scared'
The attacks in pictures
Watch: Copts explained in one minute
The president had earlier ordered the deployment of the military across the country to protect "vital and important infrastructure".
The move by Mr Sisi is likely to raise concerns among human rights activists, observers say. The president, a former army chief, has been criticised by local and international groups for severe restrictions on civil and political rights in Egypt.
Human Rights Watch says tens of thousands of people have been arrested in a crackdown on dissent, and that security forces have committed flagrant abuses, including torture, enforced disappearances and likely extrajudicial executions.
State of emergency measures include:
Further restrictions on freedom of movement and gatherings
Monitoring of all forms of communication
Entitles president to confiscate or shut down media outlets
Allows any property to be placed under control of security forces
Deployment of security forces to enforce measures
Arrest of anyone suspected of violating state of emergency
The attacks coincided with one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, marking the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.
IS said that two su***de bombers carried out the blasts. One targeted St George's Coptic church in the northern city of Tanta, where 27 people were killed, the health ministry said.
Hours later, police stopped the bomber from entering the St Mark's Coptic church in Alexandria, also in the north. He detonated his explosives outside, leaving 17 dead, including several police officers.
"Crusaders and their apostate allies should know the bill between us and them is very big and they will pay it with rivers of blood from their children, god willing. Wait for us, for we will wait for you," the jihadist group said in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency.
Copts in Egypt: Recent developments
December 2016: 25 people died when a bomb exploded at the Coptic cathedral in Cairo during a service. IS said it was behind the attack
February 2016: A court sentenced
three Christian teenagers to five years in prison for insulting Islam. They had appeared in a video, apparently mocking Muslim prayers, but claimed they had been mocking IS following a number of beheadings
April 2013: Two people were killed outside St Mark's cathedral in Cairo when people mourning the death of four Coptic Christians killed in religious violence clashed with local residents
The blasts came weeks before an expected visit by Pope Francis intended to show support for the country's Christians, who make up about 10% of Egypt's population and have long complained of being vulnerable and marginalised.
This sense of precariousness has only increased in recent years, with the rise of violent jihadism in parts of Egypt, the BBC's Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says.
The community's trust in the state's ability and willingness to protect them will now be even more deeply shaken after the attacks, our correspondent adds.
What is the Coptic Christian faith?
The Coptic Orthodox Church is the main Christian Church in Egypt. While most Copts live in Egypt, the Church has about a million members outside the country.
Copts believe that their Church dates back to around 50 AD, when the Apostle Mark is said to have visited Egypt. The head of the Church is called the Pope and is considered to be the successor of St Mark.
This makes it one of the earliest Christian groups outside the Holy Land.
The Church separated from other Christian denominations at the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) in a dispute over the human and divine nature of Jesus Christ.
The early Church suffered persecution under the Roman Empire, and there were intermittent persecutions after Egypt became a Muslim country. Many believe that continues to this day.