Two Iraqi Christians were kidnapped then later killed by Islamic fundamentalists in Mosul within the span of a few days, a news agency with connections to Iraq reported.
More than a week after the outbreak of violence in Orissa, the situation is getting worse with no sign of subsiding, reported a Christian ministry working in India. Religious violence between Hindus and Christians in this remote and poor state in eastern India has killed at least 16 people.
The head of a Chinese house church organization and his wife have been released by authorities after more than three weeks of detention.
Human Rights Watch, Christian Solidarity Network, Dalit Freedom Network and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty have appealed to foreign ministers in the European Union and the United States to immediately call for an end to the sectarian violence in India's Orissa state.