After months of demonstrations and prayer vigils over confiscated church land in Hanoi, the authorities have finally snapped and bulldozed an historic church building.

A prominent church leader hounded out of his Beijing home during the Olympics has been able to worship with his congregation for the first time in months.

The death toll continues to rise as extremists extend their anti-Christian rampage across 12 Indian states.

Two Iranian Christians facing possible execution for leaving Islam have been freed by the courts – but more than 40 other believers like them are behind bars.

Fears are growing for two Iranian Christians as Tehran moves closer to imposing a mandatory death penalty on anyone leaving Islam.

Hopes of reform in North Korea are probably premature, warned RI sources, following news that dictator Kim Jong-il may be seriously ill.

Members of a Christian organisation locked in a land row with a private firm in Jakarta are being attacked and threatened by officials sent in to mediate.

India's national government is threatening to impose emergency rule on two states unless they stop anti-Christian violence which has raged for six weeks.

Breaking news… India violence against Christians spreads to 12 states... 57 killed and 50,000 homeless in Orissa alone, according to All India Christian Council… March in London on Saturday to petition Gordon Brown and press the Indian government to stop the violence

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Christian human rights organisation, Release International, is celebrating 40 years of championing and supporting persecuted Christians around the globe, with presentations in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Their Voices Cry Out will take place at venues in London, Belfast and Glasgow in October and November.

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An 85-year-old Christian fighting for justice for his murdered wife has so far been thwarted by anti-Christian bias in Pakistan's legal system.

Hundreds of Christian students and staff forced to flee their college by violent protesters now have nowhere to go after being asked to leave the campsite where they took refuge.

Campaigners are demanding the immediate release of Beijing bookseller Shi Weihan whose health has deteriorated so badly in custody that he is now 'unrecognisable'.

At least 56 people have been killed and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes as the ‘worst ever riots against Christians’ rock the state of Orissa.

·        India – ‘Worst ever’ anti-Christian riots in Orissa

·        China – Jailed Christian bookseller’s health failing

·        Indonesia – Students driven from campus told to leave

·        Pakistan – 85-yr-old fights for justice over his murdered wife
 

A high-ranking inspector has stepped in to investigate the death of a young Christian after an RI partner refuted earlier police claims that he had committed suicide.

Hundreds of Christian theology students have been living in tents since a Muslim mob stormed their college in July armed with bamboo spears, acid and Molotov cocktails.

Islamist radicals in Kwara state have launched several attacks on Christians, accusing them of praying for the death of one of their spiritual leaders.

The Beijing Olympics may have won international praise but it's been a tough few weeks for China's Christians - and things could soon get tougher yet.

Government troops have attacked extremists in north-west Pakistan responsible for kidnapping a group of Christians – but churches now fear a backlash.

Hardline Islamic groups are wielding ever-increasing influence over Indonesia’s politics, according to a new report.

Beijing activist and house church leader Hua Huiqi has been evicted from his home amid rumours that officials want to keep him away from next month’s Olympic Games.

The body of a Christian teenager has been dragged out of a canal in Pakistan – he was allegedly tortured to death in an ‘honour killing’ for seeing a Muslim girl.

Local officials and an Islamist mob joined forces to try to pull down part of a church compound – three years after Christians were forced out.

The president of the Chinese House Church Alliance and his interpreter were arrested on their way to meet with a senior EU official in Beijing.

Taliban militants in Pakistan’s north-west have apologised for abducting 16 Christians – in what some see as a cynical ploy to prove they are fit to rule in the region.

Northern and southern politicians have taken joint decisive action to try to head off an escalation of violence along the north-south border.

The Vietnamese authorities are suspected of hiring thugs to harass Christian protestors calling for the return of land confiscated 50 years ago.

The release of several Taliban militants in North West Frontier Province has paved the way for Sharia law and the 'Talibanisation' of the region.

Simmering tensions between Muslims and Christians in Papua are threatening to erupt into violence, according to a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG).

The Eritrean authorities are rumoured to be planning to press formal charges of treason against several Christian pastors held without charge for the past four years.

Nine Christians in China's Henan province have been detained for helping people affected by the devastating Sichuan earthquake.

The disputed border town of Abyei has been the scene of fierce fighting between former southern rebels and the northern army.

The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has tabled a bill calling for more seats for non-Muslims in the Senate and in national and provincial assemblies.

Vietnamese officials have seized a Christian evangelist's property because his testimony as a former opium addict is winning scores of families for Christ.

A Chinese court will today begin proceedings against an Uyghur Christian who faces a possible death sentence for 'endangering national security'.

A Christian doctor is behind bars and his family is in hiding in Pakistan after a local Muslim accused him of insulting Islam.

Muslim leaders in Nigeria are calling for blasphemy laws which, Christians say, will legitimise attacks on their community.

A Christian clothes trader accused of blasphemy by his own relatives after he shared his faith with customers has been freed from jail.

There are signs that things are getting tougher for Christians in China in the run-up to the Olympic Games. A new report says China is clamping down on any potential dissent to try to portray a peaceful and harmonious image to the rest of the world.

Sudan is holding a national census to help determine how power and wealth is divided between north and south ahead of next year's elections.

Vietnamese evangelicals have broken their silence and made a public plea for global action on behalf of the suffering church in Vietnam.

Officials in a troubled corner of Pakistan have agreed to the introduction of Sharia law as part of a ceasefire deal with Islamist extremists.

A spate of recent arrests in Xinjiang suggests that China will not easily be cowed by international pressure to clean up its religious rights record before the Olympics.

The extent of anti-Christian feeling in Indonesia has been brought into sharp focus by a report documenting church closures.

Christians in Khartoum are battling to keep their only official cemetery in the city from the clutches of market stallholders and second-hand car salesmen.

The Chinese authorities have freed Xinjiang house church leader Zhou Heng after holding him for more than six months on suspicion of 'illegal business practices'.

Nigerian Christians are furious that their government appears to have signed up in secret to become a member of the Organisation of The Islamic Conference (OIC).

An Islamist terror network responsible for many crimes against Christians in Central Sulawesi may be resurfacing – via a publishing network.

Thousands of Christians brought the city of Gujranwala to a standstill with a noisy protest over an attack on a church.

Release International is increasingly concerned about 15 Hmong Christian families arrested in Laos, who could be repatriated to Vietnam.

Islamist radicals are making life increasingly difficult for churches and Christian organisations across Indonesia, forcing many to close.

Officials seized 11 teenagers at an 'illegal’ Bible study – as the Chinese authorities made elaborate efforts to prepare religious services for Olympic athletes in Beijing.

Northern Sudan has again been accused of provoking clashes with southerners to try to delay a decision on the north-south border demarcation.

Christians in Vietnam are being targeted as ‘agents of America’. They describe torture and near starvation as the authorities threaten to kill them slowly. Release International has completed a fact-finding visit and finds the Vietnam War is still rumbling on – with Christians now regarded as the enemy.

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Release International is deeply concerned for the safety of 15 Christian families who have been rounded up and arrested in the communist nation of Laos. A Release investigation team has just returned from Laos and found evidence of the severe persecution of Christians.

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A Christian has been executed by hanging in Pakistan. He is widely believed to be innocent and to have been made a scapegoat for a murder he did not commit. He only confessed to the crime after prolonged severe torture.

A Christian policeman is dead and two teenagers are recovering from serious injuries after Muslim pupils devised a violent plot to force Christians out of their high school.

The Karen people of eastern Burma say they will be wiped out by army troops unless the world comes to their rescue.

The recent arrests of ethnic Uyghur Christians have aroused suspicions that the Chinese authorities are waging a concerted campaign against them.

The gunman who shot dead a young Christian evangelist in Pakistan used his victim's mobile phone to tell his family he had been murdered.

A Christian aid worker sparked a major diplomatic incident when he was arrested in North Korea apparently because of 'his religious views'.

The director of a labour camp has apologised for wrongfully jailing a group of Christians freed in a humiliating U-turn for the Chinese authorities.

The authorities in Gansu province have arrested two of China's most highly respected house church leaders.

Extremists have shot dead a Christian in Punjab after apparently mistaking him for his brother who was accused of blasphemy 10 years ago.

The mothers of two schoolgirls beheaded in Poso have again shown forgiveness to their daughters' killers – as three extremists begin long jail sentences for their murder.

Mistrust between northern and southern partners in Sudan’s unity government appears to be deepening, amid border skirmishes and broken promises.

Three prominent church leaders have been sentenced to death on murder charges -- despite claims they are innocent and only confessed under torture.

Christians in eastern Nigeria have been tipped off that the local authorities may try to seize land that the church has bought for a mission school.

The relatives of three church leaders executed without their families' knowledge have expressed their grief and anger at being kept in the dark.

A new bylaw will require the people of West Sumatra to sit Koranic exams to graduate from school and even to get married -- regardless of their religion.

Taliban members in North Waziristan have warned of 'serious repercussions' for people engaging in 'un-Islamic activities'.

The Chinese authorities have arrested at least 12 pastors and house church leaders over the past month.

The families of nine house church leaders missing since August have just been told they have been sent to labour camps in Hubei.