State Dept Report: Christian Minorities Under Extremist Attacks Around the World

The United States released a bleak report into the state of religious freedom around the world Wednesday, decrying jihadist attacks on Middle East minorities and a rise in European anti-Semitism.

In its annual survey of religious discrimination, the State Department said that, while many governments had worked harder to end abuses, extremist non-state actors like the Islamic State group are on the rise.

And discrimination is not limited to Washington's foes and rivals like Iran and China but is "egregious" in close allies like Saudi Arabia and worrisome even in Western democracies like France and Germany.

"No nation can fulfil its potential if its people are denied the right to practice, to hold, to modify, to openly profess their innermost beliefs," Secretary of State John Kerry said as the report was unveiled.

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