Author: Staff Writer

Source: DAWN

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.dawn.com/2008/06/17/int7.htm

There is a growing risk of conflict between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia’s Papua, partly fuelled by migration and a growth in fundamentalism, International Crisis Group said in a report on Monday.

Twice last year in Papua, two provinces on the western half of New Guinea island, communal tensions almost erupted...

Author: Mike Thomas

Source: The Chicago Sun-Times

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/religion/1007410,CST-NWS-servite16.article

In early May, a monster cyclone ripped apart the southeast Asian country of Myanmar (formerly Burma), killing tens of thousands and mangling the landscape.

International relief efforts were immediately stalled by the country's ruling military junta, and several factors stemmed the flow of...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Australian

Wire Service: AFP

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23866917-2703,00.html

Donald Brenner, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, ruled yesterday that child welfare authorities were right to briefly seize the couple's four surviving children so they could receive doctor-recommended blood transfusions that their parents had...

Author: Amy Farnsworth

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0614/p15s01-alar.html

As the chiming of bells rang through Harvard University's campus among a field of caps and gowns last week, it was the final time they would be heard – the end of an era for the university, but also a new beginning.

For the past 78 years, the 18 bells have hung high above Harvard's buildings, chiming on Sunday afternoons...

Author: Murray Campbell

Source: The Globe and Mail

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/mpps-keep-christian-prayer-add-new-ones/article17987484/...

Author: Michelle Vu

Source: Christian Post

http://au.christiantoday.com/article/report-china-funding-campaign-to-eliminate-house-churches/3934.htm

A new report released on Sunday, exactly two months ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games, details the current Chinese Government’s crackdown on unregistered Christians, including the funding of a campaign to eradicate house churches throughout China....

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Catholic Information Service for Africa

http://allafrica.com/stories/200806060879.html

Four Algerians who converted to Christianity have been condemned to prison and heavy fines, while two others were set free after renouncing their conversion.

The defence lawyer said the four were charged with "illegally practicing a non-Muslim faith," the French news agency AFP reported.

Attorney Khelloudja Khalfoun said...

Author: Caryle Murphy

Source: Religion News Service/The Pew Forum

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=15791

Hundreds of Muslim leaders from around the world have endorsed Saudi King Abdullah's recent call for intensified interfaith dialogue in order to dampen global conflict and demonstrate Islam's commitment to solving world problems.

The declaration came on Friday (June 6) at the close of a three-day conference in Islam's holy city...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: One News Now/Compass Direct News

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/Default.aspx?id=130506

Two Iranian converts to Christianity jailed for the past few weeks have been released by security police, who demanded valuable property deeds as bail collateral.

Authorities in the southern city of Shiraz set free 21-year-old Mojtaba Hussein late yesterday afternoon, requiring a bail guarantee worth US$20,000...

Author: Judy H. Fitzpatrick and Hazel Durand

Source: The Daily Herald

http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/l010/faith010.html

St. Maarten may be only sixteen square miles, but its varied facilities, natural Caribbean setting, strategic location and cultural and religious diversity make it a prime candidate for faith tourism, a multibillion-dollar industry beckoning to be exploited.

With the pressure to find new niche markets to...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Mainichi Daily News

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080602p2a00m0na009000c.html

The "Christ Festival," marking a town which claims to be the location where Jesus Christ spent the rest of his life after avoiding crucifixion, was held over the weekend.

Shingo's association with Christ began in the 1930s with the discovery there of a letter claiming to contain the last testament of Christ....

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Ecumenical News International

[anglicanjournal.com/issues/2008/134/jun/06/article/christian-leaders-petition-china-to-allow-protestant-chaplains-at-olympics/]

A Hong Kong Christian leader who works in a sports ministry says Chinese authorities should allow foreign Protestant clergy and faithful to serve as volunteer chaplains at the Olympic Village, to ensure the quality of the August games in Beijing.

“We have applied to send [Protestant] foreigners to serve as...

Author: Elizabeth Ross

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2008/06/01/one_last_time_ringing_out_the_old/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed5

Around the grounds of Lowell House at Harvard University, this year's commencement ceremony will echo with sounds that will soon be lost forever.

For nearly eight decades, the university residence...

Author: Marek Fuchs

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/us/31religion.html?_r=1&em&ex=1212379200&en=93d9f037fa917cc8&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

The Jewish comedian began with a routine about raising adolescents. “There was a reason Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac at 12 and not 13,” he said. “At 13, it wouldn’t have been a sacrifice....

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The News Tribune

Wire Service: AP

[thenewstribune.com/news/religion/story/377020.html]

Two students who put up a small statue of Jesus in their high school said their freedom of speech was violated when they were asked to take it down.

Mount Abraham Union High School Principal Paulette Bogan said the statue violated a policy requiring student displays to exhibit academic work or educate or inform the community.

The...