Pope Benedict XVI set down strategy for his church in Africa on Wednesday, telling Cameroon’s bishops to protect the traditional values of the African family and to spare the poor from the impact of globalization.

Work crews finished renovating sites Monday and choirs practiced inside a soccer stadium where more than 100,000 faithful are expected for a Mass this week with Pope Benedict XVI.

Cameroon’s government is employing extrajudicial killings and torture to crush political opponents, and such violence may escalate as the global economic crisis deepens, an international rights group said Thursday.

Pope Benedict XVI will meet with Muslim representatives and women’s rights advocates when he travels to Cameroon and Angola in March on his first papal trip to Africa, the Vatican said Monday.

Government officials and witnesses say at least three dozen people are missing and feared dead after a weekend ferryboat accident off the coast of Cameroon.

Seven French and three African oil workers taken hostage from a tugboat off the coast of Cameroon last month were freed Tuesday.

France’s government says seven French citizens and three Africans who were taken hostage from a tugboat off the coast of Cameroon late last month have been freed.

A militia leader in Cameroon says one of the 10 mostly French hostages his group has been holding since last week was killed in a failed rescue attempt by security forces.

Gunmen in Cameroon on Saturday withdrew a threat to kill 10 mostly French hostages, but said they would hold them until their demands for talks with the West African nation’s government are met.

A Cameroon militia group took 10 mostly foreign oil workers hostage Friday off the West African nation’s coast, and threatened to kill the captives if demands for autonomy talks with the government are not met.