A new U.S. government report says North Korea's denial of religious freedoms continues to be widespread and brutal.

A resident of Aliabad village in Azerbaijan, Zaur Balayev, detained May 20, 2007 under accusation of membership in a Christian Baptist organization, was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Balayev’s family members said he was arrested for religious convictions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Thursday slashed a U.S. religious report criticizing China's religious situation, saying "China is strongly resentful of and resolutely opposes the report which runs counter to the fundamental principles of international relations and openly interferes in China's internal affairs."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that The International Religious Freedom Report 2007, released by the U.S. State Department September 14, is prejudiced.

A U.S. State Department report said Friday that political violence in Iraq has significantly impaired religious freedom there. But the annual world-wide survey cited improvements in conditions for religious adherents in, among other places, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

Despite the U.S. military buildup in Iraq religious freedom has sharply deterioriated there over the past year due to the continuing insurgency and secular violence.

A nationwide survey of the religious beliefs and practices of American physicians has found that the least religious of all medical specialties is psychiatry. Among psychiatrists who have a religion, more than twice as many are Jewish and far fewer are Protestant or Catholic, the two most common religions among physicians overall.

Kazakhstan is a modern, secular state promoting ethnic and religious diversity and tolerance. VOA's Valer Gergely reports from Kazakhstan that Islam, Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Jewish and other religions peacefully coexist in the republic. VOA's Carol Pearson tells the story for producer Valer Gergely.

The U.S. Congressional Commission on International Religious Freedom says religious freedom is lagging in Turkey, Russia, Belarus, and several other countries.