Attacks on the Christian minority in the remote Kandhamal area of India's Orissa state raises questions about the country's claim to be a secular state, says a new book.

Some Christians are crying 'persecution' when conflicts over belief arise in public life, says Jonathan Bartley. The way to halt this juggernaut of paranoia is to bring a lot more mediatory light, and far less antagonistic heat to the situations involved.

Backers of Lydia Playfoot, the schoolgirl who unsuccessfully asked the High Court to be allowed to wear a silver ‘chastity ring’ to a school where it broke the uniform policy, have still not decided whether to go to the European Court.