Church dedicated to Christians martyred in Libya

EGYPT: Three years after Islamic State (ISIS) militants beheaded 21 Christians on a beach in Libya, a new church has been dedicated to them in the Egyptian village of Al-Aour, home to 13 of the men who went to Libya for work. The opening of the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland is also significant because the state, which funded the church’s construction, continues to restrict permits for new and existing churches to operate.

CHINA: With its National People’s Congress set to open Monday, China’s Communist Party already has made clear it will scrap the two-term limit for its president and vice president. The news that President Xi Jinping may rule for life was met with worry and ridicule but also with stock bounces for firms with “emperor” in their names—all paving the way for Xi to become the strongest Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

PAKISTAN: Asma Jahangir was a lion-hearted champion for human rights. She founded Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission, ran an all-woman law firm in Lahore, and slept on the floor with books for a pillow to defend religious minorities, including Christians falsely accused of blasphemy. She died Feb. 11.

NIGERIA: In a Boko Haram attack in northern Nigeria’s Yobe state, at least two girls were killed and a number are still missing—Muslims and Christians—from a state-run girls school in Dapchi.

CAMEROON: Boko Haram insurgents continue to launch attacks across Nigeria’s northeastern border, this time targeting two villages (watch the aftermath here) in northern Cameroon and setting fire to 100 huts, a Catholic church, and school.

SPACE: You can track Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster in space, currently about 4.3 million miles from Earth on its way to Mars.

CORRECTION: I stated incorrectly in Wednesday’s Globe Trot that human rights lawyer Li Baiguang was in custody when he died in China; he was not, but has been detained before and may have been questioned by authorities before he mysteriously became ill.

CLARIFICATION: I also noted on Wednesday a spat in Jerusalem between church and state over taxation, but it involved church-owned properties not used for worship. And President Benjamin Netanyahu personally intervened to halt the tax measure after church leaders closed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in protest.

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